tten under prophetic influence, alludes to
repentance, in connection with the time when Israel would be taken captive
from its land as punishment for its violation of the law. There we read:
"Thou shalt return unto the Lord thy God, ... with all thy heart, and all
thy soul, then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have
compassion upon thee."(775)

Amos, the prophet of stern justice, has not yet reached the idea of
averting the divine wrath by the return of the sinner.(776) Hosea, the
prophet of divine mercy and loving-kindness, in his deep compassion for
the unfaithful and backsliding people, became the preacher of repentance
as the condition for attaining the divine pardon.

"Return, O Israel, unto the Lord thy God;
For thou hast stumbled in thine iniquity.
Take with you words (of repentance),
And return unto the Lord;
Say unto Him, "Forgive all iniquity,
And accept that which is good;
So will we render for bullocks the offering of our lips.' "(777)

The appeal of Jeremiah is still more vigorous:

"Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord....
Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed
against the Lord thy God....
Break up for you a fallow ground, and sow not among thorns....
O Jerusalem, wash thy heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be
saved;
How long shall thy baleful thoughts lodge within thee?...
Return ye now every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and
your doings."(778)

Ezekiel, while emphasizing the guilt of the individual, preached
repentance still more insistently. "Return ye, and turn yourselves from
all your transgressions; so shall they not be a stumbling-block of
iniquity to you. Cast away from you all your transgressions, wherein ye
have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit; for why will
ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that
dieth, saith the Lord God; wherefore turn yourselves, and live."(779) The
same appeal recurs after the exile in the last prophets, Zechariah(780)
and Malachi.(781) The latter says: "Return unto Me, and I shall return
unto you." Likewise the penitential sermon written in a time of great
distress, which is ascribed to the prophet Joel, contains the appeal:

"Turn ye unto Me with all your heart,
And with fasting, and with weeping, and with lamentation;
And