Charles Ellicott Commentary Hosea 7:14

"And they have not cried unto me with their heart, but they howl upon their beds: they assemble themselves for grain and new wine; they rebel against me." — Hosea 7:14 (ASV)

Cried ... Howled— God discriminates between a heart-cry to Him and a howl of despair, resembling the yell of a wild beast. A howl on their bed is not a sob of true repentance.

They assemble themselves.— To supplicate Jehovah for fruitful harvests. This rendering is supported by several eminent authorities. Others follow Ewald in translating, "they excite themselves" with dervish-like devices and cries. The Septuagint render with great force, "they cut themselves." (Compare to 1 Kings 18:28; Deuteronomy 14:1; Jeremiah 16:6.)

This latter interpretation is based on a slightly different reading, found in some of Kennicott’s and De Rossi’s manuscripts, which is quite probably the correct one. The charge is that all their simulated penitence is to secure physical comforts, not to show conformity with the Divine will.