I will go and return to my place, until they acknowledge their offense, And seek my face. In their affliction they will seek me earnestly."
The failure to see the metaphor of the lion going back to his den in this passage leads to all kinds of erroneous and bizarre notions about alleged beliefs of the Hebrew prophets who are accused of believing that God actually had some place, or location, where he could "hide" from men, and that men could actually "search" for him in some literal sense.  No! God's going away, and "returning" to "his place" must be explained metaphorically; and that metaphor begins in  Hosea 5:14 and is continued here in the sense of the lion going back to his lair.