This haftarah is read, in the years it applies, on the Sabbath falling between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, known as Shabbat Shuvah, the Sabbath of Return, named directly for the opening Hebrew word of Hosea's call, shuvah, return. Like the Three Haftarot of Affliction and the Seven Haftarot of Consolation, covered elsewhere in this atlas, its selection is governed by its position within the Ten Days of Repentance rather than by the content of Parashah Vayelech, whose own material is Moses's final instructions, the handing of the written Torah to the Levites, and the introduction of the song of Haazinu still to come.
The pairing is further complicated by a rite variation: in most years Nitzavim and Vayelech are read together as a single combined Torah portion, and that combined reading uses the Nitzavim haftarah instead, so this specific reading is only recited in years when Vayelech falls on its own separate Sabbath, making it one of the least frequently read haftarot in the entire annual cycle despite occupying a fixed and well known place in the calendar.
Its content nonetheless fits its season precisely: a direct call to repentance, an assurance of God's mercy, and Micah's closing image of sins cast into the sea speak directly to the Days of Awe this Sabbath falls within, regardless of which Torah portion happens to be read alongside it in a given year.