Hosea 14

Chapter 14

Healing for the Repentant

1  tReturn, O Israel, to the LORD your God,
for your sins have brought you down.2 Bring your confessions, and return to the LORD.
Say to him,
“Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us,
so that we may offer you our praises.t3 Assyria cannot save us,
nor can our warhorses.
Never again will we say to the idols we have made,
‘You are our gods.’
No, in you alone
do the orphans find mercy.”4 The LORD says,
“Then I will heal you of your faithlessness;
my love will know no bounds,
for my anger will be gone forever.5 I will be to Israel
like a refreshing dew from heaven.
Israel will blossom like the lily;
it will send roots deep into the soil
like the cedars in Lebanon.6 Its branches will spread out like beautiful olive trees,
as fragrant as the cedars of Lebanon.7 My people will again live under my shade.
They will flourish like grain and blossom like grapevines.
They will be as fragrant as the wines of Lebanon.8 “O Israel,t stay away from idols!
I am the one who answers your prayers and cares for you.
I am like a tree that is always green;
all your fruit comes from me.”9 Let those who are wise understand these things.
Let those with discernment listen carefully.
The paths of the LORD are true and right,
and righteous people live by walking in them.
But in those paths sinners stumble and fall.

Hosea 14

Repentance to Bring Blessing

1 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God.
Your sins have been your downfall!

2 Take words with you
and return to the Lord.
Say to him:
“Forgive all our sins
and receive us graciously,
that we may offer the fruit of our lips.

3 Assyria cannot save us;
we will not mount war-horses.
We will never again say ‘Our gods’
to what our own hands have made,
for in you the fatherless find compassion.”

4 “I will heal their waywardness
and love them freely,
for my anger has turned away from them.

5 I will be like the dew to Israel;
he will blossom like a lily.
Like a cedar of Lebanon
he will send down his roots;

6 his young shoots will grow.
His splendor will be like an olive tree,
his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.

7 Men will dwell again in his shade.
He will flourish like the grain.
He will blossom like a vine,
and his fame will be like the wine from Lebanon.

8 O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols?
I will answer him and care for him.
I am like a green pine tree;
your fruitfulness comes from me.”

9 Who is wise? He will realize these things.
Who is discerning? He will understand them.
The ways of the Lord are right;
the righteous walk in them,
but the rebellious stumble in them.