Hosea 14

A Plea to Return to the Lord

1  Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
2  Take with you words
and return to the Lord;
say to him,
"Take away all iniquity;
accept what is good,
and we will pay with bulls
the vowst of our lips.
3  Assyria shall not save us;
we will not ride on horses;
and we will say no more, 'Our God,'
to the work of our hands.
In you the orphan finds mercy."

4  I will heal their apostasy;
I will love them freely,
for my anger has turned from them.
5  I will be like the dew to Israel;
he shall blossom like the lily;
he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon;
6  his shoots shall spread out;
his beauty shall be like the olive,
and his fragrance like Lebanon.
7  They shall return and dwell beneath myt shadow;
they shall flourish like the grain;
they shall blossom like the vine;
their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

8  O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you.t
I am like an evergreen cypress;
from me comes your fruit.

9  Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
whoever is discerning, let him know them;
for the ways of the Lord are right,
and the upright walk in them,
but transgressors stumble in them.

Hosea 14

Prophetic Call to Genuine Repentance

1 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
for your sin has been your downfall!t

2 Return to the Lord and repent!t
Say to him: “Completelyt forgive our iniquity;
accepts our penitential prayer,t
that we may offer the praise of our lips as sacrificial bulls.s

3 Assyria cannot save us;
we will not ride warhorses.
We will never again say, ‘Our gods’
to what our own hands have made.
For only you will show compassion to Orphan Israel!”t

Divine Promise to Relent from Judgment and to Restore Blessings

4 “I will heal their waywardnesss
and love them freely,t
for my anger will turns away from them.

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

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

7 People will reside againt in his shade;
they will plant and harvest grain in abundance.t
They will blossom like a vine,
and his fame will be like the wine from Lebanon.

8 O Ephraim, I do not want to have anything to dot with idols anymore!
I will answer him and care for him.
I am liket a luxuriant cypress tree;t
your fruitfulness comes from me!t

Concluding Exhortation

9 Who is wise?
Let him discernt these things!
Who is discerning?
Let him understand them!
For the ways of the Lord are right;
the godly walk in them,
but in them the rebellious stumble.