Hosea 14

Israel Returns to God

1 Israel, return to the Lord your God, because your sins have made you fall.

2 Come back to the Lord and say these words to him:
“Take away all our sin and kindly receive us,
and we will keep the promises we made to you.

3 Assyria cannot save us, nor will we trust in our horses.
We will not say again, ‘Our gods,’ to the things our hands have made. You show mercy to orphans.”

4 The Lord says,
“I will forgive them for leaving me and will love them freely, because I am not angry with them anymore.

5 I will be like the dew to Israel, and they will blossom like a lily.
Like the cedar trees in Lebanon, their roots will be firm.

6 They will be like spreading branches, like the beautiful olive trees and the sweet-smelling cedars in Lebanon.

7 The people of Israel will again live under my protection. They will grow like the grain,
they will bloom like a vine, and they will be as famous as the wine of Lebanon.

8 Israel, have nothing to do with idols. I, the Lord, am the one who answers your prayers and watches over you.
I am like a green pine tree; your blessings come from me.”

9 A wise person will know these things, and an understanding person will take them to heart.
The Lord’s ways are right. Good people live by following them, but those who turn against God die because of 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.