Hosea 14:1-7

Common English Bible

A plea: Return to God

14 ^[a] Return, Israel, to the Lord your God;
        you have stumbled because of your wickedness.
²Prepare to speak
    and return to the Lord;
    say to the Lord,
        “Forgive all wickedness;
            and receive the good.
    Instead of bulls,
        let us offer what we can say:
³Assyria won’t save us;
        we won’t ride upon horses;
    we will no longer say, ‘Our God,’
        to the work of our hands.
    In you the orphan finds compassion.”

Divine promise of healing

⁴I will heal their faithlessness;
                I will love them freely,
        for my anger has turned from them.
⁵I will be like the dew to Israel;
        he will blossom like the lily;
        he will cast out his roots like the forests of Lebanon.^[b]
⁶His branches will spread out;
        his beauty will be like the olive tree,
        and his fragrance like that of Lebanon.
⁷They will again live beneath my shadow,
        they will flourish like a garden;
    they will blossom like the vine,
        their fragrance will be like the wine of Lebanon.