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Return to Yahweh

14 Return to Yahweh your God, O Israel,
    for you have stumbled because of your sin.
Take words with you,
    and return to Yahweh.
Say to him,
    “Take away all guilt;
accept good, and we will offer
    the fruit[a] of our lips.
Assyria will not save us;
    we will not ride on horses,[b]
and we will say no more, “Our God,”
    to the work of our hands
    because in you the fatherless child finds mercy.
I will heal their disloyalty;[c]
    I will love them freely
    because my anger has turned back
        from them.[d]
I will be like the dew to Israel;
    he will blossom like the lily plant,
and he will strike his roots like the trees of Lebanon.
    His new plant shoots will spread out;
his splendor will be like the olive tree,
    and his scent like the trees of Lebanon.
They will again dwell[e] in my[f] shadow;
    they will grow grain
and they will blossom like the plant vine;
    his fame will be like the wine of Lebanon.
O Ephraim, what have I to do[g] with idols?
    I myself have answered and looked after you.[h]
I am like a luxuriant cypress;
    your fruit[i] comes from me.
Who is wise that he can understand these things?
    Who is discerning that he knows them?
The ways of Yahweh are right,
    and the righteous walk in them;
        but transgressors stumble in them.

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 14:2 Hebrew uncertain
  2. Hosea 14:3 Hebrew “horse”
  3. Hosea 14:4 Or “backsliding”
  4. Hosea 14:4 Hebrew “him”
  5. Hosea 14:7 Literally “They shall return, they shall dwell”
  6. Hosea 14:7 Hebrew “his”
  7. Hosea 14:8 Literally “what for me”
  8. Hosea 14:8 Hebrew “him”
  9. Hosea 14:8 Or “your faithfulness”

14 O israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.

Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.

Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.

I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.

I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.

His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.

They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.

Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.

Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.