Hosea 14
New Living Translation
Healing for the Repentant
14 [a]Return, 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.[b]
3 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,[c] 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
New King James Version
Israel Restored at Last
14 O Israel, (A)return to the Lord your God,
For you have stumbled because of your iniquity;
2 Take words with you,
And return to the Lord.
Say to Him,
“Take away all iniquity;
Receive us graciously,
For we will offer the (B)sacrifices[a] of our lips.
3 Assyria shall (C)not save us,
(D)We will not ride on horses,
Nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, ‘You are our gods.’
(E)For in You the fatherless finds mercy.”
4 “I will heal their (F)backsliding,
I will (G)love them freely,
For My anger has turned away from him.
5 I will be like the (H)dew to Israel;
He shall [b]grow like the lily,
And [c]lengthen his roots like Lebanon.
6 His branches shall [d]spread;
(I)His beauty shall be like an olive tree,
And (J)his fragrance like Lebanon.
7 (K)Those who dwell under his shadow shall return;
They shall be revived like grain,
And [e]grow like a vine.
Their [f]scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 “Ephraim shall say, ‘What have I to do anymore with idols?’
I have heard and observed him.
I am like a green cypress tree;
(L)Your fruit is found in Me.”
9 Who is wise?
Let him understand these things.
Who is prudent?
Let him know them.
For (M)the ways of the Lord are right;
The righteous walk in them,
But transgressors stumble in them.
Footnotes
- Hosea 14:2 Lit. bull calves; LXX fruit
- Hosea 14:5 Lit. bud or sprout
- Hosea 14:5 Lit. strike
- Hosea 14:6 Lit. go
- Hosea 14:7 Lit. bud or sprout
- Hosea 14:7 Lit. remembrance
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
