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[a]Assyria will not save us,
    nor will we mount horses;(A)
We will never again say, ‘Our god,’
    to the work of our hands;
    for in you the orphan finds compassion.”(B)

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Footnotes

  1. 14:4 These good intentions promise a reversal of Israel’s sins: no more reliance on “Assyria,” i.e., on foreign alliances (see notes on 8:9 and 12:2), on “horses,” i.e., on human power (10:13), and on idolatry (8:4–6; 13:2). Israel will trust in the Lord alone.

Ephraim! What more have I to do with idols?(A)
    I have humbled him, but I will take note of him.
I am like a verdant cypress tree.[a]
    From me fruit will be found for you!

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Footnotes

  1. 14:9 Verdant cypress tree: the symbol of lasting life, the opposite of the sacred trees of the Baal cult (4:13). The Lord provides the “fruit” (peri) to Israel (2:7, 10), another instance of the wordplay on Ephraim (see notes on 9:16 and 13:15).