Come Back! Return to Your God!

14 1-3 O Israel, come back! Return to your God!
    You’re down but you’re not out.
Prepare your confession
    and come back to God.
Pray to him, “Take away our sin,
    accept our confession.
Receive as restitution
    our repentant prayers.
Assyria won’t save us;
    horses won’t get us where we want to go.
We’ll never again say ‘our god’
    to something we’ve made or made up.
You’re our last hope. Is it not true
    that in you the orphan finds mercy?”

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Repentance to Bring Blessing

14 [a]Return,(A) Israel, to the Lord your God.
    Your sins(B) have been your downfall!(C)
Take words with you
    and return to the Lord.
Say to him:
    “Forgive(D) all our sins
and receive us graciously,(E)
    that we may offer the fruit of our lips.[b](F)
Assyria cannot save us;(G)
    we will not mount warhorses.(H)
We will never again say ‘Our gods’(I)
    to what our own hands have made,(J)
    for in you the fatherless(K) find compassion.”

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 14:1 In Hebrew texts 14:1-9 is numbered 14:2-10.
  2. Hosea 14:2 Or offer our lips as sacrifices of bulls