Hosea 14

Authorized (King James) Version

14 O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God;
for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
² 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.
³ 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.

⁴ I will heal their backsliding,
I will love them freely:
for mine anger is turned away from him.
⁵ I will be as the dew unto Israel:
he shall grow as the lily,
and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
⁶ His branches shall spread,
and his beauty shall be as the olive tree,
and his smell as Lebanon.
⁷ 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.
⁸ 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.

⁹ 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.