Hosea 14
Modern English Version
A Plea for Repentance
14 Return, O Israel, 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,
and accept that which is good;
and we will offer the fruit[a] of our lips!
3 Assyria will not save us,
we will not ride on horses.
We will no longer say, ‘Our God,’
to the work of our hands.
In You the orphan finds mercy.”
4 I will heal their backsliding;
I will love them freely,
for My anger has turned away from him.
5 I will be like the dew to Israel;
he shall grow like the lily
and shall strike his roots
like Lebanon.
6 His branches will spread out,
and his beauty shall be like the olive tree,
and his fragrance like that of Lebanon.
7 Those that dwell under his shadow will return,
they will flourish like the grain
and grow as a vine.
Their fragrance will be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after him.
I am like a green fir tree;
your fruit is found in Me.
9 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
whoever prudent, let him know them.
For the ways of the Lord are right,
and the just will walk in them;
but the transgressors stumble in them.
Footnotes
- Hosea 14:2 Gk. Syr.; Heb. bulls.
Hosea 14
21st Century 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 offer the calves of our lips.
3 Assyria 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.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
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