Hosea 14
Revised Standard Version
A Plea for Repentance
14 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
2 Take with you words
and return to the Lord;
say to him,
“Take away all iniquity;
accept that which is good
and we will render
the fruit[a] of our lips.
3 Assyria shall not save us,
we will not ride upon horses;
and we will say no more, ‘Our God,’
to the work of our hands.
In thee the orphan finds mercy.”
Assurance of Forgiveness
4 I will heal their faithlessness;
I will love them freely,
for my anger has turned from them.
5 I will be as the dew to Israel;
he shall blossom as the lily,
he shall strike root as the poplar;[b]
6 his shoots shall spread out;
his beauty shall be like the olive,
and his fragrance like Lebanon.
7 They shall return and dwell beneath my[c] shadow,
they shall flourish as a garden;[d]
they shall blossom as the vine,
their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 O E′phraim, what have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you.[e]
I am like an evergreen cypress,
from me comes your fruit.
9 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
whoever is discerning, let him know them;
for the ways of the Lord are right,
and the upright walk in them,
but transgressors stumble in them.
Footnotes
- Hosea 14:2 Gk Syr: Heb bulls
- Hosea 14:5 Cn: Heb Lebanon
- Hosea 14:7 Heb his
- Hosea 14:7 Cn: Heb they shall grow grain
- Hosea 14:8 Heb him
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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