Hosea 14:2-9

English Standard Version

²Take with you words
    and return to the Lord;
say to him,
    “Take away all iniquity;
accept ^(A)what is good,
    and we will pay with bulls
    ^(B)the vows^[a] of our lips.
³^(C)Assyria shall not save us;
    ^(D)we will not ride on horses;
and ^(E)we will say no more, ‘Our God,’
    to the work of our hands.
^(F)In you the orphan finds mercy.”

⁴I ^(G)will heal their apostasy;
    ^(H)I will love them freely,
    for my anger has turned from them.
⁵^(I)I will be like the dew to Israel;
    ^(J)he shall blossom like the lily;
    he shall take root like the trees ^(K)of Lebanon;
⁶his shoots shall spread out;
    his beauty shall be ^(L)like the olive,
    and his fragrance like Lebanon.
⁷They shall return and ^(M)dwell beneath my^[b] shadow;
    they shall flourish like the grain;
they shall blossom like the vine;
    their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

⁸O ^(N)Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you.^[c]
I am like an evergreen cypress;
^(O)from me comes your fruit.

⁹^(P)Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
    whoever is discerning, let him know them;
for the ways of the Lord are right,
    and ^(Q)the upright walk in them,
    ^(R)but transgressors stumble in them.