Hosea 14
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
14 O Israel, return to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled and fallen, [visited by calamity] due to your iniquity.
2 Take with you words and return to the Lord. Say to Him, Take away all our iniquity; accept what is good and receive us graciously; so will we render [our thanks] as bullocks [to be sacrificed] and pay the confession of our lips.(A)
3 Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses, neither will we say any more to the work of our hands [idols], You are our gods. For in You [O Lord] the fatherless find love, pity, and mercy.
4 I will heal their faithlessness; I will love them freely, for My anger is turned away from [Israel].
5 I will be like the dew and the night mist to Israel; he shall grow and blossom like the lily and cast forth his roots like [the sturdy evergreens of] Lebanon.
6 His suckers and shoots shall spread, and his beauty shall be like the olive tree and his fragrance like [the cedars and aromatic shrubs of] Lebanon.
7 They that dwell under his shade shall return; they shall revive like the grain and blossom like the vine; the scent of it shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have answered [him] and will regard and watch over him; I am like a green fir or cypress tree; with Me is the fruit found [which is to nourish you].
9 Who is wise, that he may understand these things? Prudent, that he may know them? For the ways of the Lord are right and the [uncompromisingly] just shall walk in them, but transgressors shall stumble and fall in them.(B)
Hosea 14
English Standard Version
A Plea to Return to the Lord
14 (A)Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
for (B)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 (C)what is good,
and we will pay with bulls
(D)the vows[a] of our lips.
3 (E)Assyria shall not save us;
(F)we will not ride on horses;
and (G)we will say no more, ‘Our God,’
to the work of our hands.
(H)In you the orphan finds mercy.”
4 I (I)will heal their apostasy;
(J)I will love them freely,
for my anger has turned from them.
5 (K)I will be like the dew to Israel;
(L)he shall blossom like the lily;
he shall take root like the trees (M)of Lebanon;
6 his shoots shall spread out;
his beauty shall be (N)like the olive,
and his fragrance like Lebanon.
7 They shall return and (O)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.
8 O (P)Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you.[c]
I am like an evergreen cypress;
(Q)from me comes your fruit.
9 (R)Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
whoever is discerning, let him know them;
for the ways of the Lord are right,
and (S)the upright walk in them,
(T)but transgressors stumble in them.
Footnotes
- Hosea 14:2 Septuagint, Syriac pay the fruit
- Hosea 14:7 Hebrew his
- Hosea 14:8 Hebrew him
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The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
