A Promise of Restoration

I will heal their apostasy;(A)
I will freely love them,(B)
for my anger will have turned from him.(C)
I will be like the dew to Israel;(D)
he will blossom like the lily(E)
and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.(F)
His new branches will spread,
and his splendor will be like the olive tree,(G)
his fragrance, like the forest of Lebanon.(H)
The people will return and live beneath his shade.(I)
They will grow grain(J)
and blossom like the vine.
His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.

Ephraim, why should I[a] have anything more
to do with idols?(K)
It is I who answer and watch over him.
I am like a flourishing pine tree;(L)
your fruit comes from me.(M)

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Footnotes

  1. 14:8 LXX reads he

I will heal their disloyalty;[a]
    I will love them freely
    because my anger has turned back
        from them.[b]
I will be like the dew to Israel;
    he will blossom like the lily plant,
and he will strike his roots like the trees of Lebanon.
    His new plant shoots will spread out;
his splendor will be like the olive tree,
    and his scent like the trees of Lebanon.
They will again dwell[c] in my[d] shadow;
    they will grow grain
and they will blossom like the plant vine;
    his fame will be like the wine of Lebanon.
O Ephraim, what have I to do[e] with idols?
    I myself have answered and looked after you.[f]
I am like a luxuriant cypress;
    your fruit[g] comes from me.

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 14:4 Or “backsliding”
  2. Hosea 14:4 Hebrew “him”
  3. Hosea 14:7 Literally “They shall return, they shall dwell”
  4. Hosea 14:7 Hebrew “his”
  5. Hosea 14:8 Literally “what for me”
  6. Hosea 14:8 Hebrew “him”
  7. Hosea 14:8 Or “your faithfulness”