Hosea 14
1 Return, O Israel, even unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast stumbled through thy iniquity.
Israel, convert to the Lord your God. For you have been ruined by your own iniquity.
2 Take with you swords, and return to the Lord: say unto him, “Pardon all [our] iniquity, and accept [our return to] good; and let us repay the steers [of sacrifice] with [the prayer of] our lips.
Take these words with you and return to the Lord. And say to him, “Remove all iniquity and accept the good. And we will repay the calves of our lips.
3 Asshur shall not help us; upon horses will we not ride: and we will no more say, Ye are our gods, to the work of our hands; for in thee alone the fatherless obtaineth mercy.”
Assur will not save us; we will not ride on horses. Neither will we say any more, ‘The works of our hands are our gods,’ for those that are in you will have mercy on the orphan.”
4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for my anger is turned away from them.
I will heal their contrition; I will love them spontaneously. For my wrath has been turned away from them.
5 I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall bloom as the lily; and he shall strike his roots as [the forests of] Lebanon.
I will be like the dew; Israel will spring forth like the lily, and his root will spread out like that of the cedars of Lebanon.
6 His suckers shall spread out, and his beauty shall be as that of the olive-tree, and his smell as that of the Lebanon.
His branches will advance, and his glory will be like the olive tree, and his fragrance will be like that of the cedars of Lebanon.
7 They shall return that sat under his shade; they shall revive as corn, and bloom as the vine: the scent of which shall be as that of the wine of Lebanon.
They will be converted, sitting in his shadow. They will live on wheat, and they will grow like a vine. His memorial will be like the wine of the cedars of Lebanon.
8 Ephraim [shall say], What have I to do any more with idols? I have answered, and will observe him; I will be [to him] like a green fir-tree; through me is thy fruit found.
Ephraim will say, “What are idols to me anymore?” I will listen to him, and I will set him straight like a healthy spruce tree. Your fruit has been found by me.
9 Who is wise, that he may understand these things? intelligent, that he may know them? for righteous are the ways of the Lord; and the just shall walk in them; but the transgressors will stumble through them.
Who is wise and will understand this? Who has understanding and will know these things? For the ways of the Lord are straight, and the just will walk in them, but truly, the traitors will fall in them.
