Hosea 14

1 Return, O Israel, even unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast stumbled through thy iniquity.

“Turn back, O Israel, to your God YHWH, For you have stumbled by your 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 words with you, and turn to YHWH, Say to Him, Take away all iniquity, and give good, And we render the fruit 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.”

Asshur does not save us, we do not ride on a horse, Nor do we say anymore, Our god, to the work of our hands, For in You the fatherless find mercy.

4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for my anger is turned away from them.

I heal their backsliding, I love them freely, For My anger has turned back from him.

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 am as dew to Israel, he flourishes as a lily, And he strikes forth his roots as 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 shoots go on, And his splendor is as an olive, And he has fragrance as 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.

The dwellers return under his shadow, They revive [as] grain, and flourish as a vine, His memorial [is] as wine 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.

O Ephraim, what have I anymore to do with idols? I have answered, and I look after him: I [am] as a green fir-tree, Your fruit is found from 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 understands these? Prudent, and knows them? For upright are the ways of YHWH, And the righteous go on in them, And the transgressors stumble therein!”