Hosea 14
1 “Turn back, O Israel, to your God YHWH, For you have stumbled by your iniquity.
Return, O Israel, even unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast stumbled through thy iniquity.
2 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.
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.
3 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.
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.”
4 I heal their backsliding, I love them freely, For My anger has turned back from him.
I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for my anger is turned away from them.
5 I am as dew to Israel, he flourishes as a lily, And he strikes forth his roots as Lebanon.
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.
6 His shoots go on, And his splendor is as an olive, And he has fragrance as Lebanon.
His suckers shall spread out, and his beauty shall be as that of the olive-tree, and his smell as that of the Lebanon.
7 The dwellers return under his shadow, They revive [as] grain, and flourish as a vine, His memorial [is] as wine of Lebanon.
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.
8 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.
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.
9 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!”
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.
