< Hosea 14 >
1 Israel, be thou conuertid to thi Lord God, for thou fellist doun in thi wickidnesse.
Return thou, O Israel, unto Yahweh thy God, —for thou hast stumbled by thine iniquity.
2 Take ye wordis with you, and be ye conuertid to the Lord; and seie ye to hym, Do thou awei al wickidnesse, and take thou good; and we schulen yelde the caluys of oure lippis.
Take with you words, and return to Yahweh: say unto him—Wholly, shalt thou take away iniquity, Accept, then, with favour, and we will make good the boldness of our lips!
3 Assur schal not saue vs, we schulen not stie on hors; and we schulen no more seie, Oure goddis ben the werkis of oure hondis; for thou schalt haue merci on that modirles child, which is in thee.
Assyria, shall not save us, Upon horses, will we not ride, neither will we say any more—Our god! to the work of our own hands! For, in thee, shall the fatherless, find compassion.
4 Y schal make hool the sorewis of hem; Y schal loue hem wilfuli, for my strong veniaunce is turned awei fro hem.
I will heal their apostacy, I will love them freely, —for mine anger, hath turned, from them.
5 Y schal be as a dew, and Israel schal buriowne as a lilie. And the root therof schal breke out as of the Liban;
I will become as the dew unto Israel, he shall break forth as the lily, —and he shall strike his roots as Lebanon:
6 the braunchis therof schulen go. And the glorye therof schal be as an olyue tree, and the odour therof schal be as of the Liban.
His branches, shall spread, that, like an olive-tree, may be his fresh beauty, —and his fragrance, like Lebanon.
7 Thei schulen be conuertid, and sitte in the schadewe of hym; thei schulen lyue bi wheete, and schulen buriowne as a vyne. The memorial therof schal be as the wyne of Liban.
They who dwell in his shade shall again show life like the corn, and break forth as the vine, —and, the remembrance of him, shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 Effraym, what schulen idols do more to me? Y schal here him, and Y schal dresse him as a greene fir tree. Thi fruit is foundun of me.
Ephraim [saith] —What to me any more are idols? I, have answered, and have closely observed him, I, am like a fir-tree that is green, From me, is thy fruit found.
9 Who is wijs, and schal vndurstonde these thingis? who is vndurstondyng, and schal kunne these thingis? For the weies of the Lord ben riytful, and iust men schulen go in tho; but trespassours schulen falle in tho.
Who is wise, that he may understand these things? intelligent, that he may take knowledge of them? For, straightforward, are the ways of Yahweh, and, the righteous, shall travel therein, but, transgressors, shall stumble therein.