< Hohea 14 >
1 Hoki mai, e Iharaira, ki a Ihowa, ki tou Atua: kua taka hoki koe i tou he.
Return, O Israel, even unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast stumbled through thy iniquity.
2 Tikina etahi kupu ma koutou, tahuri mai hoki ki a Ihowa: mea atu ki a ia, Whakakahoretia katoatia atu te he, kia manako mai ki te mea pai: a ka hoatu e matou ano he puru te whakahere, ara o matou ngutu.
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 E kore matou e ora i a Ahuru; e kore matou e eke hoiho, a heoi ano a matou kianga atu ki te mahi a o matou ringa, Ko koutou o matou atua: e arohaina ana hoki te pani e koe.
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 Ka rongoatia e ahau to ratou tahuri ke, ka aroha ahau ki a ratou, he mea utukore: no te mea kua tahuri toku riri i a ia.
I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for my anger is turned away from them.
5 Ko taku ki a Iharaira ka rite ki te tomairangi; ka rite tona tupu ki to te rengarenga, te totoro o ona pakiaka ka rite ki to Repanona.
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 Ka tautoro ona manga, ka rite tona ataahua ki to te oriwa, tona kakara ki to Repanona.
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 Ko te hunga e noho ana i raro i tona marumaru ka hoki mai: ka ora ake ratou, ka pera me te witi, ka rite to ratou tupu ki to te waina: ko tona kakara ka rite ki to te waina o Repanona.
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 Tera a Eparaima e ki, Hei aha ake maku nga whakapakoko? kua rongo ahau ki a ia, kua kite i a ia; ko toku rite kei te kauri matomato. Ka kitea ki ahau he hua mou.
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 Ko wai te mea whakaaro nui hei matau ki enei mea? ko wai te mea tupato e mohiotia ai? tika tonu hoki nga ara a Ihowa, a ka haere te hunga tika i reira, ka taka ia te hunga he i reira.
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.