A Plea to Repent

Hosea 14   

1Israel, return to the LORD your God, y

for you have stumbled in your iniquity. z

2   Take words of repentance with you a

and return to the LORD.

Say to him: “Forgive all our iniquity

and accept what is good,

so that we may repay you

with praise V from our W lips. b

3   Assyria will not save us, c

we will not ride on horses, d

and we will no longer proclaim, ‘Our gods! ’ e

to the work of our hands. f

For the fatherless receives compassion in you.” g

A Promise of Restoration

4   I will heal their apostasy; h

I will freely love them, i

for my anger will have turned from him. j

5   I will be like the dew to Israel; k

he will blossom like the lily l

and take root like the cedars of Lebanon. m

6   His new branches will spread,

and his splendor will be like the olive tree, n

his fragrance, like the forest of Lebanon. o

7   The people will return and live beneath his shade. p

They will grow grain q

and blossom like the vine.

His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.

8   Ephraim, why should I X have anything more

to do with idols? r

It is I who answer and watch over him.

I am like a flourishing pine tree; s

your fruit comes from me. t

9   Let whoever is wise u understand these things,

and whoever is insightful recognize them.

For the ways of the LORD are right, v

and the righteous walk in them, w

but the rebellious stumble in them. x