The Book of the Prophet Hosea 14 Exhortation to Repentance, and Promise of Forgiveness

 The Book of the Prophet Hosea 14

Exhortation to Repentance, and Promise of Forgiveness

1 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.

2 Take words with you, and return to the Lord; say to him, “Put away all iniquity, and receive good; and we will offer the sacrifices of our lips like calves.”

3 Assyria will not save us; we will not ride on horses, nor will we say to the work of our hands, “You are our God”; for in you the orphan finds mercy.

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

5 I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily and spread his roots like Lebanon.

6 Its branches will spread out, and its glory will be like that of the olive tree, its fragrance like Lebanon.

7 Those who dwell in its shade will return; they will be revived like grain, and flourish like the vine; their memory will be like the wine of Lebanon.

8 Ephraim will say, “What more have I to do with idols? I have heard it, and I will consider it; I am like a green fir tree: from me comes your fruit.”

9 Who is wise enough to understand these things? Who is prudent enough to know them? For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous will walk in them, but the transgressors will stumble in them.