Hosea 14

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

² Take words with you
and return to the LORD.
Say to him, "Take away all guilt;
accept what is good,
and we will offer the fruit of our lips.

³ Assyria will not save us;
we will not ride on horses,
and we will no longer say 'Our God'
to the work of our hands.
For in you the orphan finds compassion."

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

⁵ I will be like the dew to Israel;
he will blossom like the lily
and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.

⁶ His shoots will spread out;
his beauty will be like the olive tree,
and his fragrance like Lebanon.

⁷ Those who dwell in his shade will again
grow grain and blossom like the vine;
his renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.

⁸ O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you.
I am like a flourishing cypress;
from me comes your fruit.

⁹ Who is wise? Let him understand these things.
Who is discerning? Let him know them.
For the ways of the LORD are right,
and the upright walk in them,
but transgressors stumble in them.