Hosea 14

A PLEA TO REPENT

14Israel, return to the Lord your God,^s

for you have stumbled in your iniquity.^t

²Take words of repentance with you^u

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^A from our^B lips.^v

³Assyria will not save us,^w

we will not ride on horses,^x

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

to the work of our hands.^z

For the fatherless receives compassion in you.”^aa

A PROMISE OF RESTORATION

⁴I will heal their apostasy;^ab

I will freely love them,^ac

for my anger will have turned from him.^ad

⁵I will be like the dew to Israel;^ae

he will blossom like the lily^af

and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.^ag

⁶His new branches will spread,

and his splendor will be like the olive tree,^ah

his fragrance, like the forest of Lebanon.^ai

⁷The people will return and live beneath his shade.^aj

They will grow grain^ak

and blossom like the vine.

His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.

⁸Ephraim, why should I^C have anything more

to do with idols?^al

It is I who answer and watch over him.

I am like a flourishing pine tree;^am

your fruit comes from me.^an

⁹Let whoever is wise^ao understand these things,

and whoever is insightful recognize them.

For the ways of the Lord are right,^ap

and the righteous walk in them,^aq

but the rebellious stumble in them.^ar