Hosea 14

Return to Yahweh

14Return to Yahweh your God, O Israel,

for you have stumbled because of your sin.

²Take words with you,

and return to Yahweh.

Say to him,

“Take away all guilt;

accept good, and we will offer

the fruit^a of our lips.

³Assyria will not save us;

we will not ride on horses,^b

and we will say no more, “Our God,”

to the work of our hands

because in you the fatherless child finds mercy.

⁴I will heal their disloyalty;^c

I will love them freely

because my anger has turned back

from them.^d

⁵I will be like the dew to Israel;

he will blossom like the lily plant,

and he will strike his roots like the trees of Lebanon.

⁶His new plant shoots will spread out;

his splendor will be like the olive tree,

and his scent like the trees of Lebanon.

⁷They will again dwell^e in my^f shadow;

they will grow grain

and they will blossom like the plant vine;

his fame will be like the wine of Lebanon.

⁸O Ephraim, what have I to do^g with idols?

I myself have answered and looked after you.^h

I am like a luxuriant cypress;

your fruitⁱ comes from me.

⁹Who is wise that he can understand these things?

Who is discerning that he knows them?

The ways of Yahweh are right,

and the righteous walk in them;

but transgressors stumble in them.