Hosea 14

Healing for the Repentant

1. [a]Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, 1 for your sins have brought you down.

2. Bring your confessions, and return to the Lord. 2 Say to him, 2 “Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us, 2 so that we may offer you our praises.[b]

3. Assyria cannot save us, 3 nor can our warhorses. 3 Never again will we say to the idols we have made, 3 ‘You are our gods.’ 3 No, in you alone 3 do the orphans find mercy.”

4. The Lord says, 4 “Then I will heal you of your faithlessness; 4 my love will know no bounds, 4 for my anger will be gone forever.

5. I will be to Israel 5 like a refreshing dew from heaven. 5 Israel will blossom like the lily; 5 it will send roots deep into the soil 5 like the cedars in Lebanon.

6. Its branches will spread out like beautiful olive trees, 6 as fragrant as the cedars of Lebanon.

7. My people will again live under my shade. 7 They will flourish like grain and blossom like grapevines. 7 They will be as fragrant as the wines of Lebanon.

8. “O Israel,[c] stay away from idols! 8 I am the one who answers your prayers and cares for you. 8 I am like a tree that is always green; 8 all your fruit comes from me.”

9. Let those who are wise understand these things. 9 Let those with discernment listen carefully. 9 The paths of the Lord are true and right, 9 and righteous people live by walking in them. 9 But in those paths sinners stumble and fall.

Footnotes:
a. 14:1: Verses 14:1-9 are numbered 14:2-10 in Hebrew text.
b. 14:2: As in Greek and Syriac versions, which read may repay the fruit of our lips; Hebrew reads may repay the bulls of our lips.
c. 14:8: Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel.