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The Lord Offers to Forgive Israel

14 [a]Israel, return to the Lord your God.
You have stumbled because of your sins.
Return to the Lord, and say these things to him:
“Forgive all our sins, and kindly receive us.
Then we’ll praise you with our lips.
Assyria cannot save us.
We won’t ride on horses anymore.
We will never again say
that the things our hands have made are our gods.
You love orphans.”

⌞The Lord says,⌟ “I will cure them of their unfaithfulness.
I will love them freely.
I will no longer be angry with them.
I will be like dew to the people of Israel.
They will blossom like flowers.
They will be firmly rooted like cedars from Lebanon.
They will be like growing branches.
They will be beautiful like olive trees.
They will be fragrant like cedars from Lebanon.
They will live again in God’s shadow.
They will grow like grain.
They will blossom like grapevines.
They will be as famous as the wines from Lebanon.

“The people of Ephraim will have nothing more to do with idols.
I will answer them and take care of them.
I am like a growing pine tree.
Their fruit comes from me.”

Wise people will understand these things.
A person with insight will recognize them.
The Lord’s ways are right.
Righteous people live by them.
Rebellious people stumble over them.

Footnotes

  1. 14:1 Hosea 14:1–9 in English Bibles is Hosea 14:2–10 in the Hebrew Bible.

Repentance to Bring Blessing

14 [a]Return,(A) Israel, to the Lord your God.
    Your sins(B) have been your downfall!(C)
Take words with you
    and return to the Lord.
Say to him:
    “Forgive(D) all our sins
and receive us graciously,(E)
    that we may offer the fruit of our lips.[b](F)
Assyria cannot save us;(G)
    we will not mount warhorses.(H)
We will never again say ‘Our gods’(I)
    to what our own hands have made,(J)
    for in you the fatherless(K) find compassion.”

“I will heal(L) their waywardness(M)
    and love them freely,(N)
    for my anger has turned away(O) from them.
I will be like the dew(P) to Israel;
    he will blossom like a lily.(Q)
Like a cedar of Lebanon(R)
    he will send down his roots;(S)
    his young shoots will grow.
His splendor will be like an olive tree,(T)
    his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.(U)
People will dwell again in his shade;(V)
    they will flourish like the grain,
they will blossom(W) like the vine—
    Israel’s fame will be like the wine(X) of Lebanon.(Y)
Ephraim, what more have I[c] to do with idols?(Z)
    I will answer him and care for him.
I am like a flourishing juniper;(AA)
    your fruitfulness comes from me.”

Who is wise?(AB) Let them realize these things.
    Who is discerning? Let them understand.(AC)
The ways of the Lord are right;(AD)
    the righteous walk(AE) in them,
    but the rebellious stumble in them.

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 14:1 In Hebrew texts 14:1-9 is numbered 14:2-10.
  2. Hosea 14:2 Or offer our lips as sacrifices of bulls
  3. Hosea 14:8 Or Hebrew; Septuagint What more has Ephraim