A Plea to Return to the Lord (HOS 14:1-9)

[14:1] Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.

[14:2] Take with you words and return to the Lord; say to him, “Take away all iniquity; accept what is good, and we will pay with bulls the vows of our lips.

[14:3] Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride on horses; and we will say no more, ‘Our God,’ to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds mercy.”

[14:4] I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them.

[14:5] I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily; he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon;

[14:6] his shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon.

[14:7] They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow; they shall flourish like the grain; they shall blossom like the vine; their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

[14:8] O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress; from me comes your fruit.

[14:9] Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever 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.