Hosea 14 Intro: An exhortation to repentance -- Promise of blessing.
1 O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
2 Take with you words, and turn to the Lord; say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously; so will we render the calves of our lips.
3 Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses; neither will we say anymore to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods; for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.
4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for mine anger is turned away from him.
5 I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
6 His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.
7 They that dwell under his shadow shall return: they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine; the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.
8 Ephraim shall say, What have I to do anymore with idols? I have heard him, and observed him; I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.
9 Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them; but the transgressors shall fall therein.
