Hos 14 | HCSB | STEP | Israel , return to Yahweh your God , for you have stumbled in your sin .

Hosea 14

A Plea to Repent

1 Israel, return to ^{▼▼Yahweh/Yah: Or The Lord; the personal name of God in Hebrew; "Yah" is the shortened form of the name.}Yahweh your God, ^b
for you have stumbled in your sin. ^c
2 Take words of repentance with you ^d
and return to the Lord.
Say to Him: “Forgive all our sin
and accept what is good,
so that we may repay You
with praise ^{▼▼LXX reads with the fruit} from our ^{▼▼Lit repay the bulls of our} lips. ^g
3 Assyria will not save us, ^h
we will not ride on horses, ⁱ
and we will no longer proclaim, ‘Our gods!’ ^j
to the work of our hands. ^k
For the fatherless receives compassion in You.” ^l

A Promise of Restoration

4 I will heal their apostasy; ^m
I will freely love them, ⁿ
for My anger will have turned from him. ^o
5 I will be like the dew to Israel; ^p
he will blossom like the lily ^q
and take root like the cedars of Lebanon. ^r
6 His new branches will spread,
and his splendor will be like the olive tree, ^s
his fragrance, like the forest of Lebanon. ^t
7 The people will return and live beneath his shade. ^u
They will grow grain ^v
and blossom like the vine.
His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.

8 Ephraim, why should I ^{▼▼LXX reads he} have anything more
to do with idols? ^x
It is I who answer and watch over him.
I am like a flourishing pine tree; ^y
your fruit comes from Me. ^z

9 Let whoever is wise ^aa understand these things,
and whoever is insightful recognize them.
For the ways of the Lord are right, ^ab
and the righteous walk in them, ^ac
but the rebellious stumble in them. ^ad