Hos 14 | ESV | STEP | Return , O Israel , to the Lord your God , for you have stumbled because of your iniquity .

Hosea 14

A Plea to Return to the Lord

1 ^aReturn, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
for ^byou have stumbled because of your iniquity.
2 Take with you words
and return to the Lord;
say to him,
“Take away all iniquity;
accept ^cwhat is good,
and we will pay with bulls
^dthe vows ^{▼▼Septuagint, Syriac pay the fruit} of our lips.
3 ^fAssyria shall not save us;
^gwe will not ride on horses;
and ^hwe will say no more, ‘Our God,’
to the work of our hands.
ⁱIn you the orphan finds mercy.”
4 I ^jwill heal their apostasy;
^kI will love them freely,
for my anger has turned from them.
5 ^lI will be like the dew to Israel;
^mhe shall blossom like the lily;
he shall take root like the trees ⁿof Lebanon;
6 his shoots shall spread out;
his beauty shall be ^olike the olive,
and his fragrance like Lebanon.
7 They shall return and ^pdwell beneath my ^{▼▼Hebrew his} shadow;
they shall flourish like the grain;
they shall blossom like the vine;
their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 O ^rEphraim, what have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you. ^{▼▼Hebrew him}
I am like an evergreen cypress;
^tfrom me comes your fruit.
9 ^uWhoever is wise, let him understand these things;
whoever is discerning, let him know them;
for the ways of the Lord are right,
and ^vthe upright walk in them,
^wbut transgressors stumble in them.