Hosea 14
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 any more 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 any more 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.