Hosea 14

¹Return to Yahweh your God, O Israel, for you have stumbled because of your sin. ²Take words with you, and return to Yahweh. Say to him, “Take away all guilt; accept good, and we will offer the fruit of our lips. ³Assyria will not save us; we will not ride on horses, and we will say no more, “Our God,” to the work of our hands because in you the fatherless child finds mercy. ⁴I will heal their disloyalty; I will love them freely because my anger has turned back from them. ⁵I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily plant, and he will strike his roots like the trees of Lebanon. ⁶His new plant shoots will spread out; his splendor will be like the olive tree, and his scent like the trees of Lebanon. ⁷⌞They will again dwell⌟ in my shadow; they will grow grain and they will blossom like the plant vine; his fame will be like the wine of Lebanon. ⁸O Ephraim, ⌞what have I to do⌟ with idols? I myself have answered and looked after you. I am like a luxuriant cypress; your fruit comes from me. ⁹Who is wise that he can understand these things? Who is discerning that he knows them? The ways of Yahweh are right, and the righteous walk in them; but transgressors stumble in them.