King James VersionHosea14

Hosea

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.