Hosea 14

¹ Samaria must atone for rebelling against her God. They shall fall by the sword, their little children be dashed to pieces, their pregnant women disembowelled.

² Israel, come back to Yahweh your God; your iniquity was the cause of your downfall.

³ Provide yourself with words and come back to Yahweh. Say to him, ‘Take all iniquity away so that we may have happiness again and offer you our words of praise.

⁴ Assyria cannot save us, we will not ride horses any more[*a], or say, “Our God!” to what our own hands have made, for you are the one in whom orphans find compassion.

⁵ -I will heal their disloyalty, I will love them with all my heart, for my anger has turned from them.

⁶ I will fall like dew on Israel. He shall bloom like the lily, and thrust out roots like the poplar,

⁷ his shoots will spread far; he will have the beauty of the olive and the fragrance of Lebanon.

⁸ They will come back to live in my shade; they will grow corn that flourishes, they will cultivate vines as renowned as the wine of Helbon.

⁹ What has Ephraim to do with idols any more when it is I who hear his prayer and care for him? I am like a cypress ever green, all your fruitfulness comes from me.

¹⁰ Let the wise man understand these words. Let the intelligent man grasp their meaning. For the ways of Yahweh are straight, and virtuous men walk in them, but sinners stumble.