A Plea for Repentance
14 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.(A)
2 Take words with you
and return to the Lord;
say to him,
“Take away all guilt;
accept that which is good,
and we will offer
the fruit[a] of our lips.(B)
3 Assyria shall not save us;
we will not ride upon horses;
we will say no more, ‘Our God,’
to the work of our hands.
In you the orphan finds mercy.”(C)
Assurance of Forgiveness
4 I will heal their disloyalty;
I will love them freely,
for my anger has turned from them.(D)
5 I will be like the dew to Israel;
he shall blossom like the lily;
he shall strike root like the forests of Lebanon.[b](E)
6 His shoots shall spread out;
his beauty shall be like the olive tree
and his fragrance like that of Lebanon.(F)
7 They shall again live beneath my[c] shadow;
they shall flourish as a garden;[d]
they shall blossom like the vine;
their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon.(G)
8 O Ephraim, what have I[e] to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you.[f]
I am like an evergreen cypress;
your fruit comes from me.(H)
9 Those who are wise understand these things;
those who are discerning know them.
For the ways of the Lord are right,
and the upright walk in them,
but transgressors stumble in them.(I)
Footnotes
- 14.2Gk Syr: Heb bulls
- 14.5Cn: Heb like Lebanon
- 14.7Heb his
- 14.7Cn: Heb they shall grow grain
- 14.8Or What more has Ephraim
- 14.8Heb him
Cross references
- 14.1 : Hos 10.12; 12.6; Joel 2.13
- 14.2 : Mic 7.18, 19; Heb 13.15
- 14.3 : Ps 10.14; Isa 31.1; Hos 5.13; 8.6; 13.2
- 14.4 : Isa 12.1; Zeph 3.17
- 14.5 : Job 29.19; Isa 35.2; Mt 6.28
- 14.6 : Ps 52.8; Song 4.11
- 14.7 : Ps 91.4; Ezek 17.23; Hos 2.21, 22
- 14.8 : v 3; Isa 41.19; Ezek 17.23
- 14.9 : Ps 107.43; Isa 1.28; 26.7; Acts 13.10