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 sent 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.