Hosea
Chapter One
1:1
The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, the son
of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah,
and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
1:2
The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And
the LORD
said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms
and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom,
departing from the LORD.
1:3
So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim;
which conceived, and bare him a son.
1:4
And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel;
for yet a
little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel
upon the
house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom
of the
house of Israel.
1:5
And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will
break the bow of Israel, in the valley of Jezreel.
1:6
And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And
God said unto him, Call her name Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy
upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away.
1:7
But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and
will save
them by the LORD their God, and will not save them
by bow, nor
by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.
1:8
Now when she had weaned Loruhamah,
she conceived, and bare a son.
1:9
Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not
my people,
and I will not be your God.
1:10
Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be
as the sand
of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered;
and it
shall come to pass, that in the place where it was
said unto
them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said
unto them,
Ye are the sons of the living God.
1:11
Then shall the children of Judah and the children
of Israel be
gathered together, and appoint themselves one head,
and they
shall come up out of the land: for great shall be
the day of
Jezreel.
Chapter Two
2:1
Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi;
and to your sisters, Ruhamah.
2:2
Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife,
neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out
of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;
2:3
Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day
that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry
land, and slay her with thirst.
2:4
And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they
be the
children of whoredoms.
2:5
For their mother hath played the harlot: she that
conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers,
that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my
drink.
2:6
Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns,
and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.
2:7
And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall
not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then
shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it
better with me than now.
2:8
For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine,
and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.
2:9
Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in
the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my
wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness.
2:10
And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight
of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand.
2:11
I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast
days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.
2:12
And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof
she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I
will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.
2:13
And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein
she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and
her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD.
2:14
Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her
into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.
2:15
And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and
the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in
the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land
of Egypt.
2:16
And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that
thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.
2:17
For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her
mouth, and
they shall no more be remembered by their name.
2:18
And in that day will I make a covenant for them with
the beasts of the field and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping
things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle
out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.
2:19
And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will
betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness,
and in mercies.
2:20
I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness:
and thou shalt know the LORD.
2:21
And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear,
saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;
2:22
And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and
the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.
2:23
And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will
have mercy
upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say
to them
which were not my people, Thou art my people; and
they shall
say, Thou art my God.
Chapter Three
3:1
Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved
of
her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love
of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and
love flagons of wine.
3:2
So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver,
and for an
homer of barley, and an half homer of barley:
3:3
And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many
days; thou
shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for
another man:
so will I also be for thee.
3:4
For the children of Israel shall abide many days without
a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image,
and without an ephod, and without teraphim:
3:5
Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and
seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD
and his goodness in the latter days.
Chapter Four
4:1
Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel:
for the LORD
hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land,
because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
4:2
By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing,
and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
4:3
Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that
dwelleth
therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field,
and with
the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also
shall be
taken away.
4:4
Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy
people are as they that strive with the priest.
4:5
Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet
also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother.
4:6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because
thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt
be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will
also forget thy children.
4:7
As they were increased, so they sinned against me:
therefore will I change their glory into shame.
4:8
They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their
heart on their iniquity.
4:9
And there shall be, like people, like priest: and
I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings.
4:10
For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall
commit
whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have
left off
to take heed to the LORD.
4:11
Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.
4:12
My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff
declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath
caused
them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under
their
God.
4:13
They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and
burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the
shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom,
and your spouses shall commit adultery.
4:14
I will not punish your daughters when they commit
whoredom,
nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves
are
separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots:
therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall.
4:15
Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not
Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven,
nor swear, The LORD liveth.
4:16
For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now
the LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
4:17
Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.
4:18
Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom
continually:
her rulers with shame do love, Give ye.
4:19
The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and they
shall be
ashamed because of their sacrifices.
Chapter Five
5:1
Hear ye this, O priests; and hearken, ye house of
Israel; and
give ye ear, O house of the king; for judgment is
toward you,
because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net
spread upon
Tabor.
5:2
And the revolters are profound to make slaughter,
though I have been a rebuker of them all.
5:3
I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for
now, O
Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled.
5:4
They will not frame their doings to turn unto their
God: for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have
not known the LORD.
5:5
And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face:
therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity: Judah also shall
fall with them.
5:6
They shall go with their flocks and with their herds
to seek the LORD; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself
from them.
5:7
They have dealt treacherously against the LORD: for
they have
begotten strange children: now shall a month devour
them with
their portions.
5:8
Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah:
cry aloud at Bethaven, after thee, O Benjamin.
5:9
Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among
the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be.
5:10
The princes of Judah were like them that remove the
bound:
therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like
water.
5:11
Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because
he willingly walked after the commandment.
5:12
Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to
the house of Judah as rottenness.
5:13
When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound,
then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he
not heal you, nor cure you of your wound.
5:14
For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young
lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take
away, and none shall rescue him.
5:15
I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge
their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me
early.
Chapter Six
6:1
Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath
torn, and
he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind
us up.
6:2
After two days will he revive us: in the third day
he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.
6:3
Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD:
his
going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall
come unto
us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto
the earth.
6:4
O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what
shall I do
unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud,
and as the
early dew it goeth away.
6:5
Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have
slain them
by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as
the light
that goeth forth.
6:6
For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge
of God more than burnt offerings.
6:7
But they like men have transgressed the covenant:
there have they dealt treacherously against me.
6:8
Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is
polluted with blood.
6:9
And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company
of priests murder in the way by consent: for they commit lewdness.
6:10
I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel:
there is the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.
6:11
Also, O Judah, he hath set an harvest for thee, when
I returned the captivity of my people.
Chapter Seven
7:1
When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity
of Ephraim
was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for
they commit
falsehood; and the thief cometh in, and the troop
of robbers
spoileth without.
7:2
And they consider not in their hearts that I remember
all their wickedness: now their own doings have beset them about; they
are before my face.
7:3
They make the king glad with their wickedness, and
the princes
with their lies.
7:4
They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the
baker, who
ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough,
until it
be leavened.
7:5
In the day of our king the princes have made him sick
with
bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners.
7:6
For they have made ready their heart like an oven,
whiles they
lie in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in
the
morning it burneth as a flaming fire.
7:7
They are all hot as an oven, and have devoured their
judges;
all their kings are fallen: there is none among them
that
calleth unto me.
7:8
Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim
is a cake not turned.
7:9
Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth
it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.
7:10
And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face: and
they do not return to the LORD their God, nor seek him for all this.
7:11
Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart: they
call to Egypt, they go to Assyria.
7:12
When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them;
I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven; I will chastise them,
as their congregation hath heard.
7:13
Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction
unto them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed
them, yet they have spoken lies against me.
7:14
And they have not cried unto me with their heart,
when they
howled upon their beds: they assemble themselves for
corn
and wine, and they rebel against me.
7:15
Though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet
do they
imagine mischief against me.
7:16
They return, but not to the most High: they are like
a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of
their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
Chapter Eight
8:1
Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an
eagle against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my
covenant, and trespassed against my law.
8:2
Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee.
8:3
Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy
shall pursue him.
8:4
They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made
princes,
and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold
have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.
8:5
Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off; mine anger
is kindled
against them: how long will it be ere they attain
to innocency?
8:6
For from Israel was it also: the workman made it;
therefore it
is not God: but the calf of Samaria shall be broken
in pieces.
8:7
For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the
whirlwind: it hath no stalk; the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield,
the strangers shall swallow it up.
8:8
Israel is swallowed up: now shall they be among the
Gentiles as a vessel wherein is no pleasure.
8:9
For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone
by himself:
Ephraim hath hired lovers.
8:10
Yea, though they have hired among the nations, now
will I gather them, and they shall sorrow a little for the burden of the
king of princes.
8:11
Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars
shall be unto him to sin.
8:12
I have written to him the great things of my law,
but they were counted as a strange thing.
8:13
They sacrifice flesh for the sacrifices of mine offerings,
and eat it; but the LORD accepteth them not; now will he remember their
iniquity, and visit their sins: they shall return to Egypt.
8:14
For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth
temples; and
Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send
a fire
upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.
Chapter Nine
9:1
Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as other people: for
thou hast
gone a whoring from thy God, thou hast loved a reward
upon
every cornfloor.
9:2
The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and
the new
wine shall fail in her.
9:3
They shall not dwell in the LORD's land; but Ephraim
shall
return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things
in Assyria.
9:4
They shall not offer wine offerings to the LORD, neither
shall
they be pleasing unto him: their sacrifices shall
be unto them
as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall
be polluted:
for their bread for their soul shall not come into
the house of the LORD.
9:5
What will ye do in the solemn day, and in the day
of the feast of the LORD?
9:6
For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt
shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the pleasant places for
their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns shall be in their tabernacles.
9:7
The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence
are come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man
is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred.
9:8
The watchman of Ephraim was with my God: but the prophet
is a
snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the
house of his God.
9:9
They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days
of
Gibeah: therefore he will remember their iniquity,
he will
visit their sins.
9:10
I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw
your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they
went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations
were according as they loved.
9:11
As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a
bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception.
9:12
Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave
them,
that there shall not be a man left: yea, woe also
to them when
I depart from them!
9:13
Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant
place: but
Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer.
9:14
Give them, O LORD: what wilt thou give? give them
a
miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
9:15
All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I hated
them: for
the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out
of mine
house, I will love them no more: all their princes
are
revolters.
9:16
Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall
bear no
fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay
even the
beloved fruit of their womb.
9:17
My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken
unto
him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations.
Chapter Ten
10:1
Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto
himself:
according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased
the
altars; according to the goodness of his land they
have made
goodly images.
10:2
Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty:
he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images.
10:3
For now they shall say, We have no king, because we
feared not
the LORD; what then should a king do to us?
10:4
They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making
a covenant:
thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows
of the field.
10:5
The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the
calves of
Bethaven: for the people thereof shall mourn over
it, and the
priests thereof that rejoiced on it, for the glory
thereof,
because it is departed from it.
10:6
It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present
to king
Jareb: Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall
be
ashamed of his own counsel.
10:7
As for Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon
the water.
10:8
The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall
be
destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up
on their
altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover
us; and to
the hills, Fall on us.
10:9
O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah:
there they
stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of
iniquity
did not overtake them.
10:10
It is in my desire that I should chastise them; and
the people
shall be gathered against them, when they shall bind
themselves in their two furrows.
10:11
And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth
to
tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair
neck: I
will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob
shall
break his clods.
10:12
Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy;
break up
your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD,
till he
come and rain righteousness upon you.
10:13
Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity;
ye have
eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust
in thy way,
in the multitude of thy mighty men.
10:14
Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and
all thy
fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Betharbel
in
the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces
upon her
children.
10:15
So shall Bethel do unto you because of your great
wickedness:
in a morning shall the king of Israel utterly be cut
off.
Chapter Eleven
11:1
When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called
my son out of Egypt.
11:2
As they called them, so they went from them: they
sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.
11:3
I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their
arms; but they knew not that I healed them.
11:4
I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love:
and I was
to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws,
and I
laid meat unto them.
11:5
He shall not return into the land of Egypt, and the
Assyrian
shall be his king, because they refused to return.
11:6
And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall
consume his
branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels.
11:7
And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though
they
called them to the most High, none at all would exalt
him.
11:8
How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver
thee,
Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall
I set thee
as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings
are
kindled together.
11:9
I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I
will not
return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man;
the Holy
One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into
the city.
11:10
They shall walk after the LORD: he shall roar like
a lion:
when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble
from the
west.
11:11
They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as
a dove out
of the land of Assyria: and I will place them in their
houses,
saith the LORD.
11:12
Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house
of Israel
with deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is
faithful
with the saints.
Chapter Twelve
12:1
Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east
wind: he
daily increaseth lies and desolation; and they do
make a
covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into
Egypt.
12:2
The LORD hath also a controversy with Judah, and will
punish
Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings
will he
recompense him.
12:3
He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by
his
strength he had power with God:
12:4
Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he
wept, and
made supplication unto him: he found him in Bethel,
and there
he spake with us;
12:5
Even the LORD God of hosts; the LORD is his memorial.
12:6
Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment
and
wait on thy God continually.
12:7
He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his
hand:
he loveth to oppress.
12:8
And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found
me out
substance: in all my labours they shall find none
iniquity in
me that were sin.
12:9
And I that am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt
will yet
make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days
of the
solemn feast.
12:10
I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied
visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of
the
prophets.
12:11
Is there iniquity in Gilead? surely they are vanity:
they
sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal; yea, their altars are
as heaps
in the furrows of the fields.
12:12
And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel
served
for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.
12:13
And by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt,
and by a prophet was he preserved.
12:14
Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly: therefore
shall
he leave his blood upon him, and his reproach shall
his LORD
return unto him.
Chapter Thirteen
13:1
When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in
Israel;
but when he offended in Baal, he died.
13:2
And now they sin more and more, and have made them
molten
images of their silver, and idols according to their
own
understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen:
they
say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.
13:3
Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud and as
the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind
out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.
13:4
Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt,
and thou
shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour
beside me.
13:5
I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of
great drought.
13:6
According to their pasture, so were they filled; they
were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten
me.
13:7
Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard
by the way will I observe them:
13:8
I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her
whelps, and
will rend the caul of their heart, and there will
I devour
them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.
13:9
O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is
thine help.
13:10
I will be thy king: where is any other that may save
thee in
all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst,
Give me a king and princes?
13:11
I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away
in my wrath.
13:12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is hid.
13:13
The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon
him: he is
an unwise son; for he should not stay long in the
place of the
breaking forth of children.
13:14
I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I
will redeem
them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O
grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.
13:15
Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east
wind shall come, the wind of the LORD shall come up from the wilderness,
and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he
shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels.
13:16
Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled
against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed
in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.
Chapter Fourteen
14:1
O israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast
fallen by thine iniquity.
14:2
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.
14:3
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.
14:4
I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely:
for mine anger is turned away from him.
14:5
I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as
the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
14:6
His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be
as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.
14:7
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.
14:8
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.
14:9
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.
The End