Return unto the LORD thy God, says Hosea, and ask him to take away all iniquity. God replies: I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely. Israel will blossom like the lily and take root like Lebanon. Whoever is wise will understand these things.
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.