Hosea 14

to the Lord your God,

because you are suffering.

This is because you have sinned.

₂Come back to the Lord and say to Him:

‘Please forgive our sins

and listen to what we want to tell You.

These words are our offering.

₃The king of Assyria will not help us again

and we don't want to go to war again.

We will never again say an image

that we have made is our god.

We are like orphans and we know

that You will be good to us.’

‘I will heal them

and they can not leave Me again.

I will love them very much,

and I am not angry with them anymore.

₅I will be good to the Israelites,

like the dew is good to the field.

They will grow strong like flowers

and they will have deep roots

like the trees on Mount Lebanon.

₆Their young branches will grow

and they will become as beautiful

as an olive tree,

and they will smell good

like the trees on Mount Lebanon.

₇The people will again live

in the shade of the Lebanon Mountains.

They will grow like wheat,

they will have grapes like a good vine

and their wine will be good,

like the wine from Mount Lebanon.

₈People of Ephraim, I do not want to see

the images of your idols again.

I will listen to your prayers,

and I will care for you.

I am like a cypress tree

that always has green leaves.

It is I who give you fruit.’

₉Everyone who is wise

must understand these things.

Everyone who is clever

must listen to what Hosea has written in this book.

You must listen

because the ways of the Lord are right.

Righteous people walk with God in his ways,

but those who do not listen to Him will fall.