HO-14:1  O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast

fallen by thine

iniquity.

HO-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.

HO-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.

HO-14:4  I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely:

for mine

anger is turned away from him.

HO-14:5  I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the

lily, and cast

forth his roots as Lebanon.

HO-14:6  His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as

the olive tree,

and his smell as Lebanon.

HO-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.

HO-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.

HO-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.

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