We love theology because it informs our understanding of the Lord, but theology becomes just an intellectual exercise if it doesn’t impact how we worship and how we enjoy the Lord.
Steve Swartz

Hosea

Hosea

{1:1} The word of Jehovah that came unto Hosea the son of Beeri, inthe days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and inthe days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. {1:2} WhenJehovah spake at the first by Hosea, Jehovah said unto Hosea, Go, takeunto thee a wife of whoredom and children of whoredom; for the landdoth commit great whoredom, [departing] from Jehovah. {1:3} So he wentand took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; and she conceived, and bare hima son. {1:4} And Jehovah said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yeta little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the houseof Jehu, and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease.{1:5} And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bowof Israel in the valley of Jezreel. {1:6} And she conceived again, andbare a daughter. And [Jehovah] said unto him, Call her name Lo-ruhamah;for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel, that I shouldin any wise pardon them. {1:7} But I will have mercy upon the house ofJudah, and will save them by Jehovah their God, and will not save themby bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen. {1:8}Now when she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son.{1:9} And [Jehovah] said, Call his name Lo-ammi; for ye are not mypeople, and I will not be your [God]. {1:10} Yet the number of thechildren of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot bemeasured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass that, in the placewhere it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, it shall be saidunto them, [Ye are] the sons of the living God. {1:11} And the childrenof Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, andthey shall appoint themselves one head, and shall go up from the land;for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

{2:1} Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.{2:2} Contend with your mother, contend; for she is not my wife,neither am I her husband; and let her put away her whoredoms from herface, and her adulteries from between her breasts; {2:3} lest I stripher naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her asa wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.{2:4} Yea, upon her children will I have no mercy; for they arechildren of whoredom; {2:5} for their mother hath played the harlot;she that conceived them hath done shamefully; for she said, I will goafter my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and myflax, mine oil and my drink. {2:6} Therefore, behold, I will hedge upthy way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, that sheshall 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 notfind them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my firsthusband; for then was it better with me than now. {2:8} For she did notknow that I gave her the grain, and the new wine, and the oil, andmultiplied unto her silver and gold, which they used for Baal. {2:9}Therefore will I take back my grain in the time thereof, and my newwine in the season thereof, and will pluck away my wool and my flaxwhich should have covered her nakedness. {2:10} And now will I uncoverher lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her outof my hand. {2:11} I will also cause all her mirth to cease, herfeasts, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn assemblies.{2:12} And I will lay waste her vines and her fig-trees, whereof shehath said, These are my hire that my lovers have given me; and I willmake them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them. {2:13}And I will visit upon her the days of the Baalim, unto which she burnedincense, when she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, andwent after her lovers, and forgat me, saith Jehovah. {2:14} Therefore,behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speakcomfortably unto her. {2:15} And I will give her her vineyards fromthence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope; and she shall makeanswer there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when shecame up out of the land of Egypt. {2:16} And it shall be at that day,saith Jehovah, that thou shalt call me Ishi, and shalt call me no moreBaali. {2:17} For I will take away the names of the Baalim out of hermouth, and they shall no more be mentioned by their name. {2:18} And inthat day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field,and with the birds of the heavens, and with the creeping things of theground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out ofthe land, and will make them to lie down safely. {2:19} And I willbetroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me inrighteousness, and in justice, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.{2:20} I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness; and thou shaltknow Jehovah. {2:21} And it shall come to pass in that day, I willanswer, saith Jehovah, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answerthe earth; {2:22} and the earth shall answer the grain, and the newwine, and the oil; and they shall answer Jezreel. {2:23} And I will sowher unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had notobtained mercy; and I will say to them that were not my people, Thouart my people; and they shall say, [Thou art] my God.

{3:1} And Jehovah said unto me, Go again, love a woman beloved of[her] friend, and an adulteress, even as Jehovah loveth the children ofIsrael, though they turn unto other gods, and love cakes of raisins.{3:2} So I bought her to me for fifteen [pieces] of silver, and a homerof barley, and a half-homer of barley; {3:3} and I said unto her, Thoushalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thoushalt not be any man’s wife: so will I also be toward thee. {3:4} Forthe children of Israel shall abide many days without king, and withoutprince, and without sacrifice, and without pillar, and without ephod orteraphim: {3:5} afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seekJehovah their God, and David their king, and shall come with fear untoJehovah and to his goodness in the latter days.

{4:1} Hear the word of Jehovah, ye children of Israel; for Jehovahhath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there isno truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land. {4:2} Thereis nought but swearing and breaking faith, 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 dwelleththerein shall languish, with the beasts of the field and the birds ofthe heavens; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away. {4:4}Yet let no man strive, neither let any man reprove; for thy people areas they that strive with the priest. {4:5} And thou shalt stumble inthe day, and the prophet also shall stumble with thee in the night; andI will destroy thy mother. {4:6} My people are destroyed for lack ofknowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also rejectthee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgottenthe law of thy God, I also will forget thy children. {4:7} As they weremultiplied, so they sinned against me: I will change their glory intoshame. {4:8} They feed on the sin of my people, and set their heart ontheir iniquity. {4:9} And it shall be, like people, like priest; and Iwill punish them for their ways, and will requite them their doings.{4:10} And they shall eat, and not have enough; they shall play theharlot, and shall not increase; because they have left off taking heedto Jehovah. {4:11} Whoredom and wine and new wine take away theunderstanding. {4:12} My people ask counsel at their stock, and theirstaff declareth unto them; for the spirit of whoredom hath caused themto err, and they have played the harlot, [departing] from under theirGod. {4:13} They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burnincense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and terebinths, becausethe shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters play the harlot,and your brides commit adultery. {4:14} I will not punish yourdaughters when they play the harlot, nor your brides when they commitadultery; for [the men] themselves go apart with harlots, and theysacrifice with the prostitutes; and the people that doth not understandshall be overthrown. {4:15} Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yetlet not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up toBeth-aven, nor swear, As Jehovah liveth. {4:16} For Israel hath behavedhimself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer: now will Jehovah feed themas a lamb in a large place. {4:17} Ephraim is joined to idols; let himalone. {4:18} Their drink is become sour; they play the harlotcontinually; her rulers dearly love shame. {4:19} The wind hath wrappedher up in its wings; and they shall be put to shame because of theirsacrifices.

{5:1} Hear this, O ye priests, and hearken, O house of Israel, andgive ear, O house of the king; for unto you pertaineth the judgment;for ye have been a snare at Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor. {5:2}And the revolters are gone deep in making slaughter; but I am a rebukerof them all. {5:3} I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me; fornow, O Ephraim, thou hast played the harlot, Israel is defiled. {5:4}Their doings will not suffer them to turn unto their God; for thespirit of whoredom is within them, and they know not Jehovah. {5:5} Andthe pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore Israel andEphraim shall stumble in their iniquity; Judah also shall stumble withthem. {5:6} They shall go with their flocks and with their herds toseek Jehovah; but they shall not find him: he hath withdrawn himselffrom them. {5:7} They have dealt treacherously against Jehovah; forthey have borne strange children: now shall the new moon devour themwith their fields. {5:8} Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpetin Ramah: sound an alarm at Beth-aven; behind thee, O Benjamin. {5:9}Ephraim shall become a desolation in the day of rebuke: among thetribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be. {5:10}The princes of Judah are like them that remove the landmark: I willpour out my wrath upon them like water. {5:11} Ephraim is oppressed, heis crushed in judgment; because he was content to walk after [man’s]command. {5:12} Therefore am I unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the houseof Judah as rottenness. {5:13} When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah[saw] his wound, then went Ephraim to Assyria, and sent to king Jareb:but he is not able to heal you, neither will he cure you of your wound.{5:14} For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to thehouse of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will carry off, andthere shall be none to deliver. {5:15} I will go and return to myplace, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in theiraffliction they will seek me earnestly.

{6:1} Come, and let us return unto Jehovah; for he hath torn, and hewill heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. {6:2} After twodays will he revive us: on the third day he will raise us up, and weshall live before him. {6:3} And let us know, let us follow on to knowJehovah: his going forth is sure as the morning; and he will come untous as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth. {6:4} OEphraim, 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 dew that goethearly away. {6:5} Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I haveslain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are [as] thelight that goeth forth. {6:6} For I desire goodness, and not sacrifice;and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings. {6:7} But they likeAdam have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealttreacherously against me. {6:8} Gilead is a city of them that workiniquity; it is stained with blood. {6:9} And as troops of robbers waitfor a man, so the company of priests murder in the way toward Shechem;yea, they have committed lewdness. {6:10} In the house of Israel I haveseen a horrible thing: there whoredom is [found] in Ephraim, Israel isdefiled. {6:11} Also, O Judah, there is a harvest appointed for thee,when I bring back the captivity of my people.

{7:1} When I would heal Israel, then is the iniquity of Ephraimuncovered, and the wickedness of Samaria; for they commit falsehood,and the thief entereth in, and the troop of robbers ravageth without.{7:2} And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all theirwickedness: now have their own doings beset them about; they are beforemy face. {7:3} They make the king glad with their wickedness, and theprinces with their lies. {7:4} They are all adulterers; they are as anoven heated by the baker; he ceaseth to stir [the fire], from thekneading of the dough, until it be leavened. {7:5} On the day of ourking the princes made themselves sick with the heat of wine; hestretched out his hand with scoffers. {7:6} For they have made readytheir heart like an oven, while they lie in wait: their baker sleepethall the night; in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire. {7:7} Theyare all hot as an oven, and devour their judges; all their kings arefallen: there is none among them that calleth unto me. {7:8} Ephraim,he mixeth himself among the peoples; 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, and he knoweth [it] not.{7:10} And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: yet they havenot returned unto Jehovah their God, nor sought him, for all this.{7:11} And Ephraim is like a silly dove, without understanding: theycall unto Egypt, they go to Assyria. {7:12} When they shall go, I willspread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the birds of theheavens; I will chastise them, as their congregation hath heard. {7:13}Woe unto them! for they have wandered from me; destruction unto them!for they have trespassed against me: though I would redeem them, yetthey have spoken lies against me. {7:14} And they have not cried untome with their heart, but they howl upon their beds: they assemblethemselves for grain and new wine; they rebel against me. {7:15} ThoughI have taught and strengthened their arms, yet do they devise mischiefagainst me. {7:16} They return, but not to [him that is] on high; theyare like a deceitful bow; their princes shall fall by the sword for therage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.

{8:1} [Set] the trumpet to thy mouth. As an eagle [he cometh]against the house of Jehovah, because they have transgressed mycovenant, and trespassed against my law. {8:2} They shall cry unto me,My God, we Israel know thee. {8:3} Israel hath cast off that which isgood: the enemy shall pursue him. {8:4} They have set up kings, but notby me; they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver andtheir gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off. {8:5}He hath cast off thy calf, O Samaria; mine anger is kindled againstthem: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency? {8:6} For fromIsrael is even this; the workman made it, and it is no God; yea, thecalf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces. {8:7} For they sow the wind,and they shall reap the whirlwind: he hath no standing grain; the bladeshall yield no meal; if so be it yield, strangers shall swallow it up.{8:8} Israel is swallowed up: now are they among the nations as avessel wherein none delighteth. {8:9} For they are gone up to Assyria,[like] a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers. {8:10}Yea, though they hire among the nations, now will I gather them; andthey begin to be diminished by reason of the burden of the king ofprinces. {8:11} Because Ephraim hath multiplied altars for sinning,altars have been unto him for sinning. {8:12} I wrote for him the tenthousand things of my law; but they are counted as a strange thing.{8:13} As for the sacrifices of mine offerings, they sacrifice fleshand eat it; but Jehovah accepteth them not: now will he remember theiriniquity, and visit their sins; they shall return to Egypt. {8:14} ForIsrael hath forgotten his Maker, and builded palaces; and Judah hathmultiplied fortified cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities,and it shall devour the castles thereof.

{9:1} Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, like the peoples; for thouhast played the harlot, [departing] from thy God; thou hast loved hireupon every grain-floor. {9:2} The threshing-floor and the winepressshall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail her. {9:3} They shallnot dwell in Jehovah’s land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, andthey shall eat unclean food in Assyria. {9:4} They shall not pour outwine-offerings to Jehovah, neither shall they be pleasing unto him:their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners; all thateat thereof shall be polluted; for their bread shall be for theirappetite; it shall not come into the house of Jehovah. {9:5} What willye do in the day of solemn assembly, and in the day of the feast ofJehovah? {9:6} For, lo, they are gone away from destruction; [yet]Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them; their pleasantthings of silver, nettles shall possess them; thorns shall be in theirtents. {9:7} The days of visitation are come, the days of recompenseare come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the man thathath the spirit is mad, for the abundance of thine iniquity, andbecause the enmity is great. {9:8} Ephraim [was] a watchman with myGod: as for the prophet, a fowler’s snare is in all his ways, [and]enmity in the house of his God. {9:9} They have deeply corruptedthemselves, as in the days of Gibeah: he will remember their iniquity,he will visit their sins. {9:10} I found Israel like grapes in thewilderness; I saw your fathers as the first-ripe in the fig-tree at itsfirst season: but they came to Baal-peor, and consecrated themselvesunto the shameful thing, and became abominable like that which theyloved. {9:11} As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird:there shall be no birth, and none with child, and no conception. {9:12}Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, so thatnot a man shall be left: yea, woe also to them when I depart from them!{9:13} Ephraim, like as I have seen Tyre, is planted in a pleasantplace: but Ephraim shall bring out his children to the slayer. {9:14}Give them, O Jehovah-what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womband dry breasts. {9:15} All their wickedness is in Gilgal; for there Ihated them: because of the wickedness of their doings I will drive themout of my house; I will love them no more; all their princes arerevolters. {9:16} Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, theyshall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay thebeloved fruit of their womb. {9:17} My God will cast them away, becausethey did not hearken unto him; and they shall be wanderers among thenations.

{10:1} Israel is a luxuriant vine, that putteth forth his fruit:according to the abundance of his fruit he hath multiplied his altars;according to the goodness of their land they have made goodly pillars.{10:2} Their heart is divided; now shall they be found guilty: he willsmite their altars, he will destroy their pillars. {10:3} Surely nowshall they say, We have no king; for we fear not Jehovah; and the king,what can he do for us? {10:4} They speak [vain] words, swearing falselyin making covenants: therefore judgment springeth up as hemlock in thefurrows of the field. {10:5} The inhabitants of Samaria shall be interror for the calves of Beth-aven; for the people thereof shall mournover it, and the priests thereof that rejoiced over it, for the glorythereof, because it is departed from it. {10:6} It also shall becarried unto Assyria for a present to king Jareb: Ephraim shall receiveshame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel. {10:7} [As for]Samaria, her king is cut off, as foam upon the water. {10:8} The highplaces also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thornand the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say tothe 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 battleagainst the children of iniquity doth not overtake them in Gibeah.{10:10} When it is my desire, I will chastise them; and the peoplesshall be gathered against them, when they are bound to their twotransgressions. {10:11} And Ephraim is a heifer that is taught, thatloveth to tread out [the grain]; but I have passed over upon her fairneck: I will set a rider on Ephraim; Judah shall plow, Jacob shallbreak his clods. {10:12} Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reapaccording to kindness; break up your fallow ground; for it is time toseek Jehovah, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. {10:13} Yehave plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten thefruit of lies; for thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thymighty men. {10:14} Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people,and all thy fortresses shall be destroyed, as Shalman destroyedBeth-arbel in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces withher children. {10:15} So shall Beth-el do unto you because of yourgreat wickedness: at daybreak shall the king of Israel be utterly cutoff.

{11:1} When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my sonout of Egypt. {11:2} The more [the prophets] called them, the more theywent from them: they sacrificed unto the Baalim, and burned incense tograven images. {11:3} Yet I taught Ephraim to walk; I took them on myarms; but they knew not that I healed them. {11:4} I drew them withcords of a man, with bands of love; and I was to them as they that liftup the yoke on their jaws; and I laid food before them. {11:5} Theyshall not return into the land of Egypt; but the Assyrian shall betheir king, because they refused to return [to me]. {11:6} And thesword shall fall upon their cities, and shall consume their bars, anddevour [them], because of their own counsels. {11:7} And my people arebent on backsliding from me: though they call them to [him that is] onhigh, none at all will exalt [him]. {11:8} How shall I give thee up,Ephraim? [how] shall I cast thee off, Israel? how shall I make thee asAdmah? [how] shall I set thee as Zeboiim? my heart is turned within me,my compassions are kindled together. {11:9} I will not execute thefierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for Iam God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee; and I will notcome in wrath. {11:10} They shall walk after Jehovah, who will roarlike a lion; for he will roar, and the children shall come tremblingfrom the west. {11:11} They shall come trembling as a bird out ofEgypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria; and I will make themto dwell in their houses, saith Jehovah. {11:12} Ephraim compasseth meabout with falsehood, and the house of Israel with deceit; but Judahyet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the Holy One.

{12:1} Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind:he continually multiplieth lies and desolation; and they make acovenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt. {12:2} Jehovahhath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according tohis ways; according to his doings will he recompense him. {12:3} In thewomb he took his brother by the heel; and in his manhood he had powerwith God: {12:4} yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed; hewept, and made supplication unto him: he found him at Beth-el, andthere he spake with us, {12:5} even Jehovah, the God of hosts; Jehovahis his memorial [name]. {12:6} Therefore turn thou to thy God: keepkindness and justice, and wait for thy God continually. {12:7} [He is]a trafficker, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth tooppress. {12:8} And Ephraim said, Surely I am become rich, I have foundme wealth: in all my labors they shall find in me no iniquity that weresin. {12:9} But I am Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt; I will yetagain make thee to dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn feast.{12:10} I have also spoken unto the prophets, and I have multipliedvisions; and by the ministry of the prophets have I used similitudes.{12:11} Is Gilead iniquity? they are altogether false; in Gilgal theysacrifice bullocks; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows ofthe field. {12:12} And Jacob fled into the field of Aram, and Israelserved for a wife, and for a wife he kept [sheep]. {12:13} And by aprophet Jehovah brought Israel up out of Egypt, and by a prophet was hepreserved. {12:14} Ephraim hath provoked to anger most bitterly:therefore shall his blood be left upon him, and his reproach shall hisLord return unto him.

{13:1} When Ephraim spake, there was trembling; he exalted himselfin Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died. {13:2} And now theysin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver,even idols according to their own understanding, all of them the workof the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss thecalves. {13:3} Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as thedew that passeth early away, as the chaff that is driven with thewhirlwind out of the threshing-floor, and as the smoke out of thechimney. {13:4} Yet I am Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt; andthou shalt know no god but me, and besides me there is no saviour.{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 werefilled, and their heart was exalted: therefore have they forgotten me.{13:7} Therefore am I unto them as a lion; as a leopard will I watch bythe way; {13:8} I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of herwhelps, and will rend the caul of their heart; and there will I devourthem like a lioness; the wild beast shall tear them. {13:9} It is thydestruction, O Israel, that [thou art] against me, against thy help.{13:10} Where now is thy king, that he may save thee in all thy cities?and thy judges, of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes?{13:11} I have given thee a king in mine anger, and have taken him awayin my wrath. {13:12} The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin islaid up in store. {13:13} The sorrows of a travailing woman shall comeupon him: he is an unwise son; for it is time he should not tarry inthe place of the breaking forth of children. {13:14} I will ransom themfrom the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from death: O death, whereare thy plagues? O Sheol, where is thy destruction? repentance shall behid from mine eyes. {13:15} Though he be fruitful among his brethren,an east wind shall come, the breath of Jehovah coming up from thewilderness; and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall bedried up: he shall make spoil of the treasure of all goodly vessels.{13:16} Samaria shall bear her guilt; for she hath rebelled against herGod: they shall fall by the sword; their infants shall be dashed inpieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.

{14:1} O Israel, return unto Jehovah thy God; for thou hast fallenby thine iniquity. {14:2} Take with you words, and return unto Jehovah:say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and accept that which is good: sowill we render [as] bullocks [the offering of] our lips. {14:3} Assyriashall not save us; we will not ride upon horses; neither will we sayany more to the work of our hands, [Ye are] our gods; for in thee thefatherless findeth mercy. {14:4} I will heal their backsliding, I willlove them freely; for mine anger is turned away from him. {14:5} I willbe as the dew unto Israel; he shall blossom as the lily, and cast forthhis roots as Lebanon. {14:6} His branches shall spread, and his beautyshall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon. {14:7} They thatdwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive [as] the grain,and blossom as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine ofLebanon. {14:8} Ephraim [shall say], What have I to do any more withidols? I have answered, and will regard him: I am like a greenfir-tree; from me is thy fruit found. {14:9} Who is wise, that he mayunderstand these things? prudent, that he may know them? for the waysof Jehovah are right, and the just shall walk in them; buttransgressors shall fall therein.

The American Standard Version of the Holy Bible is now in the Public Domain. Feel free to copy it for your friends, give it away, sell it,and publish it. http://www.ebible.org/bible/asv