The Turning (Hosea 14:1-9)

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Hosea 14 (Listen)

14:1   Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God,
    for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
2   Take with you words
    and return to the LORD;
  say to him,
    “Take away all iniquity;
  accept what is good,
    and we will pay with bulls
    the vows of our lips.
3   Assyria shall not save us;
    we will not ride on horses;
  and we will say no more, ‘Our God,’
    to the work of our hands.
  In you the orphan finds mercy.”
4   I will heal their apostasy;
    I will love them freely,
    for my anger has turned from them.
5   I will be like the dew to Israel;
    he shall blossom like the lily;
    he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon;
6   his shoots shall spread out;
    his beauty shall be like the olive,
    and his fragrance like Lebanon.
7   They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow;
    they shall flourish like the grain;
  they shall blossom like the vine;
    their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
8   O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
    It is I who answer and look after you.
  I am like an evergreen cypress;
    from me comes your fruit.
9   Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
    whoever is discerning, let him know them;
  for the ways of the LORD are right,
    and the upright walk in them,
    but transgressors stumble in them.

(ESV)