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The Holy
Bible
Hosea
Chapter 1
1 The word of the LORD
that came unto Hosea, the son of
Beeri, in the days of Uzziah,
Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings
of Judah, and in the days of
Jeroboam the son of Joash, king
of Israel.
2 The beginning of the
word of the LORD by Hosea. And
the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take
unto thee a wife of whoredoms and
children of whoredoms: for the
land hath committed great
whoredom, departing from the
LORD.
3 So he went and took
Gomer the daughter of Diblaim;
which conceived, and bare him a
son.
4 And the LORD said unto
him, Call his name Jezreel; for
yet a little while, and I will
avenge the blood of Jezreel upon
the house of Jehu, and will cause
to cease the kingdom of the house
of Israel.
5 And it shall come to
pass at that day, that I will
break the bow of Israel in the
valley of Jezreel.
6 And she conceived again,
and bare a daughter. And God said
unto him, Call her name
Lo-ruhamah: for I will no more
have mercy upon the house of
Israel; but I will utterly take
them away.
7 But I will have mercy
upon the house of Judah, and will
save them by the LORD their God,
and will not save them by bow,
nor by sword, nor by battle, by
horses, nor by horsemen.
8 Now when she had weaned
Lo-ruhamah, she conceived, and
bare a son.
9 Then said God, Call his
name Lo-ammi: for ye are not my
people, and I will not be your
God.
10 Yet the number of the
children of Israel shall be as
the sand of the sea, which cannot
be measured nor numbered; and it
shall come to pass, that in the
place where it was said unto
them, Ye are not my people, there
it shall be said unto them, Ye
are the sons of the living
God.
11 Then shall the children
of Judah and the children of
Israel be gathered together, and
appoint themselves one head, and
they shall come up out of the
land: for great shall be the day
of Jezreel.
Chapter 2
1 Say ye unto your
brethren, Ammi; and to your
sisters, Ru-hamah.
2 Plead with your mother,
plead: for she is not my wife,
neither am I her husband: let her
therefore put away her whoredoms
out of her sight, and her
adulteries from between her
breasts;
3 Lest I strip her naked,
and set her as in the day that
she was born, and make her as a
wilderness, and set her like a
dry land, and slay her with
thirst.
4 And I will not have
mercy upon her children; for they
be the children of whoredoms.
5 For their mother hath
played the harlot: she that
conceived them hath done
shamefully: for she said, I will
go after my lovers, that give me
my bread and my water, my wool
and my flax, mine oil and my
drink.
6 Therefore, behold, I
will hedge up thy way with
thorns, and make a wall, that she
shall not find her paths.
7 And she shall follow
after her lovers, but she shall
not overtake them; and she shall
seek them, but shall not find
them: then shall she say, I will
go and return to my first
husband; for then was it better
with me than now.
8 For she did not know
that I gave her corn, and wine,
and oil, and multiplied her
silver and gold, which they
prepared for Baal.
9 Therefore will I return,
and take away my corn in the time
thereof, and my wine in the
season thereof, and will recover
my wool and my flax given to
cover her nakedness.
10 And now will I discover
her lewdness in the sight of her
lovers, and none shall deliver
her out of mine hand.
11 I will also cause all
her mirth to cease, her feast
days, her new moons, and her
sabbaths, and all her solemn
feasts.
12 And I will destroy her
vines and her fig trees, whereof
she hath said, These are my
rewards that my lovers have given
me: and I will make them a
forest, and the beasts of the
field shall eat them.
13 And I will visit upon
her the days of Baalim, wherein
she burned incense to them, and
she decked herself with her
earrings and her jewels, and she
went after her lovers, and forgat
me, saith the LORD.
14 Therefore, behold, I
will allure her, and bring her
into the wilderness, and speak
comfortably unto her.
15 And I will give her her
vineyards from thence, and the
valley of Achor for a door of
hope: and she shall sing there,
as in the days of her youth, and
as in the day when she came up
out of the land of Egypt.
16 And it shall be at that
day, saith the LORD, that thou
shalt call me Ishi; and shalt
call me no more Baali.
17 For I will take away
the names of Baalim out of her
mouth, and they shall no more be
remembered by their name.
18 And in that day will I
make a covenant for them with the
beasts of the field, and with the
fowls of heaven, and with the
creeping things of the ground:
and I will break the bow and the
sword and the battle out of the
earth, and will make them to lie
down safely.
19 And I will betroth thee
unto me for ever; yea, I will
betroth thee unto me in
righteousness, and in judgment,
and in lovingkindness, and in
mercies.
20 I will even betroth
thee unto me in faithfulness: and
thou shalt know the LORD.
21 And it shall come to
pass in that day, I will hear,
saith the LORD, I will hear the
heavens, and they shall hear the
earth;
22 And the earth shall
hear the corn, and the wine, and
the oil; and they shall hear
Jezreel.
23 And I will sow her unto
me in the earth; and I will have
mercy upon her that had not
obtained mercy; and I will say to
them which were not my people,
Thou art my people; and they
shall say, Thou art my God.
Chapter 3
1 Then said the LORD
unto me, Go yet, love a woman
beloved of her friend, yet an
adulteress, according to the love
of the LORD toward the children
of Israel, who look to other
gods, and love flagons of
wine.
2 So I bought her to me
for fifteen pieces of silver, and
for an homer of barley, and an
half homer of barley:
3 And I said unto her,
Thou shalt abide for me many
days; thou shalt not play the
harlot, and thou shalt not be for
another man: so will I also be
for thee.
4 For the children of
Israel shall abide many days
without a king, and without a
prince, and without a sacrifice,
and without an image, and without
an ephod, and without
teraphim:
5 Afterward shall the
children of Israel return, and
seek the LORD their God, and
David their king; and shall fear
the LORD and his goodness in the
latter days.
Chapter 4
1 Hear the word of the
LORD, ye children of Israel: for
the LORD hath a controversy with
the inhabitants of the land,
because there is no truth, nor
mercy, nor knowledge of God in
the land.
2 By swearing, and lying,
and killing, and stealing, and
committing adultery, they break
out, and blood toucheth
blood.
3 Therefore shall the land
mourn, and every one that
dwelleth therein shall languish,
with the beasts of the field, and
with the fowls of heaven; yea,
the fishes of the sea also shall
be taken away.
4 Yet let no man strive,
nor reprove another: for thy
people are as they that strive
with the priest.
5 Therefore shalt thou
fall in the day, and the prophet
also shall fall with thee in the
night, and I will destroy thy
mother.
6 My people are destroyed
for lack of knowledge: because
thou hast rejected knowledge, I
will also reject thee, that thou
shalt be no priest to me: seeing
thou hast forgotten the law of
thy God, I will also forget thy
children.
7 As they were increased,
so they sinned against me:
therefore will I change their
glory into shame.
8 They eat up the sin of
my people, and they set their
heart on their iniquity.
9 And there shall be, like
people, like priest: and I will
punish them for their ways, and
reward them their doings.
10 For they shall eat, and
not have enough: they shall
commit whoredom, and shall not
increase: because they have left
off to take heed to the LORD.
11 Whoredom and wine and
new wine take away the heart.
12 My people ask counsel
at their stocks, and their staff
declareth unto them: for the
spirit of whoredoms hath caused
them to err, and they have gone a
whoring from under their God.
13 They sacrifice upon the
tops of the mountains, and burn
incense upon the hills, under
oaks and poplars and elms,
because the shadow thereof is
good: therefore your daughters
shall commit whoredom, and your
spouses shall commit
adultery.
14 I will not punish your
daughters when they commit
whoredom, nor your spouses when
they commit adultery: for
themselves are separated with
whores, and they sacrifice with
harlots: therefore the people
that doth not understand shall
fall.
15 Though thou, Israel,
play the harlot, yet let not
Judah offend; and come not ye
unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to
Beth-aven, nor swear, The LORD
liveth.
16 For Israel slideth back
as a backsliding heifer: now the
LORD will feed them as a lamb in
a large place.
17 Ephraim is joined to
idols: let him alone.
18 Their drink is sour:
they have committed whoredom
continually: her rulers with
shame do love, Give ye.
19 The wind hath bound her
up in her wings, and they shall
be ashamed because of their
sacrifices.
Chapter 5
1 Hear ye this, O
priests; and hearken, ye house of
Israel; and give ye ear, O house
of the king; for judgment is
toward you, because ye have been
a snare on Mizpah, and a net
spread upon Tabor.
2 And the revolters are
profound to make slaughter,
though I have been a rebuker of
them all.
3 I know Ephraim, and
Israel is not hid from me: for
now, O Ephraim, thou committest
whoredom, and Israel is
defiled.
4 They will not frame
their doings to turn unto their
God: for the spirit of whoredoms
is in the midst of them, and they
have not known the LORD.
5 And the pride of Israel
doth testify to his face:
therefore shall Israel and
Ephraim fall in their iniquity;
Judah also shall fall with
them.
6 They shall go with their
flocks and with their herds to
seek the LORD; but they shall not
find him; he hath withdrawn
himself from them.
7 They have dealt
treacherously against the LORD:
for they have begotten strange
children: now shall a month
devour them with their
portions.
8 Blow ye the cornet in
Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah:
cry aloud at Beth-aven, after
thee, O Benjamin.
9 Ephraim shall be
desolate in the day of rebuke:
among the tribes of Israel have I
made known that which shall
surely be.
10 The princes of Judah
were like them that remove the
bound: therefore I will pour out
my wrath upon them like
water.
11 Ephraim is oppressed
and broken in judgment, because
he willingly walked after the
commandment.
12 Therefore will I be
unto Ephraim as a moth, and to
the house of Judah as
rottenness.
13 When Ephraim saw his
sickness, and Judah saw his
wound, then went Ephraim to the
Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb:
yet could he not heal you, nor
cure you of your wound.
14 For I will be unto
Ephraim as a lion, and as a young
lion to the house of Judah: I,
even I, will tear and go away; I
will take away, and none shall
rescue him.
15 I will go and return to
my place, till they acknowledge
their offence, and seek my face:
in their affliction they will
seek me early.
Chapter 6
1 Come, and let us
return unto the LORD: for he hath
torn, and he will heal us; he
hath smitten, and he will bind us
up.
2 After two days will he
revive us: in the third day he
will raise us up, and we shall
live in his sight.
3 Then shall we know, if
we follow on to know the LORD:
his going forth is prepared as
the morning; and he shall come
unto us as the rain, as the
latter and former rain unto the
earth.
4 O Ephraim, 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
early dew it goeth away.
5 Therefore have I hewed
them by the prophets; I have
slain them by the words of my
mouth: and thy judgments are as
the light that goeth forth.
6 For I desired mercy, and
not sacrifice; and the knowledge
of God more than burnt
offerings.
7 But they like men have
transgressed the covenant: there
have they dealt treacherously
against me.
8 Gilead is a city of them
that work iniquity, and is
polluted with blood.
9 And as troops of robbers
wait for a man, so the company of
priests murder in the way by
consent: for they commit
lewdness.
10 I have seen an horrible
thing in the house of Israel:
there is the whoredom of Ephraim,
Israel is defiled.
11 Also, O Judah, he hath
set an harvest for thee, when I
returned the captivity of my
people.
Chapter 7
1 When I would have
healed Israel, then the iniquity
of Ephraim was discovered, and
the wickedness of Samaria: for
they commit falsehood; and the
thief cometh in, and the troop of
robbers spoileth without.
2 And they consider not in
their hearts that I remember all
their wickedness: now their own
doings have beset them about;
they are before my face.
3 They make the king glad
with their wickedness, and the
princes with their lies.
4 They are all adulterers,
as an oven heated by the baker,
who ceaseth from raising after he
hath kneeded the dough, until it
be leavened.
5 In the day of our king
the princes have made him sick
with bottles of wine; he
stretched out his hand with
scorners.
6 For they have made ready
their heart like an oven, whiles
they lie in wait: their baker
sleepeth all the night; in the
morning it burneth as a flaming
fire.
7 They are all hot as an
oven, and have devoured their
judges; all their kings are
fallen: there is none among them
that calleth unto me.
8 Ephraim, he hath mixed
himself among the people; Ephraim
is a cake not turned.
9 Strangers have devoured
his strength, and he knoweth it
not: yea, gray hairs are here and
there upon him, yet he knoweth
not.
10 And the pride of Israel
testifieth to his face: and they
do not return to the LORD their
God, nor seek him for all
this.
11 Ephraim also is like a
silly dove without heart: they
call to Egypt, they go to
Assyria.
12 When they shall go, I
will spread my net upon them; I
will bring them down as the fowls
of the heaven; I will chastise
them, as their congregation hath
heard.
13 Woe unto them! for they
have fled from me: destruction
unto them! because they have
transgressed against me: though I
have redeemed them, yet they have
spoken lies against me.
14 And they have not cried
unto me with their heart, when
they howled upon their beds: they
assemble themselves for corn and
wine, and they rebel against
me.
15 Though I have bound and
strengthened their arms, yet do
they imagine mischief against
me.
16 They return, but not to
the most High: they are like a
deceitful bow: their princes
shall fall by the sword for the
rage of their tongue: this shall
be their derision in the land of
Egypt.
Chapter 8
1 Set the trumpet to
thy mouth. He shall come as an
eagle against the house of the
LORD, because they have
transgressed my covenant, and
trespassed against my law.
2 Israel shall cry unto
me, My God, we know thee.
3 Israel hath cast off the
thing that is good: the enemy
shall pursue him.
4 They have set up kings,
but not by me: they have made
princes, and I knew it not: of
their silver and their gold have
they made them idols, that they
may be cut off.
5 Thy calf, O Samaria,
hath cast thee off; mine anger is
kindled against them: how long
will it be ere they attain to
innocency?
6 For from Israel was it
also: the workman made it;
therefore it is not God: but the
calf of Samaria shall be broken
in pieces.
7 For they have sown the
wind, and they shall reap the
whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the
bud shall yield no meal: if so be
it yield, the strangers shall
swallow it up.
8 Israel is swallowed up:
now shall they be among the
Gentiles as a vessel wherein is
no pleasure.
9 For they are gone up to
Assyria, a wild ass alone by
himself: Ephraim hath hired
lovers.
10 Yea, though they have
hired among the nations, now will
I gather them, and they shall
sorrow a little for the burden of
the king of princes.
11 Because Ephraim hath
made many altars to sin, altars
shall be unto him to sin.
12 I have written to him
the great things of my law, but
they were counted as a strange
thing.
13 They sacrifice flesh
for the sacrifices of mine
offerings, and eat it; but the
LORD accepteth them not; now will
he remember their iniquity, and
visit their sins: they shall
return to Egypt.
14 For Israel hath
forgotten his Maker, and buildeth
temples; and Judah hath
multiplied fenced cities: but I
will send a fire upon his cities,
and it shall devour the palaces
thereof.
Chapter 9
1 Rejoice not, O
Israel, for joy, as other people:
for thou hast gone a whoring from
thy God, thou hast loved a reward
upon every cornfloor.
2 The floor and the
winepress shall not feed them,
and the new wine shall fail in
her.
3 They shall not dwell in
the LORD's land; but Ephraim
shall return to Egypt, and they
shall eat unclean things in
Assyria.
4 They shall not offer
wine offerings to the LORD,
neither shall they be pleasing
unto him: their sacrifices shall
be unto them as the bread of
mourners; all that eat thereof
shall be polluted: for their
bread for their soul shall not
come into the house of the
LORD.
5 What will ye do in the
solemn day, and in the day of the
feast of the LORD?
6 For, lo, they are gone
because of destruction: Egypt
shall gather them up, Memphis
shall bury them: the pleasant
places for their silver, nettles
shall possess them: thorns shall
be in their tabernacles.
7 The days of visitation
are come, the days of recompence
are come; Israel shall know it:
the prophet is a fool, the
spiritual man is mad, for the
multitude of thine iniquity, and
the great hatred.
8 The watchman of Ephraim
was with my God: but the prophet
is a snare of a fowler in all his
ways, and hatred in the house of
his God.
9 They have deeply
corrupted themselves, as in the
days of Gibeah: therefore he will
remember their iniquity, he will
visit their sins.
10 I found Israel like
grapes in the wilderness; I saw
your fathers as the firstripe in
the fig tree at her first time:
but they went to Baal-peor, and
separated themselves unto that
shame; and their abominations
were according as they loved.
11 As for Ephraim, their
glory shall fly away like a bird,
from the birth, and from the
womb, and from the
conception.
12 Though they bring up
their children, yet will I
bereave them, that there shall
not be a man left: yea, woe also
to them when I depart from
them!
13 Ephraim, as I saw
Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant
place: but Ephraim shall bring
forth his children to the
murderer.
14 Give them, O LORD: what
wilt thou give? give them a
miscarrying womb and dry
breasts.
15 All their wickedness is
in Gilgal: for there I hated
them: for the wickedness of their
doings I will drive them out of
mine house, I will love them no
more: all their princes are
revolters.
16 Ephraim is smitten,
their root is dried up, they
shall bear no fruit: yea, though
they bring forth, yet will I slay
even the beloved fruit of their
womb.
17 My God will cast them
away, because they did not
hearken unto him: and they shall
be wanderers among the
nations.
Chapter 10
1 Israel is an empty
vine, he bringeth forth fruit
unto himself: according to the
multitude of his fruit he hath
increased the altars; according
to the goodness of his land they
have made goodly images.
2 Their heart is divided;
now shall they be found faulty:
he shall break down their altars,
he shall spoil their images.
3 For now they shall say,
We have no king, because we
feared not the LORD; what then
should a king do to us?
4 They have spoken words,
swearing falsely in making a
covenant: thus judgment springeth
up as hemlock in the furrows of
the field.
5 The inhabitants of
Samaria shall fear because of the
calves of Beth-aven: for the
people thereof shall mourn over
it, and the priests thereof that
rejoiced on it, for the glory
thereof, because it is departed
from it.
6 It shall be also carried
unto Assyria for a present to
king Jareb: Ephraim shall receive
shame, and Israel shall be
ashamed of his own counsel.
7 As for Samaria, her king
is cut off as the foam upon the
water.
8 The high places also of
Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be
destroyed: the thorn and the
thistle shall come up on their
altars; and they shall say to the
mountains, Cover us; and to the
hills, Fall on us.
9 O Israel, thou hast
sinned from the days of Gibeah:
there they stood: the battle in
Gibeah against the children of
iniquity did not overtake
them.
10 It is in my desire that
I should chastise them; and the
people shall be gathered against
them, when they shall bind
themselves in their two
furrows.
11 And Ephraim is as an
heifer that is taught, and loveth
to tread out the corn; but I
passed over upon her fair neck: I
will make Ephraim to ride; Judah
shall plow, and Jacob shall break
his clods.
12 Sow to yourselves in
righteousness, reap in mercy;
break up your fallow ground: for
it is time to seek the LORD, till
he come and rain righteousness
upon you.
13 Ye have plowed
wickedness, ye have reaped
iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit
of lies: because thou didst trust
in thy way, in the multitude of
thy mighty men.
14 Therefore shall a
tumult arise among thy people,
and all thy fortresses shall be
spoiled, as Shalman spoiled
Beth-arbel in the day of battle:
the mother was dashed in pieces
upon her children.
15 So shall Bethel do unto
you because of your great
wickedness: in a morning shall
the king of Israel utterly be cut
off.
Chapter 11
1 When Israel was a
child, then I loved him, and
called my son out of Egypt.
2 As they called them, so
they went from them: they
sacrificed unto Baalim, and
burned incense to graven
images.
3 I taught Ephraim also to
go, taking them by their arms;
but they knew not that I healed
them.
4 I drew them with cords
of a man, with bands of love: and
I was to them as they that take
off the yoke on their jaws, and I
laid meat unto them.
5 He shall not return into
the land of Egypt, but the
Assyrian shall be his king,
because they refused to
return.
6 And the sword shall
abide on his cities, and shall
consume his branches, and devour
them, because of their own
counsels.
7 And my people are bent
to backsliding from me: though
they called them to the most
High, none at all would exalt
him.
8 How shall I give thee
up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver
thee, Israel? how shall I make
thee as Admah? how shall I set
thee as Zeboim? mine heart is
turned within me, my repentings
are kindled together.
9 I will not execute the
fierceness of mine anger, I will
not return to destroy Ephraim:
for I am God, and not man; the
Holy One in the midst of thee:
and I will not enter into the
city.
10 They shall walk after
the LORD: he shall roar like a
lion: when he shall roar, then
the children shall tremble from
the west.
11 They shall tremble as a
bird out of Egypt, and as a dove
out of the land of Assyria: and I
will place them in their houses,
saith the LORD.
12 Ephraim compasseth me
about with lies, and the house of
Israel with deceit: but Judah yet
ruleth with God, and is faithful
with the saints.
Chapter 12
1 Ephraim feedeth on
wind, and followeth after the
east wind: he daily increaseth
lies and desolation; and they do
make a covenant with the
Assyrians, and oil is carried
into Egypt.
2 The LORD hath also a
controversy with Judah, and will
punish Jacob according to his
ways; according to his doings
will he recompense him.
3 He took his brother by
the heel in the womb, and by his
strength he had power with
God:
4 Yea, he had power over
the angel, and prevailed: he
wept, and made supplication unto
him: he found him in Bethel, and
there he spake with us;
5 Even the LORD God of
hosts; the LORD is his
memorial.
6 Therefore turn thou to
thy God: keep mercy and judgment,
and wait on thy God
continually.
7 He is a merchant, the
balances of deceit are in his
hand: he loveth to oppress.
8 And Ephraim said, Yet I
am become rich, I have found me
out substance: in all my labours
they shall find none iniquity in
me that were sin.
9 And I that am the LORD
thy God from the land of Egypt
will yet make thee to dwell in
tabernacles, as in the days of
the solemn feast.
10 I have also spoken by
the prophets, and I have
multiplied visions, and used
similitudes, by the ministry of
the prophets.
11 Is there iniquity in
Gilead? surely they are vanity:
they sacrifice bullocks in
Gilgal; yea, their altars are as
heaps in the furrows of the
fields.
12 And Jacob fled into the
country of Syria, and Israel
served for a wife, and for a wife
he kept sheep.
13 And by a prophet the
LORD brought Israel out of Egypt,
and by a prophet was he
preserved.
14 Ephraim provoked him to
anger most bitterly: therefore
shall he leave his blood upon
him, and his reproach shall his
Lord return unto him.
Chapter 13
1 When Ephraim spake
trembling, he exalted himself in
Israel; but when he offended in
Baal, he died.
2 And now they sin more
and more, and have made them
molten images of their silver,
and idols according to their own
understanding, all of it the work
of the craftsmen: they say of
them, Let the men that sacrifice
kiss the calves.
3 Therefore they shall be
as the morning cloud, and as the
early dew that passeth away, as
the chaff that is driven with the
whirlwind out of the floor, and
as the smoke out of the
chimney.
4 Yet I am the LORD thy
God from the land of Egypt, and
thou shalt know no god but me:
for there is no saviour beside
me.
5 I did know thee in the
wilderness, in the land of great
drought.
6 According to their
pasture, so were they filled;
they were filled, and their heart
was exalted; therefore have they
forgotten me.
7 Therefore I will be unto
them as a lion: as a leopard by
the way will I observe them:
8 I will meet them as a
bear that is bereaved of her
whelps, and will rend the caul of
their heart, and there will I
devour them like a lion: the wild
beast shall tear them.
9 O Israel, thou hast
destroyed thyself; but in me is
thine help.
10 I will be thy king:
where is any other that may save
thee in all thy cities? and thy
judges of whom thou saidst, Give
me a king and princes?
11 I gave thee a king in
mine anger, and took him away in
my wrath.
12 The iniquity of Ephraim
is bound up; his sin is hid.
13 The sorrows of a
travailing woman shall come upon
him: he is an unwise son; for he
should not stay long in the place
of the breaking forth of
children.
14 I will ransom them from
the power of the grave; I will
redeem them from death: O death,
I will be thy plagues; O grave, I
will be thy destruction:
repentance shall be hid from mine
eyes.
15 Though he be fruitful
among his brethren, an east wind
shall come, the wind of the LORD
shall come up from the
wilderness, and his spring shall
become dry, and his fountain
shall be dried up: he shall spoil
the treasure of all pleasant
vessels.
16 Samaria shall become
desolate; for she hath rebelled
against her God: they shall fall
by the sword: their infants shall
be dashed in pieces, and their
women with child shall be ripped
up.
Chapter 14
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.
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