the Week of Proper 2 / Ordinary 7
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Hosea 14
Repentance to Bring Blessing
1 [a]Return,(a) Israel, to the Lord your God.
Your sins(b) have been your downfall!(c)
2 Take words with you
and return to the Lord.
Say to him:
"Forgive(d) all our sins
and receive us graciously,(e)
that we may offer the fruit of our lips.[b](f)
3 Assyria cannot save us;(g)
we will not mount warhorses.(h)
We will never again say ‘Our gods'(i)
to what our own hands have made,(j)
for in you the fatherless(k) find compassion."
4 "I will heal(l) their waywardness(m)
and love them freely,(n)
for my anger has turned away(o) from them.
5 I will be like the dew(p) to Israel;
he will blossom like a lily.(q)
Like a cedar of Lebanon(r)
he will send down his roots;(s)
6 his young shoots will grow.
His splendor will be like an olive tree,(t)
his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.(u)
7 People will dwell again in his shade;(v)
they will flourish like the grain,
they will blossom(w) like the vine—
Israel's fame will be like the wine(x) of Lebanon.(y)
8 Ephraim, what more have I[c] to do with idols?(z)
I will answer him and care for him.
I am like a flourishing juniper;(aa)
your fruitfulness comes from me."
9 Who is wise?(ab) Let them realize these things.
Who is discerning? Let them understand.(ac)
The ways of the Lord are right;(ad)
the righteous walk(ae) in them,
but the rebellious stumble in them.
New International Version
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