HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1166
H O S EA 1 4
Healing for the Repentant
1*Return, O Israel, to the Lord
your God,
for your sins have brought you down.
2 Bring your confessions, and return to
the Lord.
Say to him,
“Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us,
so that we may offer you our praises.*
3 Assyria cannot save us,
nor can our warhorses.
Never again will we say to the idols we
have made,
‘You are our gods.’
No, in you alone
do the orphans find mercy.”
14
4
The Lord says,
“Then I will heal you of your faithlessness;
• Communication
H O SE A 1 4 :9
Wisdom, intelligence, understanding—
who doesn’t want these qualities? Who
would confess to wanting to be stupid or
unwise? The wellsprings of true wisdom,
intelligence, and understanding are found
within the heart of an all-wise God. We
need to be listening, not to the babble of
voices competing for our attention, but to
God and his people.
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6
7
my love will know no bounds,
for my anger will be gone forever.
I will be to Israel
like a refreshing dew from heaven.
Israel will blossom like the lily;
it will send roots deep into the soil
like the cedars in Lebanon.
Its branches will spread out like beautiful
olive trees,
as fragrant as the cedars of Lebanon.
My people will again live under my shade.
They will flourish like grain and blossom
like grapevines.
They will be as fragrant as the wines of
Lebanon.
8
“O Israel,* stay away from idols!
I am the one who answers your prayers
and cares for you.
I am like a tree that is always green;
all your fruit comes from me.”
9
Let those who are wise understand these
things.
Let those with discernment listen
carefully.
The paths of the Lord are true and right,
and righteous people live by walking
in them.
But in those paths sinners stumble
and fall.
14:1 Verses 14:1-9 are numbered 14:2-10 in Hebrew text.
14:2 As in Greek and Syriac versions, which read may repay the
fruit of our lips; Hebrew reads may repay the bulls of our lips.
14:8 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of
Israel.