Day Twenty One

Hosea 14

1 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God.
for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.

2 Take words with you and return to the Lord;
say to him, "Take away all guilt; accept that which is good,
and we will offer the fruit of our lips.

3 Assyria will not save us; we will not ride upon horses;
We will say no more, 'Our God,' to the work of our hands.
In you the orphan finds mercy."

4 I will heal their disloyalty; I will love them freely,
for my anger has turned from them.

5 I will be like the dew to Israel;

…

7 They shall again live beneath my shadow,
they shall flourish as a garden; they shall blossom like the vine,
their fragrance 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; your faithfulness comes from me.

9 Those who are wise understand these things; those who are discerning know them.
For the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them.
but transgressors stumble in them.