Scandalous Grace VII


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Scripture on Bible.com | Hosea 14

A Plea to Return to the Lord

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

I will heal their apostasy;     I will love them freely,     for my anger has turned from them. I will be like the dew to Israel;     he shall blossom like the lily;     he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon; his shoots shall spread out;     his beauty shall be like the olive,     and his fragrance like Lebanon. 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.

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.

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.