Hosea 14

English Standard Version

A Plea to Return to the Lord

14 ^(A)Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
    for ^(B)you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
²Take with you words
    and return to the Lord;
say to him,
    “Take away all iniquity;
accept ^(C)what is good,
    and we will pay with bulls
    ^(D)the vows^[a] of our lips.
³^(E)Assyria shall not save us;
    ^(F)we will not ride on horses;
and ^(G)we will say no more, ‘Our God,’
    to the work of our hands.
^(H)In you the orphan finds mercy.”

⁴I ^(I)will heal their apostasy;
    ^(J)I will love them freely,
    for my anger has turned from them.
⁵^(K)I will be like the dew to Israel;
    ^(L)he shall blossom like the lily;
    he shall take root like the trees ^(M)of Lebanon;
⁶his shoots shall spread out;
    his beauty shall be ^(N)like the olive,
    and his fragrance like Lebanon.
⁷They shall return and ^(O)dwell beneath my^[b] shadow;
    they shall flourish like the grain;
they shall blossom like the vine;
    their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

⁸O ^(P)Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you.^[c]
I am like an evergreen cypress;
^(Q)from me comes your fruit.

⁹^(R)Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
    whoever is discerning, let him know them;
for the ways of the Lord are right,
    and ^(S)the upright walk in them,
    ^(T)but transgressors stumble in them.

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Footnotes

Hosea 14:2 Septuagint, Syriac pay the fruit
Hosea 14:7 Hebrew his
Hosea 14:8 Hebrew him

Joel 2:15-27

English Standard Version

¹⁵^(A)Blow the trumpet in Zion;
    ^(B)consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
¹⁶    gather the people.
^(C)Consecrate the congregation;
    assemble the elders;
^(D)gather the children,
    even nursing infants.
^(E)Let the bridegroom leave his room,
    and the bride her chamber.

¹⁷^(F)Between the ^(G)vestibule and the ^(H)altar
    ^(I)let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep
and say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
    and make not your heritage a reproach,
    a byword among the nations.^[a]
^(J)Why should they say among the peoples,
    ‘Where is their God?’”

The Lord Had Pity

¹⁸^(K)Then the Lord became jealous for his land
    ^(L)and had pity on his people.
¹⁹The Lord answered and said to his people,
“Behold, ^(M)I am sending to you
    grain, wine, and oil,
    ^(N)and you will be satisfied;
and I will no more make you
    a reproach among the nations.

²⁰“I will remove the northerner far from you,
    and drive him into a parched and desolate land,
his vanguard^[b] into ^(O)the eastern sea,
    and his rear guard^[c] into ^(P)the western sea;
^(Q)the stench and foul smell of him will rise,
    for he has done great things.

²¹“Fear not, O land;
    be glad and rejoice,
    for ^(R)the Lord has done great things!
²²Fear not, ^(S)you beasts of the field,
    for ^(T)the pastures of the wilderness are green;
^(U)the tree bears its fruit;
    the fig tree and ^(V)vine give their full yield.

²³^(W)“Be glad, O children of Zion,
    and ^(X)rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given ^(Y)the early rain for your vindication;
    he has poured down for you abundant rain,
    ^(Z)the early and ^(AA)the latter rain, as before.

²⁴“The threshing floors shall be full of grain;
    the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
²⁵I will restore^[d] to you the years
    that ^(AB)the swarming locust has eaten,
^(AC)the hopper, ^(AD)the destroyer, and ^(AE)the cutter,
    ^(AF)my great army, which I sent among you.

²⁶^(AG)“You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
    and praise the name of the Lord your God,
    who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people ^(AH)shall never again be put to shame.
²⁷^(AI)You shall know that I am ^(AJ)in the midst of Israel,
    and that ^(AK)I am the Lord your God ^(AL)and there is none else.
And my people ^(AM)shall never again be put to shame.

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Footnotes

Joel 2:17 Or reproach, that the nations should rule over them
Joel 2:20 Hebrew face
Joel 2:20 Hebrew his end
Joel 2:25 Or pay back

Micah 7:18-20

English Standard Version

God's Steadfast Love and Compassion

¹⁸^(A)Who is a God like you, ^(B)pardoning iniquity
    and passing over transgression
    ^(C)for the remnant of his inheritance?
^(D)He does not retain his anger forever,
    because he delights in steadfast love.
¹⁹He will ^(E)again have compassion on us;
    ^(F)he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
^(G)You will cast all our^[a] sins
    into the depths of the sea.
²⁰^(H)You will show faithfulness to Jacob
    and steadfast love to Abraham,
^(I)as you have sworn to our fathers
    from the days of old.