the Fourth Week of Advent
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Revised Standard Version
Hosea 14
1 Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.2 Take with you words and return to the LORD; say to him, "Take away all iniquity; accept that which is good and we will render the fruit of our lips.3 Assyria shall not save us, we will not ride upon horses; and we will say no more, 'Our God,' to the work of our hands. In thee the orphan finds mercy."
4 I will heal their faithlessness; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them.5 I will be as the dew to Israel; he shall blossom as the lily, he shall strike root as the poplar;6 his shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon.7 They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow, they shall flourish as a garden; they shall blossom as the vine, their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 O E'phraim, 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.9 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.
Revised Standard Version
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.