King James

« Hosea 1 »
King James Bible
Hosea's Wife and Children
1The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham,
Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
2The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee
a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom,
[departing] from the LORD. 3So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which
conceived, and bare him a son. 4And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little
[while], and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the
kingdom of the house of Israel. 5And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of
Israel in the valley of Jezreel.
6And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And [God] said unto him, Call her name
Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them
away. 7But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God,
and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.
8Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son. 9Then said [God], Call his
name Loammi: for ye [are] not my people, and I will not be your [God].
10Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be
measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, [that] in the place where it was said unto
them, Ye [are] not my people, [there] it shall be said unto them, [Ye are] the sons of the living
God.
11Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint
themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great [shall be] the day of
Jezreel.
« Hosea 2 »
King James Bible
Israel's Unfaithfulness Punished
1Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.
2Plead with your mother, plead: for she [is] not my wife, neither [am] I her husband: let her
therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;
3Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness,
and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.
4And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they [be] the children of whoredoms.
5For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she
said, I will go after my lovers, that give [me] my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine
oil and my drink.
6Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find
her paths.
7And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but
shall not find [them]: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then [was it]
better with me than now.
8For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold,
[which] they prepared for Baal.
9Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season
thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax [given] to cover her nakedness.
10And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of
mine hand.
11I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all
her solemn feasts.
12And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These [are] my rewards that
my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.
13And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked
herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the
LORD.
God's Mercy to Israel
14Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto
her.
15
And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she
shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of
Egypt.
16And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, [that] thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no
more Baali.
17For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be
remembered by their name.
18And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of
heaven, and [with] the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and
the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.
19And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in
judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.
20I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.
21And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and
they shall hear the earth;
22And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.
23And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained
mercy; and I will say to [them which were] not my people, Thou [art] my people; and they shall
say, [Thou art] my God.
« Hosea 3 »
King James Bible
Hosea Redeems his Wife
(Zechariah 2:6-13)
1Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of [her] friend, yet an adulteress,
according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love
flagons of wine. 2So I bought her to me for fifteen [pieces] of silver, and [for] an homer of barley,
and an half homer of barley: 3And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt
not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for [another] man: so [will] I also [be] for thee. 4For the
children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a
sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and [without] teraphim: 5Afterward shall
the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the
LORD and his goodness in the latter days.
« Hosea 4 »
King James Bible
God's Charges against Israel
1Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the
inhabitants of the land, because [there is] no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
2By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and
blood toucheth blood.
3Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts
of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.
4Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people [are] as they that strive with the priest.
5Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will
destroy thy mother.
6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also
reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will
also forget thy children.
7As they were increased, so they sinned against me: [therefore] will I change their glory into
shame.
8They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity.
9And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them
their doings.
10For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase:
because they have left off to take heed to the LORD.
11Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.
12My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of
whoredoms hath caused [them] to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.
13They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and
poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof [is] good: therefore your daughters shall commit
whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.
14I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they
commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots:
therefore the people [that] doth not understand shall fall.
15Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, [yet] let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal,
neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear, The LORD liveth.
16
For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large
place.
17Ephraim [is] joined to idols: let him alone.
18Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her rulers [with] shame do love,
Give ye.
19The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
« Hosea 5 »
King James Bible
God's Judgment on Israel and Judah
1Hear ye this, O priests; and hearken, ye house of Israel; and give ye ear, O house of the king; for
judgment [is] toward you, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.
2And the revolters are profound to make slaughter, though I [have been] a rebuker of them all.
3I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou committest whoredom,
[and] Israel is defiled.
4They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for the spirit of whoredoms [is] in the
midst of them, and they have not known the LORD.
5And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their
iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them.
6They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD; but they shall not find [him];
he hath withdrawn himself from them.
7They have dealt treacherously against the LORD: for they have begotten strange children: now
shall a month devour them with their portions.
8Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, [and] the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud [at] Bethaven, after thee, O
Benjamin.
9Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that
which shall surely be.
10The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: [therefore] I will pour out my wrath
upon them like water.
11Ephraim [is] oppressed [and] broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the
commandment.
12Therefore [will] I [be] unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.
13When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah [saw] his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian,
and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound.
14For I [will be] unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, [even] I, will
tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue [him].
15I will go [and] return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their
affliction they will seek me early.
« Hosea 6 »
King James Bible
Israel and Judah are Unrepentant
1Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and
he will bind us up.
2After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.
3Then shall we know, [if] we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the
morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter [and] former rain unto the earth.
4O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness [is]
as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.
5Therefore have I hewed [them] by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth:
and thy judgments [are as] the light [that] goeth forth.
6For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
7But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against
me.
8Gilead [is] a city of them that work iniquity, [and is] polluted with blood.
9And as troops of robbers wait for a man, [so] the company of priests murder in the way by
consent: for they commit lewdness.
10I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel: there [is] the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is
defiled.
11Also, O Judah, he hath set an harvest for thee, when I returned the captivity of my people.
« Hosea 7 »
King James Bible
Ephraim's Iniquity
1When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness
of Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in, [and] the troop of robbers spoileth
without.
2And they consider not in their hearts [that] I remember all their wickedness: now their own doings
have beset them about; they are before my face.
3They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies.
4They [are] all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, [who] ceaseth from raising after he hath
kneaded the dough, until it be leavened.
5In the day of our king the princes have made [him] sick with bottles of wine; he stretched out his
hand with scorners.
6For they have made ready their heart like an oven, whiles they lie in wait: their baker sleepeth all
the night; in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire.
7They are all hot as an oven, and have devoured their judges; all their kings are fallen: [there is]
none among them that calleth unto me.
8Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned.
9Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth [it] not: yea, gray hairs are here and there
upon him, yet he knoweth not.
10And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face: and they do not return to the LORD their God, nor
seek him for all this.
11Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart: they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria.
12When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the fowls of the
heaven; I will chastise them, as their congregation hath heard.
13Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have
transgressed against me: though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me.
14And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds: they
assemble themselves for corn and wine, [and] they rebel against me.
15Though I have bound [and] strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine mischief against me.
16They return, [but] not to the most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by
the sword for the rage of their tongue: this [shall be] their derision in the land of Egypt.

« Hosea 8 »
King James Bible
Israel will Reap the Whirlwind
1[Set] the trumpet to thy mouth. [He shall come] as an eagle against the house of the LORD,
because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law.
2Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee.
3Israel hath cast off [the thing that is] good: the enemy shall pursue him.
4They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew [it] not: of their silver
and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.
5Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast [thee] off; mine anger is kindled against them: how long [will it be]
ere they attain to innocency?
6For from Israel [was] it also: the workman made it; therefore it [is] not God: but the calf of
Samaria shall be broken in pieces.
7For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall
yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.
8Israel is swallowed up: now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein [is] no pleasure.
9For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.
10Yea, though they have hired among the nations, now will I gather them, and they shall sorrow a
little for the burden of the king of princes.
11Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin.
12I have written to him the great things of my law, [but] they were counted as a strange thing.
13They sacrifice flesh [for] the sacrifices of mine offerings, and eat [it; but] the LORD accepteth
them not; now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins: they shall return to Egypt.
14For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced
cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.
« Hosea 9 »
King James Bible
Hosea Announces Israel's Punishment
1Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as [other] people: for thou hast gone a whoring from thy God, thou
hast loved a reward upon every cornfloor.
2The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her.
3They shall not dwell in the LORD'S land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat
unclean [things] in Assyria.
4They shall not offer wine [offerings] to the LORD, neither shall they be pleasing unto him: their
sacrifices [shall be] unto them as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted: for
their bread for their soul shall not come into the house of the LORD.
5What will ye do in the solemn day, and in the day of the feast of the LORD?
6For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury
them: the pleasant [places] for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns [shall be] in their
tabernacles.
7The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come; Israel shall know [it]: the
prophet [is] a fool, the spiritual man [is] mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great
hatred.
8The watchman of Ephraim [was] with my God: [but] the prophet [is] a snare of a fowler in all his
ways, [and] hatred in the house of his God.
9They have deeply corrupted [themselves], as in the days of Gibeah: [therefore] he will remember
their iniquity, he will visit their sins.
10I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at
her first time: [but] they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto [that] shame; and
[their] abominations were according as they loved.
11[As for] Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and
from the conception.
12Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, [that there shall] not [be] a man
[left]: yea, woe also to them when I depart from them!
13Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, [is] planted in a pleasant place: but Ephraim shall bring forth his
children to the murderer.
14Give them, O LORD: what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
15All their wickedness [is] in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will
drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more: all their princes [are] revolters.
16Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth,
yet will I slay [even] the beloved [fruit] of their womb.
17My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers
among the nations.
« Hosea 10 »
King James Bible
Retribution for Israel's Sin
1Israel [is] an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his
fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly
images.
2Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall
spoil their images.
3For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the LORD; what then should a
king do to us?
4They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as
hemlock in the furrows of the field.
5The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Bethaven: for the people thereof
shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof [that] rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is
departed from it.
6It shall be also carried unto Assyria [for] a present to king Jareb: Ephraim shall receive shame, and
Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.
7[As for] Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon the water.
8The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall
come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.
9O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood: the battle in Gibeah against
the children of iniquity did not overtake them.
10[It is] in my desire that I should chastise them; and the people shall be gathered against them,
when they shall bind themselves in their two furrows.
11And Ephraim [is as] an heifer [that is] taught, [and] loveth to tread out [the corn]; but I passed
over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, [and] Jacob shall break his
clods.
12Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for [it is] time to
seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.
13Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou
didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.
14Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as
Shalman spoiled Betharbel in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces upon [her]
children.
15So shall Bethel do unto you because of your great wickedness: in a morning shall the king of
Israel utterly be cut off.
« Hosea 11 »
King James Bible
Out of Egypt I called my Son
(Matthew 2:13-15)
1When Israel [was] a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
2[As] they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to
graven images.
3I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them.
4I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the
yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.
5He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused
to return.
6And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour [them],
because of their own counsels.
7And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none
at all would exalt [him].
God's Mercy Toward Israel
8How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? [how] shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as
Admah? [how] shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are
kindled together.
9I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I [am]
God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city.
10They shall walk after the LORD: he shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children
shall tremble from the west.
11They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria: and I will
place them in their houses, saith the LORD.
12Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit: but Judah yet ruleth
with God, and is faithful with the saints.
« Hosea 12 »
King James Bible
A Reproof of Ephraim, Judah, Jacob
1Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he daily increaseth lies and
desolation; and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt.
2The LORD hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways;
according to his doings will he recompense him.
3He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God:
4Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he
found him [in] Bethel, and there he spake with us;
5Even the LORD God of hosts; the LORD [is] his memorial.
6Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually.
7[He is] a merchant, the balances of deceit [are] in his hand: he loveth to oppress.
8And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance: [in] all my labours they
shall find none iniquity in me that [were] sin.
9And I [that am] the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt will yet make thee to dwell in
tabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feast.
10I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the
ministry of the prophets.
11[Is there] iniquity [in] Gilead? surely they are vanity: they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal; yea, their
altars [are] as heaps in the furrows of the fields.
12And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept
[sheep].
13And by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved.
14Ephraim provoked [him] to anger most bitterly: therefore shall he leave his blood upon him, and
his reproach shall his Lord return unto him.
« Hosea 13 »
King James Bible
Ephraim's Glory Vanishes
1When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he
died.
2And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, [and] idols
according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the
men that sacrifice kiss the calves.
3Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff
[that] is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.
God's Anger
4Yet I [am] the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for
[there is] no saviour beside me.
5I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.
6According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted;
therefore have they forgotten me.
7Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe [them]:
8I will meet them as a bear [that is] bereaved [of her whelps], and will rend the caul of their heart,
and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.
God's Mercy
9O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me [is] thine help.
10I will be thy king: where [is any other] that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of
whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes?
11I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took [him] away in my wrath.
12The iniquity of Ephraim [is] bound up; his sin [is] hid.
13The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he [is] an unwise son; for he should not
stay long in [the place of] the breaking forth of children.
14I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will
be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.
The Judgment on Samaria
15Though he be fruitful among [his] brethren, an east wind shall come, the wind of the LORD shall
come up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up:
he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels.
16Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the
sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.
« Hosea 14 »
King James Bible
An Exhortation to Repentance
(Isaiah 57:14-21; Jeremiah 3:11-25; Zechariah 1:1-6)
1O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
2Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive [us]
graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.
3Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of
our hands, [Ye are] our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.
A Promise of God's Blessing
4I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.
5I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
6His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.
7They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive [as] the corn, and grow as the
vine: the scent thereof [shall be] as the wine of Lebanon.
8Ephraim [shall say], What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard [him], and observed
him: I [am] like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.
9Who [is] wise, and he shall understand these [things]? prudent, and he shall know them? for the
ways of the LORD [are] right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall
therein.