Religion & Spirituality
Hosea 12:1-8 Repentance to Bring Blessing 14 [a]Return, Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall!2 Take words with you and return to the Lord.Say to him: “Forgive all our sinsand receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips.[b]3 Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount warhorses.We will never again say ‘Our gods’ to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion.” 4 “I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them.5 I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily.Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots;6 his young shoots will grow.His splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.7 People will dwell again in his shade; they will flourish like the grain,they will blossom like the vine— Israel’s fame will be like the wine of Lebanon.8 Ephraim, what more have I[c] to do with idols? I will answer him and care for him.I am like a flourishing juniper; your fruitfulness comes from me.”