| Chapter 14 |
1 | O Israel, return to the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thy iniquity.
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2 | Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say to him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.
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3 | Ashur 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.
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4 | I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for my anger is turned away from him.
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5 | I will be as the dew to Israel: he shall grow as the lily and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
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6 | His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon.
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7 | They that dwell under his shade shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent of it shall be as the wine of Lebanon.
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8 | Ephraim 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.
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9 | Who 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 in them.
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