1
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 sins
and receive us graciously,
that we may offer the fruit of our lips. 1
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 2 to do with idols?
I will answer him and care for him.
I am like a flourishing juniper;
your fruitfulness comes from me."
9
Who is wise? Let them realize these things.
Who is discerning? Let them understand.
The ways of the Lord are right;
the righteous walk in them,
but the rebellious stumble in them.