1 Return, O 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.
3 Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount war-horses.
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 Men will dwell again in his shade. He
will flourish like the grain. He will blossom like a vine, and his
fame will be like the wine from Lebanon. 8 O
Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? I will answer him and
care for him. I am like a green pine tree; your fruitfulness comes
from me." 9 Who is wise? He will realize these
things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the
LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious
stumble in them.