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.1 14:2 Or offer our lips as sacrifices of bulls |
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 I2 14:8 Or What more has Ephraim 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. |
