1Return, O Israel, to Yahweh your God, for you have stumbled by your iniquity.
2Take words with you and return to Yahweh. Say to him, ‘Forgive all iniquity and receive what is good, that we may repay with the bulls of our lips.
3Assyria will not save us; we will not ride on horses, and we will no longer say ‘Our God’ to the work of our hands, for in you the orphan finds compassion.
4I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them.
5I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily and strike his roots like Lebanon.
6His shoots will spread out; his splendor will be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon.
7Those who dwell in his shade will return; they will revive the grain, and they will blossom like the vine; his renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.
8O Ephraim, what have I to do any longer with idols? I myself answer and watch over him. I am like a luxuriant cypress; from me your fruit is found.
9Who is wise? Let him understand these things. Who is discerning? Let him know them. For the ways of Yahweh are upright; the righteous walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.
Open in the interactive reader →