A Plea to Return to the Lord
aReturn, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
for byou have stumbled because of your iniquity.
2 Take with you words
and return to the Lord;
say to him,
“Take away all iniquity;
accept awhat is good,
and we will pay with bulls
bthe vows of our lips.
3 aAssyria shall not save us;
bwe will not ride on horses;
and cwe will say no more, ‘Our God,’
to the work of our hands.
dIn you the orphan finds mercy.”
4 I awill heal their apostasy;
bI will love them freely,
for my anger has turned from them.
5 aI will be like the dew to Israel;
bhe shall blossom like the lily;
he shall take root like the trees cof Lebanon;
6 his shoots shall spread out;
his beauty shall be alike the olive,
and his fragrance like Lebanon.
7 They shall return and adwell beneath my shadow;
they shall flourish like the grain;
they shall blossom like the vine;
their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 O aEphraim, what have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you.
I am like an evergreen cypress;
bfrom me comes your fruit.
9 aWhoever is wise, let him understand these things;
whoever is discerning, let him know them;
for the ways of the Lord are right,
and bthe upright walk in them,
bbut transgressors stumble in them.