Repentance to Bring Blessing
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 lilly.
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 likw the grain. He will blossom
like a vine, and his fame will belike 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 descerning? He will understand them.
The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them,
but the rebellious stumble in them.