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 wll understand them. The ways
of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.
