1: O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. 2: Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips. 3: Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy. 4: I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. 5: I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. 6: His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. 7: They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. 8: Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found. 9: Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.
