1Return, O Israel, to Jehovah thy God; For thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.

2Take with you words, And return to Jehovah, saying, “Forgive all our iniquity, and receive us graciously, And we will render to thee the sacrifices of our lips!

3Assyria shall not help us; We will not ride on horses; And no more will we say to the work of our hands, Ye are our Gods! For from thee the fatherless obtaineth mercy.”

4“I will heal their rebellion; I will love them freely; For my anger is turned away from them.

5I will be as the dew to Israel; He shall blossom as the lily, And strike his roots like Lebanon.

6His sprouts shall spread forth, And his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, And his fragrance as Lebanon.

7They that dwell under his shadow Shall revive as the corn; They shall shoot forth as the vine; Their name shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

8Ephraim shall say, What have I more to do with idols? I will hear him; I will care for him; I will be like a green cypress-tree; From me shall thy fruit be found.”

9Who is wise, that he may understand these things, Prudent, that he may know them? For the ways of Jehovah are right, And the righteous walk in them; But in them transgressors stumble.