1 Return to the Lord your God, people of Israel. Your sin has made you stumble and fall.
2 Return to the Lord, and let this prayer be your offering to him: “Forgive all our sins and accept our prayer, and we will praise you as we have promised.
3 Assyria can never save us, and war horses cannot protect us. We will never again say to our idols that they are our God. O Lord, you show mercy to those who have no one else to turn to.”
4 The Lord says,“I will bring my people back to me.I will love them with all my heart;no longer am I angry with them.
5 I will be to the people of Israellike rain in a dry land.They will blossom like flowers;they will be firmly rootedlike the trees of Lebanon.
6 They will be alive with new growth,and beautiful like olive trees.They will be fragrantlike the cedars of Lebanon.