1 O Israel, return unto the LORD your God; for you have fallen because of your 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 offer the sacrifices of our lips.
3 Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, you are our gods: for in you the fatherless finds mercy.
4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for my anger has 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 fragrance as Lebanon.
7 They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the grain, and grow as the vine: their scent 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 cypress tree. In me is your 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 stumble in them.