1 Return, O Israel, to the lord your God,for your sins have brought you down.
2 Bring your confessions, and return to the lord.Say to him,“Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us,so that we may offer you our praises.
3 Assyria cannot save us,nor can our warhorses.Never again will we say to the idols we have made,‘You are our gods.’No, in you alonedo the orphans find mercy.”
4 The lord says,“Then I will heal you of your faithlessness;my love will know no bounds,for my anger will be gone forever.
5 I will be to Israellike a refreshing dew from heaven.Israel will blossom like the lily;it will send roots deep into the soillike the cedars in Lebanon.
6 Its branches will spread out like beautiful olive trees,as fragrant as the cedars of Lebanon.