1
O Israel, return unto Jehovah thy God;
for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
2
Take with you words, and return unto Jehovah: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and accept that which is good: so will we render [as] bullocks [the offering 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, [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 blossom 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 grain, and blossom 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 answered, and will regard him: I am like a green fir-tree;
from me is thy fruit found.
9
Who is wise, that he may understand these things?
prudent, that he may know them?
for the ways of Jehovah are right, and the just shall walk in them;
but transgressors shall fall therein.