1
¶ O ISRAEL, return to the LORD your God;
for you have fallen by your iniquity.
2
Pledge loyalty, and turn to the LORD your God;
and pray to him, that he may forgive your iniquity and receive blessings;
then he will recompense you for the prayer of your lips.
3
And say, Assyria shall not save us;
we will not ride upon horses;
neither will we call any more the work of our hands, gods;
for thou wilt have mercy upon the fatherless.
4
¶ I will heal their backsliding, I will love their vows;
and my anger shall turn away from them.
5
I will be as the dew to Israel;
he shall spring up as the lily, and cast forth his roots as cedars of Lebanon.
6
His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like that of Lebanon.
7
They shall return and dwell under his shadow;
they shall flourish like grain, and grow as the vine;
and their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
8
Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols?
I have humbled him, and I will glorify him;
I am like a green fir tree.
From me is your fruit found.
9
He who is wise shall understand these things;
he who is prudent shall know them;
for the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous shall walk in them;
but transgressors shall stumble therein.