- 1
- O Israel, return unto Jehovah thy God;
for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
- 2
- Take with you words, and turn to Jehovah;
say unto him, Forgive all iniquity, and receive [us] graciously; so will we render the calves 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, [Thou art] our God; because 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 shoots shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon.
- 7
- They shall return and sit under his shadow;
they shall revive [as] corn, and blossom as the vine: the renown thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.
- 8
- Ephraim [shall say], What have I to do any more with idols?
(I answer [him], and I will observe him.) I am like a green fir-tree. — From me is thy fruit found.
- 9
- Who is wise, and he shall understand these things?
intelligent, and he shall know them? For the ways of Jehovah are right, and the just shall walk in them; but the transgressors shall fall therein.
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