1Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,

for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.*

2Take words with you

and return to the Lord;

say to him,

“Take away all guilt;

accept that which is good,

and we will offer

the fruitt of our lips.*

3Assyria shall not save us;

we will not ride upon horses;

we will say no more, ‘Our God,’

to the work of our hands.

In you the orphan finds mercy.”*

4I will heal their disloyalty;

I will love them freely,

for my anger has turned from them.*

5I will be like the dew to Israel;

he shall blossom like the lily;

he shall strike root like the forests of Lebanon.u^,*

6His shoots shall spread out;

his beauty shall be like the olive tree

and his fragrance like that of Lebanon.*

7They shall again live beneath myv shadow;

they shall flourish as a garden;w

they shall blossom like the vine;

their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon.*

8O Ephraim, what have Ix to do with idols?

It is I who answer and look after you.y

I am like an evergreen cypress;

your fruit comes from me.*

9Those who are wise understand these things;

those who are discerning know them.

For the ways of the Lord are right,

and the upright walk in them,

but transgressors stumble in them.*