| | 1 | Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God. Your sins have been your downfall! | |
| | 2 | Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to him: "Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips. | |
| | 3 | Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount war-horses. We will never again say 'Our gods' to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion." | |
| | 4 | "I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them. | |
| | 5 | I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots; | |
| | 6 | his young shoots will grow. His splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon. | |
| | 7 | Men will dwell again in his shade. He will flourish like the grain. He will blossom like a vine, and his fame will be like the wine from Lebanon. | |
| | 8 | O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? I will answer him and care for him. I am like a green pine tree; your fruitfulness comes from me." | |
| | 9 | Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them. | |
