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.