Read the Bible

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 fruit 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.

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 my shadow,

they shall flourish as a garden;

they shall blossom like the vine,

their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

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

It is I who answer and look after you.

I am like an evergreen cypress;

your faithfulness 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.