1 O ISRAEL, return to the LORD your God; for you have fallen by your iniquity.

2 Pledge loyalty, and turn to the LORD your God; and pray to him, that he may forgive your iniquity and receive blessings; then he will recompense you for the prayer of your lips.

3 And say, Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses; neither will we call any more the work of our hands, gods; for thou wilt have mercy upon the fatherless.

4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love their vows; and my anger shall turn away from them.

5 I will be as the dew to Israel; he shall spring up as the lily, and cast forth his roots as cedars of Lebanon.

6 His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like that of Lebanon.

7 They shall return and dwell under his shadow; they shall flourish like grain, and grow as the vine; and their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

8 Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have humbled him, and I will glorify him; I am like a green fir tree. From me is your fruit found.

9 He who is wise shall understand these things; he who is prudent shall know them; for the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous shall walk in them; but transgressors shall stumble therein.