¹ Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
    for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
² Take with you words
    and return to the Lord;
say to him,
    "Take away all iniquity;
accept what is good,
    and we will pay with bulls
    the vows of our lips.
³ Assyria shall not save us;
    we will not ride on horses;
and we will say no more, 'Our God,'
    to the work of our hands.
In you the orphan finds mercy."

⁴ I will heal their apostasy;
    I will love them freely,
    for my anger has turned from them.
⁵ I will be like the dew to Israel;
    he shall blossom like the lily;
    he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon;
⁶ his shoots shall spread out;
    his beauty shall be like the olive,
    and his fragrance like Lebanon.
⁷ They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow;
    they shall flourish like the grain;
they shall blossom like the vine;
    their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

⁸ O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
    It is I who answer and look after you.
I am like an evergreen cypress;
    from me comes your fruit.

⁹ Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
    whoever is discerning, let him know them;
for the ways of the Lord are right,
    and the upright walk in them,
    but transgressors stumble in them.