Return to Yahweh

1 Return to Yahweh your God, O Israel,

for you have stumbled because of your sin.

2 Take words with you,

and return to Yahweh.

Say to him,

“Take away all guilt;

accept good, and we will offer

the fruitof our lips.

3 Assyria will not save us;

we will not ride on horses,

and we will say no more, “Our God,”

to the work of our hands

because in you the fatherless child finds mercy.

4 I will heal their disloyalty;

I will love them freely

because my anger has turned back

from them.

5 I will be like the dew to Israel;

he will blossom like the lily plant,

and he will strike his roots like the trees of Lebanon.

6 His new plant shoots will spread out;

his splendor will be like the olive tree,

and his scent like the trees of Lebanon.

7 They will again dwellin myshadow;

they will grow grain

and they will blossom like the plant vine;

his fame will be like the wine of Lebanon.

8 O Ephraim, what have I to dowith idols?

I myself have answered and looked after you.

I am like a luxuriant cypress;

your fruitcomes from me.

9 Who is wise that he can understand these things?

Who is discerning that he knows them?

The ways of Yahweh are right,

and the righteous walk in them;

but transgressors stumble in them.