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A Plea for Repentance

14 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
    for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.(A)
Take 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[a] of our lips.(B)
Assyria 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.”(C)

Assurance of Forgiveness

I will heal their disloyalty;
    I will love them freely,
    for my anger has turned from them.(D)
I will be like the dew to Israel;
    he shall blossom like the lily;
    he shall strike root like the forests of Lebanon.[b](E)
His shoots shall spread out;
    his beauty shall be like the olive tree
    and his fragrance like that of Lebanon.(F)
They shall again live beneath my[c] shadow;
    they shall flourish as a garden;[d]
they shall blossom like the vine;
    their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon.(G)

O Ephraim, what have I[e] to do with idols?
    It is I who answer and look after you.[f]
I am like an evergreen cypress;
    your fruit comes from me.(H)
Those 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.(I)

Footnotes

  1. 14.2 Gk Syr: Heb bulls
  2. 14.5 Cn: Heb like Lebanon
  3. 14.7 Heb his
  4. 14.7 Cn: Heb they shall grow grain
  5. 14.8 Or What more has Ephraim
  6. 14.8 Heb him