1Israel, return to Yahweh your God, for your sin has made you stumble.
2Come with your words and return to Yahweh. Say to him, “Forgive all our sins, and accept our good intentions. We offer our praise instead of sacrifices.”
3Assyria cannot save us. We will not ride on horses, nor will we ever again call the things we made with our hands ‘our gods,’ for in you, the fatherless find mercy.”
4“I will heal their disloyalty. I will love them freely, for my anger has turned away from him.
5I will be like the dew to Israel. He will blossom like a lily and send down his roots like a tree in Lebanon.
6His branches will spread out, and his beauty will be like an olive tree, and his fragrance like the scent of Lebanon.
7People will live in his shade. They will flourish like grain and blossom like a vine. Their fragrance will be like the wine of Lebanon.
8Ephraim, what more do I have to do with idols? I will answer him and take care of him. I am like a green cypress tree; from me comes your fruit.”
9Who is wise enough to understand these things? Who is discerning enough to know them? For Yahweh’s ways are right, and the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.