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for you have stumbled because of your sins.
2 Take words with you
and return to the Lord.
Say to Him:
“Forgive all our sins
and accept what is good,
so we may repay You
with the fruit of praise from our lips.
3 Assyria cannot save us;
we will not ride as cavalry on horses,
and we will say no more, ‘Our gods!’
to the work of our own hands,
for in You the fatherless finds compassion.”
4 “I will heal their waywardness;
I will love them freely,
for My anger has turned away from them.
5 I will be like the dew to Israel;
he will blossom like the lily,
like the forests of Lebanon
he will send down his roots.
6 His young shoots will grow;
his splendour will be like the olive tree;
his fragrance, like the cedars of Lebanon.
7 The people will again return
and live in his shade.
They will flourish like the grain
and blossom like the vine,
and his fame
will be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 O Ephraim,
what more should I have to do with idols?
It is I who answers and takes care of him.
I am like a flourishing pine tree;
your fruitfulness comes from Me.
9 Who is wise? Let him realise these things.
Who is discerning? Let him understand them.
The ways of the Lord are right;
the righteous walk in them,
but the rebellious stumble in them.