1Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled in your iniquity.2Take words with you and return to the LORD; say to him, Take away all iniquity; accept what is good, and we will render the bullocks of our lips.3Assyria will not save us; we will not ride upon a horse, and we will no longer say, Our God, to the work of our hands, for in you the orphan receives compassion.4I will heal their faithlessness; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned away from him.5I will be like dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily and strike his roots like Lebanon.6His shoots will go forth, and his splendor will be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon.7Those who dwell in his shadow will return; they will live on grain and will blossom like the vine; his remembrance will be like the wine of Lebanon.8Ephraim, what have I still to do with idols? I answer and regard him; I am like a luxuriant cypress; from me your fruit is found.9Who is wise and will understand these things? Let the one who is prudent know them, for the ways of the LORD are upright, and the righteous walk in them, but the transgressors stumble in them.