1 Shomron will bear her guilt,
for she has rebelled against her God.
They will fall by the sword,
their little ones will be dashed to pieces
and their pregnant women ripped open.
2 Return, Isra’el, toAdonaiyour God,
for your guilt has made you stumble.
3 Take words with you, and return toAdonai;
say to him, “Forgive all guilt,
and accept what is good;
we will pay instead of bulls
[the offerings of] our lips.
4 Ashur will not save us,
we will not ride on horses,
and we will no longer call
what we made with our hands our gods.
For it is only in you
that the fatherless can find mercy.”
5 “I will heal their disloyalty,
I will love them freely;
for my anger has turned from him.
6 I will be like dew to Isra’el;
he will blossom like a lily
and strike roots like the L’vanon.
7 His branches will spread out,
his beauty be like an olive tree
and his fragrance like the L’vanon.
8 Again they will live in his shade and raise grain;
they will blossom like a vine,
and its aroma will be
like the wine of the L’vanon.
9 Efrayim [will say], ‘What have I
to do any more with idols?’
And I, I answer and affirm him;
I am like a fresh, green cypress tree;
your fruitfulness comes from me.”
10 Let the wise understand these things,
and let the discerning know them.
For the ways ofAdonaiare straight,
And the righteous walk in them,
but in them sinners stumble.