The Lord Blesses Those Who Turn Away From Sin
1Israel, return to the Lord your God.
Your sins have destroyed you!
2Tell the Lord you are turning away from your sins.
Return to him.
Say to him,
“Forgive us for all our sins.
Please be kind to us.
Welcome us back to you.
Then our lips will offer you our praise.
3Assyria can’t save us.
We won’t trust in our war horses.
Our own hands have made statues of gods.
But we will never call them our gods again.
We are like children whose fathers have died.
But you show us your tender love.”
4Then the Lord will answer,
“My people always wander away from me.
But I will put an end to that.
My anger has turned away from them.
Now I will love them freely.
5I will be like the dew to Israel.
They will bloom like a lily.
They will send their roots down deep
like a cedar tree in Lebanon.
6They will spread out like new branches.
They will be as beautiful as an olive tree.
They will smell as sweet as the cedar trees in Lebanon.
7Once again my people will live
in the safety of my shade.
They will grow like grain.
They will bloom like vines.
And Israel will be as famous
as wine from Lebanon.
8Ephraim will have nothing more to do with other gods.
I will answer the prayers of my people.
I will take good care of them.
I will be like a healthy juniper tree to them.
All the fruit they bear will come from me.”
9If someone is wise, they will realize
that what I’ve said is true.
If they have understanding,
they will know what it means.
The ways of the Lord are right.
People who are right with God live the way he wants them to.
But those who refuse to obey him trip and fall.
Ahonu De Nhyira Ba
1Ao Israel, sane wʼakyi kɔ Awurade wo Onyankopɔn nkyɛn.
Wʼahweaseɛ firi wo bɔne!
2Fa wo nsɛm a wowɔ
sane kɔ Awurade nkyɛn.
Ka kyerɛ no sɛ,
“Fa yɛn bɔne nyinaa kyɛ yɛn,
na fa ahummɔborɔ gye yɛn,
na yɛatumi ayi wo ayɛ.
3Asiria rentumi nnye yɛn;
yɛrentena akofoɔ apɔnkɔ so.
Yɛrenka bio da sɛ, ‘Yɛn anyame’
nkyerɛ deɛ yɛn ara de yɛn nsa ayɛ,
na wo mu na nwisiaa nya ahummɔborɔ.”
4“Mɛsa wɔn asobrakyeɛ yadeɛ.
Mɛfiri mʼakoma mu adɔ wɔn,
ɛfiri sɛ mʼabufuo nni wɔn so bio.
5Mɛyɛ sɛ obosuo ama Israel.
Ɔbɛfefɛ ayɛ frɔmm te sɛ sukooko.
Te sɛ Lebanon ntweneduro no
ɔde ne nhini bɛtim fam;
6ne mman bɛdennan.
Nʼahoɔfɛ bɛyɛ sɛ ngo dua,
na ne hwa ayɛ sɛ Lebanon ntweneduro.
7Nnipa bɛtena ne nwunu ase bio.
Ɔbɛnyini ayɛ frɔmm te sɛ aburoo.
Ɔbɛfefɛ ayɛ frɔmm te sɛ bobe,
na ne din a ahyeta bɛyɛ sɛ nsã a ɛfiri Lebanon.
8Ao, Efraim ɛdeɛn na me ne ahoni wɔ yɛ bio?
Mɛgye no so na mʼani aku ne ho.
Mete sɛ dua a nʼahahan mpo;
sɛ wobɛso aba a, ɛgyina me so.”
9Hwan ne onyansafoɔ? Ɔbɛhunu yeinom mu.
Hwan na ɔwɔ nhunumu? Ɔbɛte yeinom ase.
Awurade akwan tene.
Ateneneefoɔ nante so,
nanso asoɔdenfoɔ sunti so.
