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.
悔改带来祝福
1以色列啊，
你被自己的罪恶绊倒了，
归向你的上帝耶和华吧！
2你要归向耶和华，
向祂忏悔说：
“求你赦免我们的罪，
施恩悦纳我们，
好叫我们以赞美为祭献给你！
3我们不再向亚述求救，
不再依靠战马，
也不再称自己所造的神像为我们的上帝。
耶和华啊，只有在你那里，
孤儿才能得到怜悯。”
4耶和华说：
“我要医治他们的叛道，
心甘情愿地爱他们，
因为我的怒气已经转离他们。
5我要像甘露一样滋润以色列，
使他绽放如百合花，
扎根如黎巴嫩的香柏树。
6他要长出嫩枝，
他要像橄榄树一样荣美，
如黎巴嫩的香柏树一般芳香。
7他要归回，住在我的荫下。
他要茂盛如五谷，
荣美如葡萄树，
声名远扬如黎巴嫩的美酒。
8“以法莲啊，你要远离偶像。
我应允你的祷告，看顾你。
我像一棵青翠的松树，
你的果实都来自于我。”
9让那些智者明白这一切，
让那些明哲了解这一切。
因为耶和华的道是正道，
义人要行走在上面，
罪人却在上面跌倒。
