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.
Repentance to bring blessing
In Hebrew texts 14:1-9 is numbered 14:2-10. 1Return, Israel, to the Lord your God.
Your sins have been your downfall!
2Take words with you
and return to the Lord.
Say to him:
‘Forgive all our sins
and receive us graciously,
that we may offer the fruit of our lips.14:2 Or offer our lips as sacrifices of bulls
3Assyria cannot save us;
we will not mount warhorses.
We will never again say “Our gods”
to what our own hands have made,
for in you the fatherless find compassion.’
4‘I will heal their waywardness
and love them freely,
for my anger has turned away from them.
5I will be like the dew to Israel;
he will blossom like a lily.
Like a cedar of Lebanon
he will send down his roots;
6his young shoots will grow.
His splendour will be like an olive tree,
his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.
7People will dwell again in his shade;
they will flourish like the corn,
they will blossom like the vine –
Israel’s fame will be like the wine of Lebanon.
8Ephraim, what more have I14:8 Or Hebrew; Septuagint What more has Ephraim to do with idols?
I will answer him and care for him.
I am like a flourishing juniper;
your fruitfulness comes from me.’
9Who is wise? Let them realise these things.
Who is discerning? Let them understand.
The ways of the Lord are right;
the righteous walk in them,
but the rebellious stumble in them.
