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 splendor 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 grain,
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 realize 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.
悔改帶來祝福
1以色列啊，
你被自己的罪惡絆倒了，
歸向你的上帝耶和華吧！
2你要歸向耶和華，
向祂懺悔說：
「求你赦免我們一切的罪，
施恩悅納我們，
好叫我們以讚美為祭獻給你！
3亞述不能救我們，
我們不再依靠戰馬，
也不再稱自己所造的神像為我們的上帝。
因為孤兒在你那裡才能得到憐憫。」
4耶和華說：
「我要醫治他們的叛道，
心甘情願地愛他們，
因為我的怒氣已經轉離他們。
5我要像甘露一樣滋潤以色列，
使他綻放如百合花，
扎根如黎巴嫩的香柏樹。
6他要長出嫩枝，
他要像橄欖樹一樣榮美，
如黎巴嫩的香柏樹一般芳香。
7他要歸回，住在我的蔭下。
他要茂盛如五穀，
榮美如葡萄樹，
聲名遠揚如黎巴嫩的美酒。
8「以法蓮啊，我與偶像有何關係？
我應允你的禱告，看顧你。
我像一棵青翠的松樹，
你的果實都來自於我。」
9讓那些智者明白這一切，
讓那些明哲瞭解這一切。
因為耶和華的道是正道，
義人要行走在上面，
罪人卻在上面跌倒。
