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14Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. ²Take words with you and return to the Lord; say to him, “Take away all guilt; accept that which is good, and we will offer the fruit of our lips. ³Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses; we will say no more, ‘Our God,’ to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds mercy.”

⁴I will heal their disloyalty; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them. ⁵I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily, he shall strike root like the forests of Lebanon. ⁶His shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like that of Lebanon. ⁷They shall again live beneath my shadow, they shall flourish as a garden; they shall blossom like the vine, their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

⁸O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress; your faithfulness comes from me. ⁹Those who are wise understand these things; those who are discerning know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.