1Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. (Ho 3:5; Ho 6:1; Ho 12:6; Ho 13:9)2Take with you words and return to the Lord; say to him, “Take away all iniquity; accept what is good, and we will pay with bulls the vows[1] of our lips. (Ps 50:13; Ps 69:30; Ho 5:15; Heb 13:15)3Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride on horses; and we will say no more, ‘Our God,’ to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds mercy.” (Ps 10:14; Isa 30:16; Isa 31:1; Ho 5:13; Ho 14:8)4I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them. (Jer 3:22; Ho 6:1; Ho 11:1)5I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily; he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon; (Ps 92:12; Isa 27:6; Isa 35:2; Ho 6:3)6his shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon. (Ps 52:8)7They shall return and dwell beneath my[2] shadow; they shall flourish like the grain; they shall blossom like the vine; their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon. (Ps 91:1)8O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you.[3] I am like an evergreen cypress; from me comes your fruit. (Isa 30:22; Ho 2:8; Ho 2:23; Ho 14:3; Joh 15:4)9Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them. (Ps 107:43; Pr 10:29; Jer 9:12; Da 12:10; Lu 2:34; Joh 8:47; Joh 18:37; 2Co 2:16)