| Berean Study Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled by your iniquity. | 1 Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for your sins have brought you down. |
| 2Bring your confessions and return to the LORD. Say to Him: “Take away all our iniquity and receive us graciously, that we may present the fruit of our lips. | 2Bring your confessions, and return to the LORD. Say to him, “Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us, so that we may offer you our praises. |
| 3Assyria will not save us, nor will we ride on horses. We will never again say, ‘Our gods!’ to the work of our own hands. For in You the fatherless find compassion.” | 3Assyria cannot save us, nor can our warhorses. Never again will we say to the idols we have made, ‘You are our gods.’ No, in you alone do the orphans find mercy.” |
| 4I will heal their apostasy; I will freely love them, for My anger has turned away from them. | 4The LORD says, “Then I will heal you of your faithlessness; my love will know no bounds, for my anger will be gone forever. |
| 5I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily and take root like the cedars of Lebanon. | 5I will be to Israel like a refreshing dew from heaven. Israel will blossom like the lily; it will send roots deep into the soil like the cedars in Lebanon. |
| 6His shoots will sprout, and his splendor will be like the olive tree, his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon. | 6Its branches will spread out like beautiful olive trees, as fragrant as the cedars of Lebanon. |
| 7They will return and dwell in his shade; they will grow grain and blossom like the vine. His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon. | 7My people will again live under my shade. They will flourish like grain and blossom like grapevines. They will be as fragrant as the wines of Lebanon. |
| 8O Ephraim, what have I to do anymore with idols? It is I who answer and watch over him. I am like a flourishing cypress; your fruit comes from Me. | 8“O Israel, stay away from idols! I am the one who answers your prayers and cares for you. I am like a tree that is always green; all your fruit comes from me.” |
| 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 righteous walk in them but the rebellious stumble in them. | 9Let those who are wise understand these things. Let those with discernment listen carefully. The paths of the LORD are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them. But in those paths sinners stumble and fall. |
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