| New King James Version | New Living Translation |
| 1O Israel, return to the LORD your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity; | 1 Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for your sins have brought you down. |
| 2Take words with you, And return to the LORD. Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity; Receive us graciously, For we will offer the sacrifices 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 shall not save us, We will not ride on horses, Nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, ‘You are our gods.’ For in You the fatherless finds mercy.” | 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.” |
| 4“I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from him. | 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 shall grow like the lily, And lengthen his roots like 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 branches shall spread; His beauty shall be like an olive tree, And his fragrance like Lebanon. | 6Its branches will spread out like beautiful olive trees, as fragrant as the cedars of Lebanon. |
| 7Those who dwell under his shadow shall return; They shall be revived like grain, And grow like a vine. Their scent shall 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. |
| 8“Ephraim shall say, ‘What have I to do anymore with idols?’ I have heard and observed him. I am like a green cypress tree; Your fruit is found in 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.” |
| 9Who is wise? Let him understand these things. Who is prudent? Let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right; The righteous walk in them, But transgressors 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. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
|
    |