| English Standard Version | New International Version |
| 1Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. | 1Return, Israel, to the LORD your God. Your sins have been your downfall! |
| 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 of our lips. | 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. |
| 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.” | 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." |
| 4I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them. | 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 shall blossom like the lily; he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon; | 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 shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon. | 6his young shoots will grow. His splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon. |
| 7They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow; they shall flourish like the grain; they shall blossom like the vine; their fame shall be like the wine 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. |
| 8O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress; from me comes your fruit. | 8Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? I will answer him and care for him. I am like a flourishing juniper; your fruitfulness 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 upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them. | 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. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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