(16) The Eternal said to Moses: You are soon to lie with your fathers. This people will thereupon go astray after the alien gods in their midst, in the land that they are about to enter; they will forsake Me and break My covenant that I made with them. (17) Then My anger will flare up against them, and I will abandon them and hide My countenance from them. They shall be ready prey; and many evils and troubles shall befall them. And they shall say on that day, “Surely it is because our God is not in our midst that these evils have befallen us.” (18) Yet I will keep My countenance hidden on that day, because of all the evil they have done in turning to other gods. (19) Therefore, write down this poem and teach it to the people of Israel; put it in their mouths, in order that this poem may be My witness against the people of Israel.
(2) Return, O Israel, to the Eternal your God,
For you have fallen because of your sin. (3) Take words with you
And return to the Eternal .
Say to God:
“Forgive all guilt
And accept what is good;
Instead of bulls we will pay
[The offering of] our lips.-a (4) Assyria shall not save us,
No more will we ride on steeds;
Nor ever again will we call
Our handiwork our god,
Since in You alone orphans find pity!” (5) I will heal their affliction,
Generously will I take them back in love;
For My anger has turned away from them. (6) I will be to Israel like dew;
They shall blossom like the lily,
and strike roots like a Lebanon tree.-e (7) Their shoots shall spread out far,
their splendor shall be like the olive tree’s,
their fragrance like that of Lebanon. (8) Those who sit in his shade shall be revived:
they shall bring to life new grain,
they shall blossom like the vine;
their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon. (9) Ephraim [shall say]:
“What more have I to do with idols?
When I respond and look to God,
I become like a verdant cypress.”
Your fruit is provided by Me.-a
(10) He who is wise will consider these words,
He who is prudent will take note of them.
For the paths of the Eternal are smooth;
The righteous can walk on them,
While sinners stumble on them.