Shabbat Shuva 2023

(2) Return, O Israel, to the ETERNAL your God, (3) Take words with you
And return to GOD. Say: “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;^b
Nor ever again will we call
Our handiwork our god,
Since in You alone orphans find pity!”^c

(5) I will heal their affliction,^d

Generously will I take them back in love;
For My anger has turned away from them.^e

(6) I will be to Israel like dew;
He shall blossom like the lily,
He shall strike root like a Lebanon tree.^f

(7) His boughs shall spread out far,
His beauty shall be like the olive tree’s,
His fragrance like that of Lebanon.

(8) They who sit in his shade shall be revived:
They shall bring to life new grain,
They shall blossom like the vine;
His scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon.^g

(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.^h

(10) The wise will consider these words,
The prudent will take note of them.
For the paths of GOD are smooth;
The righteous can walk on them,
While sinners stumble on them.

For you have fallen because of your sin.

^aForgive … lips Meaning of Heb. uncertain.

^bNo more will we ride on steeds I.e., we will no longer depend on an alliance with Egypt; cf. 2 Kings 18.24 (Isa. 36.9); Isa. 30.16.

^cpity I.e., parental compassion (cf. Ps. 103.13) or legal affiliation (cf. Hos. 2.6, 25).

^daffliction For this meaning of meshubah see Jer. 2.19; 3.22.

^ethem Heb. “him.”

^fLebanon tree Emendation yields “poplar.”

^gLebanon Emendation yields “Helbon”; cf. Ezek. 27.18.

^hYour fruit is provided by Me Meaning of Heb. uncertain.

(18) Who is a God like You,
Forgiving iniquity
And remitting transgression—
Not staying angry forever
Toward the remnant of Your own people,
Because You^l love graciousness!
(19) [God] will take us back in love,
Quashing^m our iniquities.
You will hurl all ourⁿ sins

Into the depths of the sea.
(20) You will keep faith with Jacob,
Loyalty to Abraham,
As You promised on oath to our fathers
In days gone by.

^lYour…You Heb. 3rd person.

^mQuashing Or, perhaps, “Forgiving,” as in Akkadian kabasu.

ⁿour Heb. “their.”

(15) Blow a horn in Zion, Solemnize a fast,
Proclaim an assembly!

(16) Gather the people, Bid the congregation purify themselves.^e Bring together the old,
Gather the babes And the sucklings at the breast; Let the bridegroom come out of his chamber, The bride from her canopied couch.

(17) Between the portico and the altar, Let the priests, GOD’s ministers, weep
And say: “Oh, spare Your people, ETERNAL One ! Let not Your possession become a mockery, To be taunted by nations!
Let not the peoples say, ‘Where is their God?’”

(18) Then GOD was roused In behalf of this land And had compassion Upon this people. (19) In response to this covenanted people
GOD declared: “I will grant you the new grain, The new wine, and the new oil,
And you shall have them in abundance.
Nevermore will I let you be A mockery among the nations.

(20) I will drive the northerner^f far from you, I will thrust it into a parched and desolate land— Its van to the Eastern Sea^g And its rear to the Western Sea;^h And the stench of it shall go up, And the foul smell rise.” For [ GOD ] shall work great deeds.

(21) Fear not, O soil, rejoice and be glad; For GOD has wrought great deeds. (22) Fear not, O beasts of the field, For the pastures in the wilderness Are clothed with grass. The trees have borne their fruit;
Fig tree and vine Have yielded their strength. (23) O children of Zion, be glad, Rejoice in the ETERNAL your God. For you have been given the early rain out of kindness, Now the rain is made to fall [as] formerly— The early rain and the late—

(24) And threshing floors shall be piled with grain, And vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.

(25) “I will repay you for the yearsⁱ Consumed by swarms and hoppers,
By grubs and locusts, The great army I let loose against you.

(26) And you shall eat your fill And praise the name of the ETERNAL your God Who dealt so wondrously with you— My people shall be shamed no more.

(27) And you shall know That I am in the midst of Israel: That I the ETERNAL One am your God And there is no other. And My people shall be shamed no more.”

epurify themselves Cf. Exod. 19.10; Zeph. 1.7.

fthe northerner I.e., the locusts. Emendation yields “My multitude”; cf. “nation” (1.6), “horde,” “army,” and “host” (2.2, 5, 11, 25).

gthe Eastern Sea The Dead Sea.

hthe Western Sea The Mediterranean Sea.

ifor the years Emendation yields “double what was.”

Return - Little by little, to the Lord.

Many prophets arose for the Jewish people, numbering double the number of Israelites who left Egypt. However, only a portion of the prophecies were recorded, because only prophecy that was needed for future generations was written down in the Bible for posterity, but that which was not needed, as it was not pertinent to later generations, was not written. Therefore, the fifty-five prophets recorded in the Bible, although not the only prophets of the Jewish people, were the only ones recorded, due to their eternal messages.