A Call to Repentance (Jeremiah 3:11–25; Zechariah 1:1–6)
1 DBY O Israel, return unto Jehovah thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. BSB BSB: Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled by your iniquity.
2 DBY Take with you words, and turn to Jehovah; say unto him, Forgive all iniquity, and receive us graciously; so will we render the calves of our lips. BSB BSB: Bring 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.
3 DBY Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Thou art our God; because in thee the fatherless findeth mercy. BSB BSB: Assyria 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.”
A Promise of God’s Blessing 4 DBY I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for mine anger is turned away from him. BSB BSB: I will heal their apostasy; I will freely love them, for My anger has turned away from them.
5 DBY I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall blossom as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. BSB BSB: I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.
6 DBY His shoots shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon. BSB BSB: His shoots will sprout, and his splendor will be like the olive tree, his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon.
7 DBY They shall return and sit under his shadow; they shall revive as corn, and blossom as the vine: the renown thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. BSB BSB: They 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.
8 DBY Ephraim shall say , What have I to do any more with idols? (I answer him , and I will observe him.) I am like a green fir-tree. — From me is thy fruit found. BSB BSB: O 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.
9 DBY Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? intelligent, and he shall know them? For the ways of Jehovah are right, and the just shall walk in them; but the transgressors shall fall therein. BSB BSB: Whoever 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.