Friday, July 10, 2026

²Israel, return to the LORD your God; for you have fallen because of your sin.

³Take words with you, and return to the LORD. Tell him, "Forgive all our sins, and accept that which is good; so we offer bulls as we vowed of our lips.

⁴Assyria can't save us. We won't ride on horses; neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, 'Our gods!' for in you the fatherless finds mercy."

⁵"I will heal their waywardness. I will love them freely; for my anger is turned away from them.

⁶I will be like the dew to Israel. He will blossom like the lily, and send down his roots like Lebanon.

⁷His branches will spread, and his beauty will be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon.

⁸Men will dwell in his shade. They will revive like the grain, and blossom like the vine. Their fragrance will be like the wine of Lebanon.

⁹Ephraim, what have I to do any more with idols? I answer, and will take care of him. I am like a green cypress tree; from me your fruit is found."

¹⁰Who is wise, that he may understand these things? Who is prudent, that he may know them? For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.

³Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.

⁴Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin.

⁸Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts. You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

⁹Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

¹²Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.

¹³Don't throw me from your presence, and don't take your Holy Spirit from me.

¹⁴Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Uphold me with a willing spirit.

¹⁷Lord, open my lips. My mouth will declare your praise.

¹⁶"Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.

¹⁷But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils, and in their synagogues they will scourge you.

¹⁸Yes, and you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the nations.

¹⁹But when they deliver you up, don't be anxious how or what you will say, for it will be given you in that hour what you will say.

²⁰For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

²¹"Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child. Children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.

²²You will be hated by all men for my name's sake, but he who endures to the end will be saved.

²³But when they persecute you in this city, flee into the next, for most certainly I tell you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man has come.