Shomron (Samaria) bears its guilt, and then Hoshea (Hosea) calls Yisrael to return to Hashem with words of teshuvah (repentance). Hashem promises to heal them, love them and make them flourish.
(This perek ends the haftarah of Parshat Vayeitzei. Pesukim 2–10, with Yoel 2:15–27, are the haftarah of Shabbat Shuva, read as the haftarah of Parshat Vayeilech.) Shomron will bear its guilt, because it rebelled against Hashem. Its people will fall by the sword, and not even small children and women with child will be spared.
Then comes the call to return. "Shuva Yisrael" (return, Yisrael), Hoshea says, all the way to Hashem, because Yisrael has stumbled in its sin. (These words give Shabbat Shuva, the Shabbat between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, its name.) He tells them to take words with them when they return. They are to ask Hashem to forgive all sin and accept what is good, and to say that they will offer the words of their lips in place of bulls. (From these words, "uneshalmah farim sefateinu," it is understood that our tefillot take the place of the korbanot.) They are to say that Ashur (Assyria) will not save them, that they will not ride on horses for help, and that they will never again call the work of their hands their god, because with Hashem the orphan finds mercy.
Hashem answers that He will heal their turning away and love them freely, because His anger has turned from them. He will be like dew to Yisrael. Yisrael will bloom like a shoshanah (lily) and set down roots like the cedars of Levanon (Lebanon). Its branches will spread, its beauty will be like the olive tree and its fragrance like Levanon. Those who live in its shade will return. They will grow like grain and bloom like the vine, and their name will be as famous as the wine of Levanon. Efrayim (the northern kingdom) will have nothing more to do with idols. Hashem answers him and watches over him. He is like a fresh, green berosh (cypress) tree, and from Him comes Efrayim's fruit.
Whoever is wise will understand these things, and whoever has insight will know them. The ways of Hashem are straight. The tzaddikim (righteous) walk in them, and those who rebel stumble in them.