O Jerusalem, wash thy heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved;
How long shall thy baleful thoughts lodge within thee?...
Return ye now every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.”[778]
Ezekiel, while emphasizing the guilt of the individual, preached repentance still more insistently. “Return ye, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so shall they not be a stumbling-block of iniquity to you. Cast away from you all your transgressions, wherein ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God; wherefore turn yourselves, and live.”[779] The same appeal recurs after the exile in the last prophets, Zechariah[780] and Malachi.[781] The latter says: “Return unto Me, and I shall return unto you.” Likewise [pg 250] the penitential sermon written in a time of great distress, which is ascribed to the prophet Joel, contains the appeal:
“Turn ye unto Me with all your heart,
And with fasting, and with weeping, and with lamentation;
And rend your heart, and not your garments,
And turn unto the Lord your God;
For He is gracious and compassionate,
Long-suffering, and abundant in mercy,