10 As I live, saith the Lord,
I desire not the death of a sinner,
but that he should repent. Adding
farther this good sentence, saying
Turn from your iniquity, O house
of Israel.
11 Say unto the children of
my people, though your sins should
reach from earth to heaven; and
though they shall be redder than
scarlet, and blacker than sackcloth
yet if ye shall turn to me with all
your heart, and shall call me
father, I will hearken to you, as
to a holy people.
12 And in another place he saith
on this wise: wash ye, make you
clean; put away the evil of your
doings from before mine eyes;
cease to do evil, learn to do well;
seek judgment, relieve the
oppressed, judge the fatherless,
plead for the widow.
13 Come now and let us reason
together, saith the Lord: though
your sins be as scarlet, they shall
be as white as snow; though they
be as red as crimson, they shall
be as wool.
14 If ye be willing and obedient
ye shall eat the good of the land
but, if ye refuse and rebel, ye
shall be devoured with the sword;
for the mouth of the Lord hath
spoken it.
15 These things has God
established by his Almighty will,
desiring that all his beloved
should come to repentance.
CHAPTER V.
1 He sets before them the examples of holy men,
whose piety is recorded in the Scripture.
WHEREFORE let us obey his
excellent and glorious will;
and imploring his mercy and
goodness, let us fall down upon
our faces before him, and cast
ourselves upon his mercy; laying
aside all vanity, and contention,
and envy which leads unto death.