Yet even now, says Hashem, turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your hearts, and not your garments, and turn to the Hashem your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and great in love, and repents of evil.
(3) From the thirteenth year of King Josiah son of Amon of Judah, to this day—these twenty-three years—the word of Hashem has come to me. I have spoken to you persistently, but you would not listen. Moreover, Hashem continuously sent all his servants the prophets to you, but you would not listen or incline your ears to hear, when they said, “Turn back, every one, from your evil ways and your wicked acts, that you may remain throughout the ages on the soil that Hashem gave to you and your ancestors. Do not follow other gods, to serve them and worship them. Do not vex Me with the work of your hands, and I will not bring disaster upon you.” But you would not listen to Me—declares Hashem—but vexed Me with what your hands made, to your own hurt.
Therefore, O you son of man, speak to the house of Israel; Thus you speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live? Say to them, As I live, says Hashem Elokim, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn, turn from your evil ways! for why will you die, O house of Israel?
And when I say to the wicked, You shall surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right; if the wicked restore the pledge, give back that which he had robbed, follow the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of his sins that he has committed shall be remembered for him: he has done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.
Return, O Israel, to Hashem your God; for you have stumbled in your iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to Hashem: say to him, "Forgive all iniquity, and receive us graciously! For we will offer the words of our lips instead of calves. Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: nor shall we say any more to the work of our hands, You are our gods: for in You the fatherless finds mercy." I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for my anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew to Israel: he shall flower like the lily, and cast forth his roots like the Levanon.
Repent, rebellious children! I shall heal your backslidings. "Here we are, we have come to you, for you are Hashem, our God. Truly, the [worship] of the vast mountains is falsehood. Truly, in Hashem, our God, is the salvation of Israel. The embarrassment has eaten up the work of our forefathers from our youth, their flock, their cattle, their sons, and their daughters. Let us lie down in our disgrace and cover our shame, for to Hashem our God, have we sinned, us and our forefathers, from our youth until this very day. And we have not listened to the voice of Hashem our God."
"If you repent, Israel," the word of Hashem, "to Me, shall you return. And if you cast off your abominations from in front of me without wavering... I have sworn, as Hashem lives, in truth, judgement, and righteousness, all of the nations shall be blessed through [Israel], and through [Israel] shall they take glory.
Wash yourselves, become clean; remove your evil doings away from My sight. Cease to do evil; learn to do good. Seek out justice. Aid the wronged, uphold the rights of the orphan, defend the cause of the widow.
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does Hashem require of you, but to do justly, and perform [acts of] loving-kindess, and to walk humbly with your God?
(6) Seek Hashem when he can be found, call out to Him while He is near. Let the wicked give up his way, a sinner, their plans; Let him turn back to Hashem, and He shall have mercy on him, and to our God, who is abundant in forgiveness.
Is this the type of fast that I desire, a day that man afflicts his soul? To bow down his head like a bulrush, to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? You call this a fast day, a day that is favorable to Hashem? Behold, this is the fast that I desire: loosening the chains of wickedness, undoing the bounds of the yoke, letting the oppressed go free, and untying every yoke? Is it not sharing with the poor your bread, and bringing the impoverished into your house? When you see someone naked, covering him, and not hiding yourself from your flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the morning, and your health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of Hashem shall be thy rearguard. Then shalt you call, and Hashem shall answer; you shall cry, and He shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking iniquity;
And if thou draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall your light rise in darkness, and your gloom be as the noonday: and Hashem shall guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and make strong your bones: and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
God saw their actions, how they were repenting from their evil ways. And God renounced the punishment that he had spoken be done to them, and did not do as such.