Hosea 12

1 Ephraim tries to herd the wind, chasing after the east wind all day long. Their lies and violence keep on increasing. They make a treaty with Assyria, and send olive oil to Egypt.

Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind; Every day he multiplieth falsehood and violence; They make a league with Assyria, And oil is carried into Egypt.

2 The Lord also has an accusation against Judah, and will punish Jacob for the way the people act; he will repay them for what they have done.

Therefore Jehovah hath a controversy with Judah. And he will punish Jacob for his ways, And requite him according to his doings.

3 Even in the womb he fought with his brother; when he became a man he fought with God.

In the womb he took his brother by the heel, And in his strength he contended with God;

4 He fought with the angel, and he won. He wept, and begged him for a blessing. Jacob found God at Bethel, and spoke with him there—

Yea, he contended with the angel, and prevailed; He wept, and made supplication to him. At Bethel he found him, And there he spake with us.

5 the Lord God Almighty, the Lord is his memorable name!

And Jehovah, the God of hosts, Jehovah is his name.

6 You must return to your God. Act lovingly and do what is right, and always wait for your God.

Therefore turn thou to thy God; Observe mercy and justice, And hope in thy God always!

7 A merchant who holds in his hands dishonest scales loves to swindle.

He is a Canaanite; in his hands are the balances of deceit; He loveth to oppress.

8 Ephraim says, “I'm rich! I've made myself wealthy! I've made so much from my work, and nobody can prove me guilty of doing wrong.”

Yet Ephraim saith, Lo, I have become rich; I have found myself substance; In all my earnings can be found no transgression in which there is guilt.

9 But I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt. I will make you live again in tents like you do at the time of that particular festival.

Yet I, Jehovah, have been thy God from the land of Egypt; I will again cause thee to dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn feast.

10 I spoke through the prophets. I myself gave many visions and parables through the prophets.

I have also spoken to the prophets, And I have given many visions, And by the prophets I have used similitudes.

11 If Gilead is idolatrous, they will surely come to nothing. In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls. Even their altars are like heaps of rocks in the furrows of the field.

Behold, Gilead is full of iniquity; Surely they have become corrupt; In Gilgal they sacrifice oxen, And their altars are like the heaps in the furrows of the field.

12 Jacob fled to the land of Aram; Israel worked there to gain a wife, earning a wife by looking after sheep.

Jacob fled into the country of Syria, And Israel served for a wife, And for a wife he kept sheep.

13 Through a prophet the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt, and by a prophet they were cared for.

By a prophet Jehovah brought up Israel out of Egypt, And by a prophet was he preserved.

14 Ephraim has really upset the Lord, and the Lord will let them have the consequences of their bloodshed and pay them back for their contempt.

Ephraim hath provoked his Lord most bitterly; Therefore will he leave his blood upon him, And recompense to him his reproach.