Osee 12

1 But Ephraim is an evil spirit, he has chased the east wind all the day: he has multiplied empty and vain things, and made a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil has gone in the way of traffic into Egypt.

Ephraim feeds on wind and follows burning heat; all day long he multiplies lies and desolation. And he has entered into a pact with the Assyrians, and he has carried oil into Egypt.

2 And the Lord [has] a controversy with Juda, in order to punish Jacob: according to his ways and according to his practices will he recompense him.

Therefore, the judgment of the Lord is with Judah and a visitation is upon Jacob. He will repay him according to his ways and according to his inventions.

3 He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and in his labors he had power with God.

In the womb, he supplanted his brother; for in his good fortune, he had been guided by an angel.

4 And he prevailed with the angel and was strong: they wept, and entreated me: they found me in the house of On, and there [a word] was spoken to them.

And he prevailed over an angel, for he had been strengthened. He wept and petitioned him. He found him in Bethel, and there he has spoken to us.

5 But the Lord God Almighty shall be his memorial.

And the Lord God of hosts, the Lord is his memorial.

6 You therefore shall return to your God: keep you mercy and judgment, and draw near to your God continually.

And so, you should convert to your God. Keep mercy and judgment, and have hope in your God always.

7 [As for] Chanaan, in his hand is a balance of unrighteousness: he has loved to tyrannize.

Canaan, in his hand is a deceitful balance, he has chosen false accusations.

8 And Ephraim said, Nevertheless I am rich, I have found refreshment to myself. None of his labors shall be found [available] to him, by reason of the sins which he has committed.

And Ephraim has said, “Nevertheless, I have become rich; I have found an idol for myself. All of my labors will not reveal to me the iniquity that I have committed.”

9 But I the Lord your God brought you up out of the land of Egypt: I will yet cause you to dwell in tabernacles, according to the days of the feast.

And I, the Lord your God from the land of Egypt, nevertheless will cause you to dwell in tabernacles, just as during the days of the feast.

10 And I will speak to the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and by the means of the prophets I was represented.

And I have spoken through the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and I have used parables through the hands of the prophets.

11 If Galaad exists not, then the chiefs in Galaad when they sacrificed were false, and their altars were as heaps on the ground of the field.

If Gilead is an idol, then they have been sacrificing cattle in Gilgal to no purpose. For even their altars are like clutter on the soil of the field.

12 And Jacob retreated into the plain of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and waited for a wife.

Jacob fled into the region of Syria, and Israel served like a wife, and was served by a wife.

13 And the Lord brought Israel out of the land of Egypt by a prophet, and by a prophet was he preserve.

Yet by a prophet the Lord led Israel out of Egypt, and he was served by a prophet.

14 Ephraim was angry and excited, therefore his blood shall be poured out upon him, and the Lord shall recompense to him his reproach.

Ephraim has provoked me to wrath with his bitterness, and his blood will overcome him, and his Lord will requite him for his shamefulness.