Hosea 12

1 [The leaders of] Israel are constantly wavering [about seeking help from other countries]. [Seeking their help is as useless as] [MET] chasing the wind. They pile up their lies and violent acts. [First, ] they make a treaty with Assyria, and [then they] send olive oil to [the rulers of] Egypt [to seek their help].

Ephraim is enjoying wind, And is pursuing an east wind, All the day lying and spoiling he multiplieth, And a covenant with Asshur they make, And oil to Egypt is carried.

2 Yahweh [says that he] will bring accusations against [the leaders of] Judah, and that he will punish [the descendants of] Jacob for what they have done.

And a controversy hath Jehovah with Judah, To lay a charge on Jacob according to his ways, According to his doings He returneth to him.

3 [When Jacob was] in his mother’s womb, he grabbed his brother [Esau’s] heel [because he wanted to be born first]. When Jacob grew up, he wrestled with God.

In the womb he took his brother by the heel, And by his strength he was a prince with God,

4 He struggled with [the one who had appeared to him in the form of] an angel, and Jacob defeated him, but [then] he cried and asked the angel to bless him. [Later], God came to Jacob at Bethel and talked with him there.

Yea, he is a prince unto the Messenger, And he overcometh [by] weeping, And he maketh supplication to Him, At Bethel He doth find him, And there He doth speak with us,

5 [That was] the Commander of the armies of angels whose name is Yahweh [who talked with him]!

Even Jehovah, God of the Hosts, Jehovah [is] His memorial.

6 But you [people of Israel] must return to your God! You must faithfully love [him], and you must do what is fair/just and always depend on him.

And thou, through thy God, dost turn, Kindness and judgment keep thou, And wait on thy God continually.

7 The merchants [among you] use scales that do not weigh correctly; they love/like to cheat people.

Canaan! in his hand [are] balances of deceit! To oppress he hath loved.

8 [The people of] Israel boast, saying “We are [very] rich [DOU]; and we got all that money by our own efforts, and without committing any sin.”

And Ephraim saith: 'Surely I have become rich, I have found wealth for myself, All my labours — they find not against me iniquity that [is] sin.'

9 “I am Yahweh your God, [the one who brought your ancestors] out of Egypt. [And some day] I will force you to live in tents again [like your ancestors did] when [they celebrated] the Festival [of Living in Temporary Shelters].

And I — Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt, Again do I turn thee back into tents, As in the days of the appointed time.

10 [Many times] I spoke to the prophets, and I gave them many visions, and I gave them parables to tell [to the people].”

And I have spoken unto the prophets, And I have multiplied vision, And by the hand of the prophets I use similes.

11 [The people of] Gilead [city] are [RHQ] extremely wicked; they are worthless. The people sacrifice bulls in Gilgal [city], but their altars will [soon] become like [SIM] piles of stone [at the edge of] a plowed field.

Surely Gilead [is] iniquity, Only, vanity they have been, In Gilead bullocks they have sacrificed, Also their altars [are] as heaps, on the furrows of a field.

12 [Your ancestor] Jacob fled [from his brother Esau] and went to northwest Mesopotamia. He worked [for his uncle Laban for many years] to get a wife; he took care of [his uncle’s] sheep [to pay] for her.

And Jacob doth flee to the country of Aram, And Israel doth serve for a wife, Yea, for a wife he hath kept watch.

13 [Many years later, ] Yahweh enabled a prophet to bring the [ancestors of you] people of Israel here from Egypt; that prophet, [Moses], took care of them.

And by a prophet hath Jehovah brought up Israel out of Egypt, And by a prophet it hath been watched.

14 [But now the people of] Israel have caused [Yahweh] to become very angry; Yahweh says that they deserve to die because they caused [many others] to die [MTY]; he will pay them back for the sins that they have committed against him and for insulting him.

Ephraim hath provoked most bitterly, And his blood on himself he leaveth, And his reproach turn back to him doth his Lord!