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.

厄弗辣因愛好颶風，整日追逐東風，說許多謊話，行許多暴行，既與亞述結盟，又給埃及送油。

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.

上主要與以色列爭辯，要按他們的行徑懲罰雅各伯，依照他的行為報復他：

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

他在母胎中就欺騙了他的弟兄，及至壯年又曾與天神搏鬥；

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

他與天神博鬥，並且獲得了勝利；他哭了，曾懇求他開恩；在貝特耳再遇見了他，在那裏天主對他說：──

5 But the Lord God Almighty shall be his memorial.

上主，萬軍的天主，雅威是他的名號x──

6 Thou therefore shalt return to thy God: keep thou mercy and judgment, and draw nigh to thy God continually.

「至於你，你應當歸向你的天主，遵守仁愛和正義，時刻仰望你的天主。」

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

厄弗辣因有如客納罕人，手裏拿著欺詐的天秤，喜行欺騙。

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

厄弗辣因說：「我現在實在成了富翁，發了大財。」然而他所獲得的一切，為補贖他所犯的罪孽，仍嫌不夠。

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

自從在埃及地時，我就是上主，你的天主：我必再使你住在帳幕中，如在盛會的節日一樣。

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

是我向先知們說了話，是我增多了異象，我也必藉先知們消滅他們。

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.

在基肋阿得只有罪惡，的確，他們只是虛無；在基耳加耳 他們向牛犢獻了祭，因此他們的祭壇必將成為田畦中的石堆。

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

雅各伯曾逃到阿蘭平原，以色列曾為娶妻而服役，曾為娶妻而放羊。

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

上主曾藉一位先知領以色列出離埃及，也藉一位先知保護了他們。

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

但厄弗辣因大大激怒了上主，他的血債必要歸到他身上，他的主必要在他身上報復自己受的凌辱。