Hosea 12

1 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.

Ephraim's food is the wind, and he goes after the east wind: deceit and destruction are increasing day by day; they make an agreement with Assyria, and take oil into Egypt.

2 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.

The Lord has a cause against Judah, and will give punishment to Jacob for his ways; he will give him the reward of his acts.

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

In the body of his mother he took his brother by the foot, and in his strength he was fighting with God;

4 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.

He had a fight with the angel and overcame him; he made request for grace to him with weeping; he came face to face with him in Beth-el and there his words came to him;

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

Even the Lord, the God of armies; the Lord is his name.

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

So then, come back to your God; keep mercy and right, and be waiting at all times on your God.

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

As for Canaan, the scales of deceit are in his hands; he takes pleasure in twisted ways.

8 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.”

And Ephraim said, Now I have got wealth and much property; in all my works no sin may be seen in me.

9 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.

But I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt; I will give you tents for your living-places again as in the days of the holy meeting.

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

My word came to the ears of the prophets and I gave them visions in great number, and by the mouths of the prophets I made use of comparisons.

11 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.

In Gilead there is evil. They are quite without value; in Gilgal they make offerings of oxen; truly their altars are like masses of stones in the hollows of a ploughed field.

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

And Jacob went in flight into the field of Aram, and Israel became a servant for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.

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

And by a prophet the Lord made Israel come up out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was kept safe.

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

I have been bitterly moved to wrath by Ephraim; so that his blood will be on him, and the Lord will make his shame come back on him.