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 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 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.

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

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

In the womb he took his brother by the heel, And in his strength he contended 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.”

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 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.

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

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

Jacob fled into the country of Syria, And Israel served 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.

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

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.

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