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 feeds on the wind and follows after the east wind. He continually multiplies lies and violence. They make a covenant with Assyria and carry olive oil to 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.

Yahweh also has a lawsuit against Judah and will punish Jacob for what he has done; he will repay him for his deeds.

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

In the womb Jacob grasped his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he struggled 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 struggled with the angel and won. He wept and begged for his favor. He met God at Bethel; there God spoke with him.

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

This is Yahweh, the God of hosts; “Yahweh” is his name to be called on.

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

So turn to your God. Keep covenantal faithfulness and justice, and wait continually for your God.

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

The merchants have false scales in their hands; they love to defraud.

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.”

Ephraim said, “I have certainly become very rich; I have found wealth for myself. In all my work they will not find any iniquity in me, anything that would be sin.”

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.

“I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt. I will again make you live in tents, as in the days of the appointed festival.

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 spoke to the prophets, and I gave them many visions for you. By the hand of the prophets I gave parables.”

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.

If there is wickedness in Gilead, surely the people are worthless. In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls; their altars will be like heaps of stone in the furrows of the fields.

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

Jacob fled to the land of Aram; Israel worked in order to get a wife; and he kept flocks of sheep to get a wife.

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

Yahweh brought Israel out of Egypt by a prophet, and by a prophet he took care of them.

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 has bitterly angered Yahweh. So his Lord will leave his blood on him and will turn back on him his disgrace.