Hosea 12

1 Ephraim tries to herd the wind, chasing after the east wind all day long. Their lies and violence keep on increasing. They make a treaty with Assyria, and send olive oil to Egypt.

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.

2 The Lord also has an accusation against Judah, and will punish Jacob for the way the people act; he will repay them for what they have done.

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.

3 Even in the womb he fought with his brother; when he became a man he fought with God.

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

4 He fought with the angel, and he won. He wept, and begged him for a blessing. Jacob found God at Bethel, and spoke with him there—

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

5 the Lord God Almighty, the Lord is his memorable name!

But the Lord God Almighty shall be his memorial.

6 You must return to your God. Act lovingly and do what is right, and always wait for your God.

You therefore shall return to your God: keep you mercy and judgement, and draw near to your God continually.

7 A merchant who holds in his hands dishonest scales loves to swindle.

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

8 Ephraim says, “I'm rich! I've made myself wealthy! I've made so much from my work, and nobody can prove me guilty of doing wrong.”

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.

9 But I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt. I will make you live again in tents like you do at the time of that particular festival.

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

10 I spoke through the prophets. I myself gave many visions and parables through the prophets.

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

11 If Gilead is idolatrous, they will surely come to nothing. In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls. Even their altars are like heaps of rocks in the furrows of the field.

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.

12 Jacob fled to the land of Aram; Israel worked there to gain a wife, earning a wife by looking after sheep.

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

13 Through a prophet the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt, and by a prophet they were cared for.

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

14 Ephraim has really upset the Lord, and the Lord will let them have the consequences of their bloodshed and pay them back for their contempt.

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