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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

4 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.

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—

5 But the Lord God Almighty shall be his memorial.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.”

9 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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.