Hosea 12

1 Ephraim feedeth on wind, and pursueth the east wind; the whole day he increaseth deceit and corruption; and a covenant do they make with Assyria, and oil is carried 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 But with Judah also hath the Lord [to hold] a controversy; and to punish Jacob according to his ways, according to his doings 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 In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his strength he strove with an angel.

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

4 Yea, he strove with an angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication unto him: in Beth-el he should find him, and there he will speak with us.

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

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

6 Therefore do thou return to thy God: keep goodness and justice, and wait on thy God continually.

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

7 But like a merchant, who hath the balances of deceit in his hand, loving to overreach,

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

8 Did Ephraim say, I am certainly become rich, I have acquired substance unto myself: it is all through my labors; they will find no iniquity in me, that could be sin.

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 And I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt: I will yet make thee dwell in tents, as in the days of antiquity.

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 have spoken through the prophets, and I myself have multiplied visions, and by the means of the prophets have I spoken in similitudes.

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

11 If in Gil'ad there was misfortune, [it is because] there was naught but idolatry; in Gilgal they sacrificed bullocks [to idols]: their altars also are as stone-heaps on the furrows of the fields.

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 fled into the fields of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept [the flocks].

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

13 And by a prophet did the Lord bring Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he guarded.

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

14 [Yet] Ephraim provoked [him] to anger most bitterly: therefore will his Lord cast his blood-guiltiness upon him, and his reproach will he recompense unto him.

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.