Hosea 12

1 “Ephraim is enjoying wind, And is pursuing an east wind, All the day he multiplies lying and spoiling, And they make a covenant with Asshur, And oil is carried to Egypt.

Ephraim's food is the wind, and he goes after the east wind: deceit and destruction are increasing day by day; they make an agreement with Assyria, and take oil into Egypt.

2 And YHWH has a controversy with Judah, To lay a charge on Jacob according to his ways, He returns to him according to his doings.

The Lord has a cause against Judah, and will give punishment to Jacob for his ways; he will give him the reward of his acts.

3 In the womb he took his brother by the heel, And by his strength he was a prince with God,

In the body of his mother he took his brother by the foot, and in his strength he was fighting with God;

4 Indeed, he is a prince to the Messenger, And he overcomes [by] weeping, And he makes supplication to Him, At Bethel He finds him, And there He speaks with us,

He had a fight with the angel and overcame him; he made request for grace to him with weeping; he came face to face with him in Beth-el and there his words came to him;

5 Even YHWH, God of the Hosts, YHWH [is] His memorial.

Even the Lord, the God of armies; the Lord is his name.

6 And you, through your God, turn, Keep kindness and judgment, And wait on your God continually.

So then, come back to your God; keep mercy and right, and be waiting at all times on your God.

7 Canaan! In his hand [are] balances of deceit! He has loved to oppress.

As for Canaan, the scales of deceit are in his hands; he takes pleasure in twisted ways.

8 And Ephraim says, Surely I have become rich, I have found wealth for myself, All my labors—they do not find against me iniquity that [is] sin.

And Ephraim said, Now I have got wealth and much property; in all my works no sin may be seen in me.

9 And I—your God YHWH from the land of Egypt, Again I turn you back into tents, As in the days of the appointed time.

But I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt; I will give you tents for your living-places again as in the days of the holy meeting.

10 And I have spoken to the prophets, And I have multiplied vision, And by the hand of the prophets I use allegories.

My word came to the ears of the prophets and I gave them visions in great number, and by the mouths of the prophets I made use of comparisons.

11 Surely Gilead [is] iniquity, They have been only vanity, In Gilead they have sacrificed bullocks, Also their altars [are] as heaps, on the furrows of a field.

In Gilead there is evil. They are quite without value; in Gilgal they make offerings of oxen; truly their altars are like masses of stones in the hollows of a ploughed field.

12 And Jacob flees to the country of Aram, And Israel serves for a wife, Indeed, he has kept watch for a wife.

And Jacob went in flight into the field of Aram, and Israel became a servant for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.

13 And by a prophet has YHWH brought up Israel out of Egypt, And by a prophet it has been watched.

And by a prophet the Lord made Israel come up out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was kept safe.

14 Ephraim has most bitterly provoked, And he leaves his blood on himself, And his Lord turns his reproach back to him!”

I have been bitterly moved to wrath by Ephraim; so that his blood will be on him, and the Lord will make his shame come back on him.