Hosea 12

1 Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind; Every day he multiplieth falsehood and violence; They make a league with Assyria, And oil is carried into 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 Therefore Jehovah hath a controversy with Judah. And he will punish Jacob for his ways, And requite him according to his doings.

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 In the womb he took his brother by the heel, And in his strength he contended with God;

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

4 Yea, he contended with the angel, and prevailed; He wept, and made supplication to him. At Bethel he found him, And there he spake with us.

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

5 And Jehovah, the God of hosts, Jehovah is his name.

But the Lord God Almighty shall be his memorial.

6 Therefore turn thou to thy God; Observe mercy and justice, And hope in thy God always!

Thou therefore shalt return to thy God: keep thou mercy and judgment, and draw nigh to thy God continually.

7 He is a Canaanite; in his hands are the balances of deceit; He loveth to oppress.

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

8 Yet Ephraim saith, Lo, I have become rich; I have found myself substance; In all my earnings can be found no transgression in which there is guilt.

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 Yet I, Jehovah, have been thy God from the land of Egypt; I will again cause thee to dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn feast.

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

10 I have also spoken to the prophets, And I have given many visions, And by the prophets I have used similitudes.

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

11 Behold, Gilead is full of iniquity; Surely they have become corrupt; In Gilgal they sacrifice oxen, And their altars are like the heaps 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 into the country of Syria, And Israel served for a wife, And for a wife he kept sheep.

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

13 By a prophet Jehovah brought up Israel out of Egypt, And by a prophet was he preserved.

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

14 Ephraim hath provoked his Lord most bitterly; Therefore will he leave his blood upon him, And recompense to him his reproach.

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