Hosea 12
1 Ephraim, feedeth on wind, and pursueth the east wind, all the day, falsehood and force, doth he magnify, —and, a covenant with Assyria, would they solemnize, and, oil into Egypt, must be borne along.
[The leaders of] Israel are constantly wavering [about seeking help from other countries]. [Seeking their help is as useless as] [MET] chasing the wind. They pile up their lies and violent acts. [First, ] they make a treaty with Assyria, and [then they] send olive oil to [the rulers of] Egypt [to seek their help].
2 But, a controversy, hath Yahweh with Judah, —so that he may bring punishment on Jacob, according to his ways, According to his doings, repay him.
Yahweh [says that he] will bring accusations against [the leaders of] Judah, and that he will punish [the descendants of] Jacob for what they have done.
3 In the womb, took he his brother by the heel; and, in his manly vigour, strove he with God:
[When Jacob was] in his mother’s womb, he grabbed his brother [Esau’s] heel [because he wanted to be born first]. When Jacob grew up, he wrestled with God.
4 Yea he strove against a Messenger, and prevailed, he wept, and made supplication unto him, —At Bethel, he found him, and, there, he spake with us;
He struggled with [the one who had appeared to him in the form of] an angel, and Jacob defeated him, but [then] he cried and asked the angel to bless him. [Later], God came to Jacob at Bethel and talked with him there.
5 And, Yahweh, is God of host, —Yahweh, is his memorial.
[That was] the Commander of the armies of angels whose name is Yahweh [who talked with him]!
6 Thou, therefore, by thy God, shalt return, —lovingkindness and justice, do thou keep, so wait thou for thy God, continually.
But you [people of Israel] must return to your God! You must faithfully love [him], and you must do what is fair/just and always depend on him.
7 A trafficker! in his hand, are balances of deceit, to oppress, he loveth.
The merchants [among you] use scales that do not weigh correctly; they love/like to cheat people.
8 So then Ephraim said, Surely I have gotten me riches, I have found wealth for myself, —in all my toils, they cannot find in me perversity which is sin.
[The people of] Israel boast, saying “We are [very] rich [DOU]; and we got all that money by our own efforts, and without committing any sin.”
9 But, I, Yahweh, have been thy God, from the land of Egypt, —I will yet make thee dwell in tents, as in the days of appointed meeting.
“I am Yahweh your God, [the one who brought your ancestors] out of Egypt. [And some day] I will force you to live in tents again [like your ancestors did] when [they celebrated] the Festival [of Living in Temporary Shelters].
10 And I will lay my word upon the prophets, yea, I myself, have magnified, vision, —and, by the hand of the prophets, will I use similitudes.
[Many times] I spoke to the prophets, and I gave them many visions, and I gave them parables to tell [to the people].”
11 If, Gilead, is in sorrow, surely false, have they been, In Gilgal, have they sacrificed, bullocks, —their very altars, shall become as heaps upon the furrows of the field.
[The people of] Gilead [city] are [RHQ] extremely wicked; they are worthless. The people sacrifice bulls in Gilgal [city], but their altars will [soon] become like [SIM] piles of stone [at the edge of] a plowed field.
12 When Jacob fled to the country of Syria, then Israel served for a wife, and, for a wife, he watched over a flock.
[Your ancestor] Jacob fled [from his brother Esau] and went to northwest Mesopotamia. He worked [for his uncle Laban for many years] to get a wife; he took care of [his uncle’s] sheep [to pay] for her.
13 And, by a prophet, Yahweh, brought up, Israel out of Egypt, —and, by a prophet, was he watched over.
[Many years later, ] Yahweh enabled a prophet to bring the [ancestors of you] people of Israel here from Egypt; that prophet, [Moses], took care of them.
14 Ephraim hath provoked, very bitterly, —his own blood, therefore, upon him, will he leave, and, his reproach, shall his Lord, bring back to him.
[But now the people of] Israel have caused [Yahweh] to become very angry; Yahweh says that they deserve to die because they caused [many others] to die [MTY]; he will pay them back for the sins that they have committed against him and for insulting him.
