< Hosea 12 >
1 [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].
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 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.
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 [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.
In the body of his mother he took his brother by the foot, and in his strength he was fighting with God;
4 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.
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 [That was] the Commander of the armies of angels whose name is Yahweh [who talked with him]!
Even the Lord, the God of armies; the Lord is his name.
6 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.
So then, come back to your God; keep mercy and right, and be waiting at all times on your God.
7 The merchants [among you] use scales that do not weigh correctly; they love/like to cheat people.
As for Canaan, the scales of deceit are in his hands; he takes pleasure in twisted ways.
8 [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.”
And Ephraim said, Now I have got wealth and much property; in all my works no sin may be seen in me.
9 “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].
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 [Many times] I spoke to the prophets, and I gave them many visions, and I gave them parables to tell [to the people].”
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 [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.
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 [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.
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 [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.
And by a prophet the Lord made Israel come up out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was kept safe.
14 [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.
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.