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 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.

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.

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.

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 womb he took his brother by the heel, And by his strength he was a prince 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.

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,

5 [That was] the Commander of the armies of angels whose name is Yahweh [who talked with him]!

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

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.

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

7 The merchants [among you] use scales that do not weigh correctly; they love/like to cheat people.

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

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 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.

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].

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.

10 [Many times] I spoke to the prophets, and I gave them many visions, and I gave them parables to tell [to the people].”

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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