HoseaChapter 12

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¹Ephraim feeds on the wind.
He chases the east wind all day long.
He adds more and more lies and violence.
He makes a covenant with Assyria
and sends olive oil to Egypt. ²The LORD has a charge against Judah.
He will punish Jacob for his ways.
He will pay him back for what he has done. ³In the womb Jacob grabbed his brother's heel.
As a strong man he wrestled with God. ⁴Yes, he struggled with the angel and won.
He wept and begged for his favor.
He found him at Bethel
and spoke with him there— ⁵the LORD God of Hosts.
The LORD is the name he is known by. ⁶But you must return to your God.
Hold on to love and justice.
And always wait for your God. ⁷A merchant loves to cheat.
He holds dishonest scales in his hands. ⁸And Ephraim brags,
"How rich I have become!
I have found wealth for myself.
In all my work they will find no wrong in me,
nothing that is sin." ⁹But I have been the LORD your God
ever since you were in the land of Egypt.
I will make you live in tents again,
as in the days of the appointed feast. ¹⁰I spoke through the prophets.
I gave them many visions.
I gave parables through the prophets. ¹¹Is there evil in Gilead?
They will surely come to nothing.
Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?
Their altars will be piles of stones
in the rows of a plowed field. ¹²Jacob ran away to the land of Aram.
Israel worked to get a wife.
To pay for a wife, he took care of sheep. ¹³But the LORD used a prophet
to bring Israel out of Egypt.
By a prophet Israel was kept safe. ¹⁴Ephraim has made God bitterly angry.
So his Lord will leave the guilt of the blood he shed on him.
He will pay him back for his insults.