Hosea 12
A Reproof of Ephraim, Judah, and Jacob
¹ Ephraim 1 feeds on the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; he multiplies lies and violence; he makes a covenant with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.
² The LORD has a charge to bring against Judah. He will punish Jacob 2 according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds.
³ In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel, and in his vigor he wrestled with God.
⁴ Yes, he struggled with the angel 3 and prevailed; he wept and sought His favor; he found Him at Bethel and spoke with Him there 4—
⁵ the LORD God of Hosts, the LORD is His name of renown.
⁶ But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and always wait on your God.
⁷ A merchant loves to defraud with dishonest scales in his hands.
⁸ And Ephraim boasts: “How rich I have become! I have found wealth for myself. In all my labors, they can find in me no iniquity that is sinful.”
⁹ But I am the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt. I will again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the appointed feast.
¹⁰ I spoke through the prophets and multiplied their visions; I gave parables through the prophets.
¹¹ Is there iniquity in Gilead? They will surely come to nothing. Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Indeed, their altars will be heaps of stones in the furrows of the field.
¹² Jacob fled to the land of Aram 5 and Israel worked for a wife— for a wife he tended sheep.
¹³ But by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was preserved.
¹⁴ Ephraim has provoked bitter anger, so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt upon him and repay him for his contempt.