Hosea 12

Ephraim Rebuked for Falsehood and Oppression

1E´phra-im feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he daily increaseth lies and desolation; and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt.

2The Lord hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him.

3He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God:[#Gen 32.24-26.; #Gen 25.26.]

4yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in Beth–el, and there he spake with us;[#Gen 28.10-22.]

5even the Lord God of hosts; the Lord is his memorial.[#12.5 or memorial name.]

6Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually.

7He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress.

8And E´phra-im said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance: in all my labors they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin.

9And I that am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feast.[#Lev 23.39-43.]

10I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.

11Is there iniquity in Gil´e-ad? surely they are vanity: they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the fields.

12And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep .[#Gen 29.1-20.]

13And by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved.[#Exod 12.50,51.]

14E´phra-im provoked him to anger most bitterly: therefore shall he leave his blood upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him.

King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
Published by: American Bible Society