Hosea 12

God’s Case against Jacob’s Heirs

1Ephraim chases the wind[#Or feeds on, or tends; #Jr 22:22; Hs 4:19]

and pursues the east wind.

He continually multiplies lies and violence.

He makes a covenant with Assyria,

and olive oil is carried to Egypt.

2The Lord also has a dispute with Judah.

He is about to punish Jacob according to his ways;

He will repay him based on his actions.

3In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel,[#Gn 25:26; 27:36]

and as an adult he wrestled with God.

4Jacob struggled with the Angel and prevailed;

he wept and sought His favor.

He found him at Bethel,

and there He spoke with him.

5Yahweh is the God of Hosts;

Yahweh is His name.

6But you must return to your God.[#Hs 6:1-3; 10:12]

Maintain love and justice,

and always put your hope in God.

7A merchant loves to extort[#Hs 7:14]

with dishonest scales in his hands.

8But Ephraim says:

“How rich I have become;

I made it all myself.

In all my earnings,

no one can find any crime in me

that I can be punished for! ”

Judgment on Apostate Israel

9I have been Yahweh your God

ever since the land of Egypt.

I will make you live in tents again,

as in the festival days.

10I spoke through the prophets[#Jr 7:25]

and granted many visions;

I gave parables through the prophets.

11Since Gilead is full of evil,[#Hs 6:8]

they will certainly come to nothing.

They sacrifice bulls in Gilgal;

even their altars will be like heaps of rocks

on the furrows of a field.

Further Indictment of Jacob’s Heirs

12Jacob fled to the land of Aram.[#Gn 28:5]

Israel worked to earn a wife;

he tended flocks for a wife.

13The Lord brought Israel from Egypt by a prophet,[#Ex 14:19-22; Is 63:11-14]

and Israel was tended by a prophet.

14Ephraim has provoked bitter anger,[#2Kg 17:7-18]

so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him

and repay him for his contempt.

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Published by: LifeWay Christian Resources