¹Ephraim feeds on the wind[#Jer 22:22]

and chases after the east wind all day long.

He multiplies lies and devastation.

They make a covenant with Assyria,

and oil is carried to Egypt.

A History of Rebellion

²The Lord has a dispute with Judah,[#Hos 4:1; Mic 6:2]

and will punish Jacob according to his ways,

and repay him according to his doings.

³In the womb, he took his brother by the heel,[#Ge 25:26]

and by his strength he strove with God.

⁴He struggled with the angel, and prevailed;

he wept, and sought favor from Him.

He found Him in Bethel,

and there He spoke with us.

⁵As for the Lord the God of Hosts,

the Lord is the name by which He is invoked!

⁶But as for you, return to your God,[#Hos 14:1]

hold fast to mercy and justice,

and wait on your God continually.

⁷A merchant, in whose hands are deceitful balances,[#Pr 11:1]

he loves to oppress.

⁸Ephraim said,

“Yet I am rich, I have found wealth for myself.

In all my labors, they shall find no offense in me

that would be sin.”

⁹I am the Lord your God

from the land of Egypt.

I will again make you to dwell in tents,

as in the days of the appointed feast.

¹⁰I have spoken by the prophets,[#2Ki 17:13]

and I have multiplied visions,

and through the prophets I will bring destruction.

¹¹In Gilead there is iniquity;[#Ge 31:21]

surely they will come to nothing.

In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls,

so their altars will be like stone heaps

in the furrows of the fields.

¹²Jacob fled to the land of Aram,

and Israel served for a wife,

and for a wife he kept sheep.

¹³By a prophet the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt,[#Ex 12:50–51; 13:3]

and by a prophet he was preserved.

¹⁴Ephraim provoked Him to anger most bitterly,

so his Lord shall leave his bloodguilt on him

and repay him for his reproach.