Hosea 12

¹Ephraim feeds on wind[#12:1 Ch 12:2 in Heb]

And pursues the east wind continually;

He abounds in falsehood and destruction.

Moreover, he cuts a covenant with Assyria,

And oil is carried to Egypt.

Yahweh’s Contention with Judah

²And Yahweh has a contention with Judah

And will punish Jacob according to his ways;

He will cause everything to return to him according to his deeds.

³In the womb he took his brother by the heel,

And in his maturity he wrestled with God.

⁴Indeed, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed;[#12:4 Or strove , cf. Gen 32:28]

He wept and sought His favor.

He found Him at Bethel,

And there He spoke with us,

⁵Even Yahweh, the God of hosts,

Yahweh is His name of remembrance.

⁶Therefore, return to your God,

Keep lovingkindness and justice,

And hope in your God continually.

⁷A merchant, in whose hands are deceptive balances,[#12:7 Or Canaanite]

He loves to oppress.

⁸And Ephraim said, “Surely I have become rich;

I have found wealth for myself;

In all my labors they will find in me

No iniquity, which would be sin.”

⁹But I have been Yahweh your God since the land of Egypt;

I will make you settle in tents again,

As in the days of the appointed festival.

¹⁰And I have spoken to the prophets,

And I made visions abound,

And by the hand of the prophets I gave parables.

¹¹Is there wickedness in Gilead?

Surely they are worthless.

In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls;

Yes, their altars are like the stone heaps

Beside the furrows of the field.

¹²¶Now Jacob fled to the field of Aram,

And Israel worked for a wife,

And for a wife he kept sheep .

¹³But by a prophet Yahweh brought Israel up from Egypt,

And by a prophet he was kept.

¹⁴Ephraim has provoked to bitter anger;

So his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him

And cause his reproach to return to him.