HOSEA
CHAPTER 12

¹ Ephraim feeds on the wind;
he pursues the east wind all day
and multiplies lies and violence.
He makes a treaty with Assyria
and sends olive oil to Egypt.
² The LORD has a charge to bring against Judah;
he will punish Jacob ^[1] according to his ways
and repay him according to his deeds.
³ In the womb he grasped his brother's heel;
as a man he struggled with God.
⁴ He struggled with the angel and overcame him;
he wept and begged for his favor.
He found him at Bethel
and talked with him there-
⁵ the LORD God Almighty,
the LORD is his name of renown!
⁶ But you must return to your God;
maintain love and justice,
and wait for your God always.

⁷ The merchant uses dishonest scales;
he loves to defraud.
⁸ Ephraim boasts,
"I am very rich; I have become wealthy.
With all my wealth they will not find in me
any iniquity or sin."

⁹ "I am the LORD your God,
who brought you out of ^[2] Egypt;
I will make you live in tents again,
as in the days of your appointed feasts.
¹⁰ I spoke to the prophets,
gave them many visions
and told parables through them."

¹¹ Is Gilead wicked?
Its people are worthless!
Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?
Their altars will be like piles of stones
on a plowed field.
¹² Jacob fled to the country of Aram ^[3] ;
Israel served to get a wife,
and to pay for her he tended sheep.
¹³ The LORD used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt,
by a prophet he cared for him.
¹⁴ But Ephraim has bitterly provoked him to anger;
his Lord will leave upon him the guilt of his bloodshed
and will repay him for his contempt.

Footnotes

1. 12:2 Jacob means he grasps the heel (figuratively, he deceives ).
2. 12:9 Or God / ever since you were in
3. 12:12 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia

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Bible text from Gospelcom.net.  Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.

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