Hosea 12

¹Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind; Every day he multiplieth falsehood and violence; They make a league with Assyria, And oil is carried into Egypt.

²Therefore Jehovah hath a controversy with Judah. And he will punish Jacob for his ways, And requite him according to his doings.

³In the womb he took his brother by the heel, And in his strength he contended with God;

⁴Yea, he contended with the angel, and prevailed; He wept, and made supplication to him. At Bethel he found him, And there he spake with us.

⁵And Jehovah, the God of hosts, Jehovah is his name.

⁶Therefore turn thou to thy God; Observe mercy and justice, And hope in thy God always!

⁷He is a Canaanite; in his hands are the balances of deceit; He loveth to oppress.

⁸Yet Ephraim saith, Lo, I have become rich; I have found myself substance; In all my earnings can be found no transgression in which there is guilt.

⁹Yet I, Jehovah, have been thy God from the land of Egypt; I will again cause thee to dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn feast.

¹⁰I have also spoken to the prophets, And I have given many visions, And by the prophets I have used similitudes.

¹¹Behold, Gilead is full of iniquity; Surely they have become corrupt; In Gilgal they sacrifice oxen, And their altars are like the heaps in the furrows of the field.

¹²Jacob fled into the country of Syria, And Israel served for a wife, And for a wife he kept sheep.

¹³By a prophet Jehovah brought up Israel out of Egypt, And by a prophet was he preserved.

¹⁴Ephraim hath provoked his Lord most bitterly; Therefore will he leave his blood upon him, And recompense to him his reproach.

Hosea 12

¹Ephraim 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:

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;

⁵Even the Lord God of hosts; the Lord is his memorial.

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 Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance: in all my labours 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.

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 Gilead? 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.

¹³And by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved.

¹⁴Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly: therefore shall he leave his blood upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him.