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But no, the people are like crafty merchants
    selling from dishonest scales—
    they love to cheat.
Israel boasts, “I am rich!
    I’ve made a fortune all by myself!
No one has caught me cheating!
    My record is spotless!”

“But I am the Lord your God,
    who rescued you from slavery in Egypt.
And I will make you live in tents again,
    as you do each year at the Festival of Shelters.[a]
10 I sent my prophets to warn you
    with many visions and parables.”

11 But the people of Gilead are worthless
    because of their idol worship.
And in Gilgal, too, they sacrifice bulls;
    their altars are lined up like the heaps of stone
    along the edges of a plowed field.

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Footnotes

  1. 12:9 Hebrew as in the days of your appointed feast.

A merchant loves to extort(A)
with dishonest scales in his hands.(B)
But Ephraim thinks,
“How rich I have become;(C)
I made it all myself.
In all my earnings,
no one can find any iniquity in me(D)
that I can be punished for!” [a]

Judgment on Apostate Israel

I have been the Lord your God
ever since[b] the land of Egypt.(E)
I will make you live in tents again,(F)
as in the festival days.
10 I will speak through the prophets(G)
and grant many visions;
I will give parables through the prophets.(H)
11 Since Gilead is full of evil,(I)
they will certainly come to nothing.
They sacrifice bulls in Gilgal;(J)
even their altars will be like piles of rocks(K)
on the furrows of a field.

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Footnotes

  1. 12:8 Lit iniquity which is sin
  2. 12:9 LXX reads God who brought you out of

The merchant uses dishonest scales(A)
    and loves to defraud.
Ephraim boasts,(B)
    “I am very rich; I have become wealthy.(C)
With all my wealth they will not find in me
    any iniquity or sin.”

“I have been the Lord your God
    ever since you came out of Egypt;(D)
I will make you live in tents(E) again,
    as in the days of your appointed festivals.
10 I spoke to the prophets,
    gave them many visions
    and told parables(F) through them.”(G)

11 Is Gilead wicked?(H)
    Its people are worthless!
Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?(I)
    Their altars will be like piles of stones
    on a plowed field.(J)

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