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Israel’s Sin

12 [a]“Ephraim feeds on the wind,
    chasing after the eastern winds,
        storing up lies and desolation day after day.
They are making a contract with the Assyrians,
    and sending oil to Egypt.
The Lord accuses Judah,
    and will punish Jacob according to his ways;
        he will repay him for what he does.
He circumvented his brother[b] in the womb,
    and as an adult he fought with God.
He even fought the angel and won;
    he cried and prayed to him.
Then at Bethel he found him,
    and there he spoke with us—
the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies—
    the Lord is his name.[c]
So you, return to your God;
    guard grace and justice,
        and look to your God always.

“Now as for the merchant,[d]
    deceitful balances remain in his hand,
        and he loves to defraud.
Ephraim claims,
    ‘I have become rich,
I have made a fortune!
    Because of all my wealth,
        no one will find any iniquity or sin in me.’

“Yet I remain the Lord your God,
    who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
I will make you live in tents again,
    as in the festival of that name.[e]
10 I spoke to the prophets,
    giving revelation after revelation,
        and employing parables in the prophetic writings.[f]

11 “There’s iniquity in Gilead, isn’t there?
    They have become truly vain.
They sacrifice bulls in Gilgal;
    their altars are like piles of stone in furrowed fields.
12 Jacob fled into the land of Aram;[g]
    Israel served there to obtain his wife,
        tending sheep to gain[h] his wife.

13 “By a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt,
    and by a prophet he[i] was rescued.
14 Ephraim has stirred up violent anger;
    therefore the guilt of his blood will remain on him,
        and his Lord will repay him for his contempt.”

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 12:1 This v. is 12:2 in MT, and so throughout the chapter.
  2. Hosea 12:3 Lit. He grabbed his brother by the heal
  3. Hosea 12:5 Or his traditional name
  4. Hosea 12:7 MT word for merchant sounds like Canaan
  5. Hosea 12:9 I.e. the Festival of Tents
  6. Hosea 12:10 Lit. parables by the hand of the prophets
  7. Hosea 12:12 I.e. Syria
  8. Hosea 12:12 The Heb. lacks to gain
  9. Hosea 12:13 I.e. Israel

12 Ephraim herds the wind[a]
    and is pursuing the east wind all day long;
he multiplies deception and violence
    and he[b] makes a treaty with Assyria,[c]
    and oil is brought to Egypt.
Yahweh has a quarrel[d] with Judah
    and will punish Jacob according to his ways
        and repay him according to his deeds.
In the womb he deceived his brother,
    and in his manhood he struggled with God.
He struggled with the angel and prevailed;
    he pleaded for his mercy.
He met him at Bethel,
    and there he spoke with him.[e]
Yahweh the God of hosts,
    Yahweh is his renowned name!
But you, you must return to your God;
    keep love and justice,
        and wait continually for your God.
The trader, in his hand are scales of deceit;[f]
    he loves to oppress.
And Ephraim said, “Surely, I am rich,
    I gained[g] wealth for myself;
in all my toil they have not found guilt in me
    that is sin.
But I am Yahweh your God
    since[h] the land of Egypt;
I will make you live in tents again,
    like the days of the appointed festival.
10 I spoke to the prophets;
    I myself multiplied revelations[i]
        and through the hand of the prophets I will destroy.
11 If in Gilead there is evil,
    surely they will come to nothing.
In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls,
    also their altars will be like stone heaps
    on furrows of the field.
12 Jacob fled to the open field of Aram,[j]
    and Israel served for a wife,
    and for a wife he watched over sheep.
13 And by a prophet Yahweh brought
    Israel up from Egypt,
and by a prophet
    he[k] was watched over.
14 Ephraim has caused bitter provocation,
    and his Lord will hold him responsible for his crimes[l]
    and pay back to him his insults.

Footnotes

  1. Hosea 12:1 Or “Ephraim befriends the wind”
  2. Hosea 12:1 Hebrew “they”
  3. Hosea 12:1 Literally “cuts a covenant with Assyria”
  4. Hosea 12:2 This word in Hebrew conveys a legal setting
  5. Hosea 12:4 Hebrew “us”
  6. Hosea 12:7 Or “false balances”
  7. Hosea 12:8 Or “I found”
  8. Hosea 12:9 Or “from”
  9. Hosea 12:10 Hebrew “revelation”
  10. Hosea 12:12 Or “the land of Aram”
  11. Hosea 12:13 Israel
  12. Hosea 12:14 Literally “will bring down on him his blood”