Hosea 12
New Living Translation
12 [a]The people of Israel[b] feed on the wind;
they chase after the east wind all day long.
They pile up lies and violence;
they are making an alliance with Assyria
while sending olive oil to buy support from Egypt.
2 Now the Lord is bringing charges against Judah.
He is about to punish Jacob[c] for all his deceitful ways,
and pay him back for all he has done.
3 Even in the womb,
Jacob struggled with his brother;
when he became a man,
he even fought with God.
4 Yes, he wrestled with the angel and won.
He wept and pleaded for a blessing from him.
There at Bethel he met God face to face,
and God spoke to him[d]—
5 the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies,
the Lord is his name!
6 So now, come back to your God.
Act with love and justice,
and always depend on him.
7 But no, the people are like crafty merchants
selling from dishonest scales—
they love to cheat.
8 Israel boasts, “I am rich!
I’ve made a fortune all by myself!
No one has caught me cheating!
My record is spotless!”
9 “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.[e]
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.
12 Jacob fled to the land of Aram,
and there he[f] earned a wife by tending sheep.
13 Then by a prophet
the Lord brought Jacob’s descendants[g] out of Egypt;
and by that prophet
they were protected.
14 But the people of Israel
have bitterly provoked the Lord,
so their Lord will now sentence them to death
in payment for their sins.
Footnotes
- 12:1a Verses 12:1-14 are numbered 12:2-15 in Hebrew text.
- 12:1b Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel; also in 12:8, 14.
- 12:2 Jacob sounds like the Hebrew word for “deceiver.”
- 12:4 As in Greek and Syriac versions; Hebrew reads to us.
- 12:9 Hebrew as in the days of your appointed feast.
- 12:12 Hebrew Israel. See note on 10:11b.
- 12:13 Hebrew brought Israel. See note on 10:11b.
Hosea 12
Lexham English Bible
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.
2 Yahweh has a quarrel[d] with Judah
and will punish Jacob according to his ways
and repay him according to his deeds.
3 In the womb he deceived his brother,
and in his manhood he struggled with God.
4 He struggled with the angel and prevailed;
he pleaded for his mercy.
He met him at Bethel,
and there he spoke with him.[e]
5 Yahweh the God of hosts,
Yahweh is his renowned name!
6 But you, you must return to your God;
keep love and justice,
and wait continually for your God.
7 The trader, in his hand are scales of deceit;[f]
he loves to oppress.
8 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.
9 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
- Hosea 12:1 Or “Ephraim befriends the wind”
- Hosea 12:1 Hebrew “they”
- Hosea 12:1 Literally “cuts a covenant with Assyria”
- Hosea 12:2 This word in Hebrew conveys a legal setting
- Hosea 12:4 Hebrew “us”
- Hosea 12:7 Or “false balances”
- Hosea 12:8 Or “I found”
- Hosea 12:9 Or “from”
- Hosea 12:10 Hebrew “revelation”
- Hosea 12:12 Or “the land of Aram”
- Hosea 12:13 Israel
- Hosea 12:14 Literally “will bring down on him his blood”
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