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 trader, in his hand are scales of deceit;[a]
    he loves to oppress.
And Ephraim said, “Surely, I am rich,
    I gained[b] wealth for myself;
in all my toil they have not found guilt in me
    that is sin.
But I am Yahweh your God
    since[c] 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[d]
        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.

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 12:7 Or “false balances”
  2. Hosea 12:8 Or “I found”
  3. Hosea 12:9 Or “from”
  4. Hosea 12:10 Hebrew “revelation”