Hosea 12

1. ¹Ephraim feeds on wind, And chases the east wind. He continually multiplies lies and desolation. They make a covenant with Assyria, And oil is carried into Egypt.
2. ²Yahweh also has a controversy with Judah, And will punish Jacob according to his ways; According to his deeds he will repay him.
3. ³In the womb he took his brother by the heel; And in his manhood he had power with God.
4. ⁴Indeed, he had power over the angel, and prevailed; He wept, and made supplication to him. He found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with us,
5. ⁵Even Yahweh, the God of hosts; Yahweh is his name of renown!
6. ⁶Therefore turn to your God. Keep kindness and justice, And wait for your God continually.
7. ⁷A merchant has dishonest scales in his hand. He loves to defraud.
8. ⁸Ephraim said, "Surely I have become rich, I have found myself wealth. In all my wealth they won't find in me any iniquity that is sin."
9. ⁹"But I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt. I will yet again make you to dwell in tents, As in the days of the solemn feast.
10. ¹⁰I have also spoken to the prophets, And I have multiplied visions; And by the ministry of the prophets I have used parables.
11. ¹¹If Gilead is wicked, Surely they are worthless. In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls. Indeed, their altars are like heaps in the furrows of the field.
12. ¹²Jacob fled into the country of Aram, And Israel served to get a wife, And for a wife he tended flocks and herds.
13. ¹³By a prophet Yahweh brought Israel up out of Egypt, And by a prophet he was preserved.
14. ¹⁴Ephraim has provoked to anger most bitterly. Therefore his blood will be left on him, And his his Lord will repay his contempt.

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