Hosea 12

¹Hosea 12:1. Ephraim feeds on the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; he multiplies lies and violence; he makes a covenant with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.²Hosea 12:2. The LORD has a charge to bring against Judah. He will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds.³Hosea 12:3. In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel, and in his vigor he wrestled with God.⁴Hosea 12:4. Yes, he struggled with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought His favor; he found Him at Bethel and spoke with Him there—⁵Hosea 12:5. the LORD God of Hosts, the LORD is His name of renown.⁶Hosea 12:6. But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and always wait on your God.⁷Hosea 12:7. A merchant loves to defraud with dishonest scales in his hands.⁸Hosea 12:8. And Ephraim boasts: “How rich I have become! I have found wealth for myself. In all my labors, they can find in me no iniquity that is sinful.”

⁹Hosea 12:9. But I am the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt. I will again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the appointed feast.¹⁰Hosea 12:10. I spoke through the prophets and multiplied their visions; I gave parables through the prophets.¹¹Hosea 12:11. Is there iniquity in Gilead? They will surely come to nothing. Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Indeed, their altars will be heaps of stones in the furrows of the field.

¹²Hosea 12:12. Jacob fled to the land of Aram and Israel worked for a wife—for a wife he tended sheep.¹³Hosea 12:13. But by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was preserved.¹⁴Hosea 12:14. Ephraim has provoked bitter anger, so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt upon him and repay him for his contempt.