Hos 12 | BSB | STEP | Ephraim chases 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.

Hosea 12

"A Reproof of Ephraim, Judah, Jacob"

1 Ephraim chases 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. 2 The LORD also [brings] a charge against Judah. He will punish Jacob ^{▼▼Jacob means he grasps the heel or he deceives} according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds. 3 In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel, and in his vigor he wrestled with God. 4 Yes, he struggled with the Angel and prevailed; he wept and sought His favor ; he found Him at Bethel, and there He spoke with us— 5 the LORD is the God of Hosts— the LORD is His name of renown. 6 But you must return to your God, maintaining love and justice, and always waiting on your God. 7 A merchant loves to defraud with dishonest scales in his hands. 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] sin.” 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. 10 I spoke through the prophets and multiplied their visions; I gave parables through the prophets. 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. 12 Jacob fled to the land of Aram, ^{▼▼That is, Northwest Mesopotamia} and Israel worked for a wife; for a wife he tended [sheep] . 13 But by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was preserved. 14 Ephraim has provoked bitter anger, so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt upon him and repay him for his contempt.