Hosea 12

1Ephraim tends the wind like a flock and chases the east wind; all day long he piles up lies and violence. They make a treaty with Assyria and send olive oil to Egypt. 2The LORD has a case to bring against Judah; he will punish Jacob for his ways and repay him for what he has done. 3In the womb he grabbed his brother by the heel, and in his full strength he contended with God. 4He contended with the angel and came through victorious; he wept and begged for his favor. At Bethel God found him, and there he spoke with us. 5The LORD is the God of Armies; the LORD is the name by which he is remembered. 6But you, with your God’s help, must return. Hold on to loyal love and justice, and wait for your God continually. 7A merchant with dishonest scales in his hand loves to cheat. 8Ephraim says, “I have become rich indeed; I have gained wealth for myself. In all my hard work no one will find any wrongdoing that counts as sin.” 9But I have been the LORD your God since you were in the land of Egypt; I will make you live in tents again, as in the days of the appointed festival. 10I spoke to the prophets; I gave them vision after vision, and through the prophets I spoke in parables. 11If Gilead is wicked, they have surely come to nothing. In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls; their altars too will be like heaps of stones along the furrows of a field. 12Jacob fled to the land of Aram; Israel worked to earn a wife, and for a wife he tended sheep. 13By a prophet the LORD brought Israel up from Egypt, and by a prophet Israel was kept safe. 14Ephraim has bitterly provoked God, so his Lord will leave the guilt of his bloodshed on him and pay him back for his contempt.