Hosea 12

1Ephraim striveth after wind, and followeth after the east wind; All the day he multiplieth lies and desolation; And they make a covenant with Assyria, And oil is carried into Egypt.

2YHWH hath also a controversy with Judah, And will punish Jacob according to his ways, According to his doings will He recompense him.

3In the womb he took his brother by the heel, And by his strength he strove with a godlike being;

4So he strove with an angel, and prevailed; He wept, and made supplication unto him; At Beth-el he would find him, And there he would speak with us;

5But YHWH, the God of hosts, YHWH is His name.

6Therefore turn thou to thy God; Keep mercy and justice, And wait for thy God continually.

7As for the trafficker, the balances of deceit are in his hand. He loveth to oppress.

8And Ephraim said: ‘Surely I am become rich, I have found me wealth; In all my labours they shall find in me No iniquity that were sin.’

9But I am YHWH thy God From the land of Egypt; I will yet again make thee to dwell in tents, As in the days of the appointed season.

10I have also spoken unto the prophets, And I have multiplied visions; And by the ministry of the prophets have I used similitudes.

11If Gilead be given to iniquity Becoming altogether vanity, In Gilgal they sacrifice unto bullocks; Yea, their altars shall be as heaps In the furrows of the field.

12And Jacob fled into the field of Aram, And Israel served for a wife, And for a wife he kept sheep.

13And by a prophet YHWH brought Israel up out of Egypt, And by a prophet was he kept.

14Ephraim hath provoked most bitterly; Therefore shall his blood be cast upon him, And his reproach shall his Lord return unto him.