The Book of the Prophet Hosea 12 The Lord's Controversy with Judah and Israel

 The Book of the Prophet Hosea 12

The Lord's Controversy with Judah and Israel

1 Ephraim feeds on the wind and follows the east wind; all day long he multiplies lies and destruction. They make a covenant with Assyria, and their oil is carried to Egypt.

2 The Lord also has a controversy with Judah; he will punish Jacob according to his ways, and he will repay him according to his deeds.

3 In the womb he grasped his brother's heel; by his strength he dealt with God like a prince.

4 He wrestled with the angel and prevailed; he wept and pleaded with him; he found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with us.

5 Yes, with the Lord, the God of hosts; the Lord is his memorial.

6 Return to your God; keep mercy and justice, and wait continually for your God.

7 He is a merchant; he has false balances in his hand; he loves oppression.

8 And Ephraim says, “Yet I have become rich, I have acquired great wealth for myself; in all my labor they will find no iniquity in me that is sin.”

9 But I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt; I will again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn assembly.

10 And I will speak to the prophets, and multiply visions; and by the ministry of the prophets I will set forth parables.

11 Is not Gilead iniquity? They are pure vanity; in Gilgal they sacrifice oxen; their altars are like heaps of stones in the furrows of the fields.

12 Jacob fled to the field of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept livestock.

13 But the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt by a prophet, and by a prophet he was preserved.

14 Ephraim has very bitterly provoked his anger; therefore he will leave his blood upon him, and his Lord will bring his reproach upon him.