12
1 Ephraim feeds on the wind
and follows after the east wind.
He continually multiplies lies and violence.
They make a covenant with Assyria
and carry olive oil to Egypt.
2 Yahweh also has a lawsuit against Judah
and will punish Jacob for what he has done;
he will repay him for his deeds.
3 In the womb Jacob grasped his brother by the heel,
and in his manhood he struggled with God.
4 He struggled with the angel and won.
He wept and begged for his favor.
He met God at Bethel;
there God spoke with him.
5 This is Yahweh, the God of hosts;
“Yahweh” is his name to be called on.
6 So turn to your God.
Keep covenantal faithfulness and justice,
and wait continually for your God.
7 The merchants have false scales in their hands;
they love to defraud.
8 Ephraim said, “I have certainly become very rich;
I have found wealth for myself.
In all my work they will not find any iniquity in me,
anything that would be sin.”
9 “I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt.
I will again make you live in tents,
as in the days of the appointed festival.
10 I spoke to the prophets,
and I gave them many visions for you.
By the hand of the prophets I gave parables.”
11 If there is wickedness in Gilead,
surely the people are worthless.
In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls;
their altars will be like heaps of stone in the furrows of the fields.
12 Jacob fled to the land of Aram;
Israel worked in order to get a wife;
and he kept flocks of sheep to get a wife.
13 Yahweh brought Israel out of Egypt by a prophet,
and by a prophet he took care of them.
14 Ephraim has bitterly angered Yahweh.
So his Lord will leave his blood on him
and will turn back on him his disgrace.