Hosea 12:1-14

Ephraim follows fantasies, like feeding on the wind. They chase the desert wind all day long; they multiply their lies and violence. They make a treaty with Assyria, and at the same time, they send a gift of olive oil to Egypt.” YAHWEH is bringing charges against Judah. He will punish Jacob as his conduct deserves; he will repay the people for what they have done. In his mother’s womb, Jacob grabbed his twin brother’s heel; when he grew to be a man, he struggled with God. He wrestled with the angel and won; he wept and sought his blessing. God met him at Bethel, and there he spoke to us. Yes, YAHWEH is the God of Angel Armies. YAHWEH—remember his name! And you, to your God you must return. Stand guard over divine love and justice and always put your trust in him as you wait patiently for your God. Israel, you are like merchants using fraudulent scales. How you love to cheat your customers! Ephraim boasts, “Look how rich I have become! I’ve made a fortune all by myself. There’s nothing wrong with the profits I have made. Is there anything sinful about that?” “I, YAHWEH, have been your true God ever since your days in Egypt. Yet, I will make you live in tents again as you did when we first met in the Tent of Meeting.” “I am the One who speaks through the prophets, and reveals to them vision after vision. Through the ministry of prophets, I reveal my message in parables.” “Gilead is full of nothing but iniquity! Therefore, its people will be wiped out. Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? That is why I will make their altars nothing but heaps of stones on the furrows of the plowed fields.” Jacob fled to the land of Aram, where Israel became a servant to win a wife. He took care of another man’s sheep to pay the bride-price. By a prophet, YAHWEH brought Israel out of Egypt; By a prophet named Moses, he cared for his people, Israel. But the people of Israel have provoked him to bitter anger. will hold the Israelites responsible for the crimes of bloodshed they have committed. Their master will make them pay for all the disgraceful things they have done.