Hosea 12 — FBV
12Verse 1Ephraim tries to herd the wind, chasing after the east wind all day long. Their lies and violence keep on increasing. They make a treaty with Assyria, and send olive oil to Egypt.+Verse 2The Lord also has an accusation against Judah, and will punish Jacob for the way the people act; he will repay them for what they have done.Verse 3Even in the womb he fought with his brother;+when he became a man he fought with God.Verse 4He fought with the angel, and he won. He wept, and begged him for a blessing. Jacob found God at Bethel, and spoke with him there—Verse 5the Lord God Almighty, the Lord is his memorable name!Verse 6You must return to your God. Act lovingly and do what is right, and always wait for your God.Verse 7A merchant who holds in his hands dishonest scales loves to swindle.Verse 8Ephraim says, “I'm rich! I've made myself wealthy! I've made so much from my work, and nobody can prove me guilty of doing wrong.”Verse 9But I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt. I will make you live again in tents like you do at the time of that particular festival.+Verse 10I spoke through the prophets. I myself gave many visions and parables through the prophets.Verse 11If Gilead is idolatrous,+they will surely come to nothing. In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls. Even their altars are like heaps of rocks in the furrows of the field.+Verse 12Jacob fled to the land of Aram; Israel+worked there to gain a wife, earning a wife by looking after sheep.Verse 13Through a prophet+the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt, and by a prophet they were cared for.+Verse 14Ephraim has really upset the Lord, and the Lord will let them have the consequences of their bloodshed and pay them back for their contempt.