12:1 The people of Israel feed on the wind; they chase after the east wind all day long. They pile up lies and violence; they are making an alliance with Assyria while sending olive oil to buy support from Egypt.
12:2 Now the LORD is bringing charges against Judah. He is about to punish Jacob for all his deceitful ways, and pay him back for all he has done.
12:3 Even in the womb, Jacob struggled with his brother; when he became a man, he even fought with God.
12:4 Yes, he wrestled with the angel and won. He wept and pleaded for a blessing from him. There at Bethel he met God face to face, and God spoke to him--
12:5 the LORD God of Heaven's Armies, the LORD is his name!
12:6 So now, come back to your God. Act with love and justice, and always depend on him.
12:7 But no, the people are like crafty merchants selling from dishonest scales--they love to cheat.
12:8 Israel boasts, "I am rich! I've made a fortune all by myself! No one has caught me cheating! My record is spotless!"
12:9 "But I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from slavery in Egypt. And I will make you live in tents again, as you do each year at the Festival of Shelters.
12:10 I sent my prophets to warn you with many visions and parables."
12:11 But the people of Gilead are worthless because of their idol worship. And in Gilgal, too, they sacrifice bulls; their altars are lined up like the heaps of stone along the edges of a plowed field.
12:12 Jacob fled to the land of Aram, and there he earned a wife by tending sheep.
12:13 Then by a prophet the LORD brought Jacob's descendants out of Egypt; and by that prophet they were protected.
12:14 But the people of Israel have bitterly provoked the LORD, so their Lord will now sentence them to death in payment for their sins.
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