12:1 Ephraim feeds on the wind; he pursues the east wind all day and multiplies lies and violence. He makes a treaty with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.
12:2 The Lord has a charge to bring against Judah; he will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds.
12:3 In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel; as a man he struggled with God.
12:4 He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged for his favour. He found him at Bethel and talked with him there –
12:6 But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always.
12:7 The merchant uses dishonest scales and loves to defraud.
12:8 Ephraim boasts, ‘I am very rich; I have become wealthy. With all my wealth they will not find in me any iniquity or sin.’
12:9 ‘I have been the Lord your God ever since you came out of Egypt; I will make you live in tents again, as in the days of your appointed festivals.
12:10 I spoke to the prophets, gave them many visions and told parables through them.’
12:11 Is Gilead wicked? Its people are worthless! Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Their altars will be like piles of stones on a ploughed field.
12:12 Jacob fled to the country of Aram; Israel served to get a wife, and to pay for her he tended sheep.
12:13 The Lord used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt, by a prophet he cared for him.
12:14 But Ephraim has aroused his bitter anger; his Lord will leave on him the guilt of his bloodshed and will repay him for his contempt.
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