Hosea 12

12 ¹Ephraim feeds on the wind and chases the east wind all day long; they pile up lies and violence. They make a treaty with Assyria, and their oil is carried off to Egypt. ²Our Father has a lawsuit with Judah, and he will hold Jacob accountable for his ways; according to his deeds he will repay him. ³In the womb he grasped his brother's heel, and in his strength he wrestled with our Father. ⁴He wrestled with the messenger and prevailed; he wept and begged for his favor. At Bethel he found him, and there he spoke with us. ⁵The Father of heaven's armies—our Father is the name by which he is remembered. ⁶So you—return to your Father; hold fast to covenant love and justice, and wait for your Father continually.

⁷A merchant with dishonest scales in his hand—he loves to oppress. ⁸Ephraim says, "Ah, but I have grown rich; I have found wealth for myself. In all my labors, they will find no guilt in me—nothing that is truly sin."

⁹"But I am your Father, who brought you out from the land of Egypt; I will again make you live in tents, as in the days of the appointed feast. ^a a v9 The appointed feast is Sukkot (Festival of Shelters), when Israel lived in temporary tents or booths to remember the wilderness years. ¹⁰I spoke to the prophets; it was I who multiplied visions, and through the prophets I gave parables."

¹¹If Gilead is wickedness, they have come to nothing; in Gilgal they sacrifice bulls—their altars too are like heaps of stones on the furrows of a field. ¹²Jacob fled to the country of Aram; there Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he tended sheep. ¹³By a prophet our Father brought Israel up out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was guarded. ¹⁴Ephraim has stirred up bitter provocation; so his Sovereign Father will leave his bloodguilt upon him and repay him for his contempt.