12:1 Ephraim continually feeds on the wind;
he chases the east wind all day;
he multiplies lies and violence.
They make treaties 1 with Assyria,
and send olive oil as tribute 2 to Egypt.
12:2 The Lord also has a covenant lawsuit 3 against Judah;
he will punish Jacob according to his ways
and repay him according to his deeds.
12:3 In the womb he attacked his brother;
in his manly vigor he struggled 4 with God.
12:4 He struggled 5 with an angel and prevailed;
he wept and begged for his favor.
He found God 6 at Bethel, 7
and there he spoke with him! 8
12:5 As for the Lord God Almighty,
the Lord is the name by which he is remembered! 9
12:6 But you must return 10 to your God,
by maintaining love and justice,
and by waiting 11 for your God to return to you. 12
12:7 The businessmen love to cheat; 13
they use dishonest scales. 14
12:8 Ephraim boasts, 15 “I am very rich!
I have become wealthy! 16
In all that I have done to gain my wealth, 17
no one can accuse me of any offense 18 that is actually sinful.” 19
12:9 “I am the Lord your God 20 who brought you 21 out of Egypt;
I will make you live in tents again as in the days of old. 22
12:10 I spoke to the prophets;
I myself revealed many visions; 23
I spoke in parables 24 through 25 the prophets.”
12:11 Is there idolatry 26 in Gilead? 27
Certainly its inhabitants 28 will come to nothing! 29
Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?
Surely their altars will be like stones heaped up on a plowed field!
12:12 Jacob fled to the country of Aram,
then Israel worked 30 to acquire a wife;
he tended sheep to pay for her.
12:13 The Lord brought Israel out of Egypt by a prophet,
and due to a prophet 31 Israel 32 was preserved alive. 33