1Ephraim 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.
2TheLord has a charge to bring against Judah;
he will punish Jacoba according to his ways
and repay him according to his deeds.
3In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel;
as a man he struggled with God.
4He struggled with the angel and overcame him;
he wept and begged for his favor.
He found him at Bethel
and talked with him there—
5theLord God Almighty,
theLord is his name!
6But you must return to your God;
maintain love and justice,
and wait for your God always.
7The merchant uses dishonest scales
and loves to defraud.
8Ephraim boasts,
“I am very rich; I have become wealthy.
With all my wealth they will not find in me
any iniquity or sin.”
9“I have been theLord 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.
10I spoke to the prophets,
gave them many visions
and told parables through them.”
11Is Gilead wicked?
Its people are worthless!
Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?
Their altars will be like piles of stones
on a plowed field.
12Jacob fled to the country of Aramb;
Israel served to get a wife,
and to pay for her he tended sheep.
13TheLord used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt,
by a prophet he cared for him.
14But Ephraim has aroused his bitter anger;
his Lord will leave on him the guilt of his bloodshed
and will repay him for his contempt.
Footnotes:
a2Jacob meanshe grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom forhe takes advantage of orhe deceives.
b12That is, Northwest Mesopotamia
