Hosea 12

Contemporary English Version

12 All day long Israel chases
    wind from the desert;
deceit and violence
    are found everywhere.
Treaties are made with Assyria;
    olive oil is taken to Egypt.

Israel and Judah Condemned

²The Lord also brings charges
against the people of Judah,
    the descendants of Jacob.
He will punish them
    for what they have done.
³^(A)^(B) Even before Jacob was born,
    he cheated his brother,^[a]
and when he grew up,
    he fought against God.^[b]

⁴^(C) At Bethel, Jacob wrestled
    with an angel and won;
then with tears in his eyes,
he asked for a blessing,
    and God spoke to us^[c] there.
⁵God's name is the Lord,
    the Lord God All-Powerful.
⁶So return to your God.
Patiently trust him,
    and show love and justice.

⁷Israel, you enjoy cheating
and taking advantage
of others.
⁸You say to yourself, “I'm rich!
I earned it all on my own,
without committing a sin.”^[d]

The Lord Is Still the God of Israel

⁹^(D) Israel, I, the Lord,
am still your God,
    just as I have been
since the time
    you were in Egypt.
Now I will force you
to live in tents once again,
    as you did in the desert.^[e]
¹⁰I spoke to the prophets—
    often I spoke in visions.
And so, I will send my prophets
    with messages of doom.
¹¹Gilead is terribly sinful
    and will end up ruined.
Bulls are sacrificed in Gilgal
    on altars made of stones,
but those stones will be scattered
    in every field.
¹²^(E) Jacob^[f] escaped to Syria^[g]
where he tended sheep
    to earn himself a wife.
¹³^(F) I sent the prophet Moses
to lead Israel from Egypt
    and to keep them safe.
¹⁴Israel, I will make you pay
for your violent crimes
    and for insulting me.

Footnotes

12.3 Jacob … cheated … brother: In Hebrew “Jacob” sounds like “cheat” and also like “heel.” Jacob grabbed his twin brother Esau by the heel at the time of their birth (see Genesis 25.26). Later he cheated him out of his rights and blessings as the first-born son (see Genesis 25.29-34; 27.1-40).
12.3 fought against God: See Genesis 32.22-32.
12.4 us: Hebrew; two ancient translations “him.”
12.8 without … sin: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
12.9 as … desert: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. This probably refers to the 40 years of wandering through the desert after leaving Egypt, though it could refer to the “tents” (or “shelters”) in which the Israelites lived during the Festival of Shelters (see 9.5,6).
12.12 Jacob: His name was later changed to Israel (see Genesis 32.28), and he became the ancestor of the nation by that name.
12.12 Syria: The Hebrew text has “Aram,” probably referring to northern Syria in the region of Haran.