A Reproof of Ephraim, Judah, Jacob
1 Ephraim feeds on the wind
and chases the east wind.
He continually multiplies lies and violence.
They make a covenant with Assyria,
and carry olive oil into Egypt.
2 The LORD also has a case against Judah,
and will punish Jacob according to his ways,
according to his deeds he will repay him.
3 In the womb he took his brother by the heel,
and as a man, he contended with God.
4 Indeed, he struggled with the angel and prevailed,
he wept and pleaded for his favor.
He found him at Bethel,
and there he spoke with us.
5 The LORD, the God of Hosts,
the name of him who spoke with Jacob is the LORD.
6 Therefore turn to your God.
Maintain kindness and justice,
and wait continually for your God.
7 A merchant has dishonest scales in his hand.
He loves to defraud.
8 Ephraim said, “Surely I have become rich,
I have found wealth for myself.
In all my wealth they won’t find in me
any iniquity that is sin.”
9 But I am the LORD your God
from the land of Egypt.
I will yet again make you dwell in tents,
as in the days of the solemn feast.
10 I have also spoken through the prophets,
and I gave them many visions,
and have given parables through the ministry of the prophets.
11 If Gilead is wicked,
surely they are worthless.
In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls.
Indeed, their altars are like heaps in the furrows of the field.
12 Jacob fled into the country of Aram,
and Israel served to get a wife,
and for a wife he tended flocks and herds.
13 By a prophet the LORD brought Israel up out of Egypt,
and by a prophet he was preserved.
14 Ephraim has bitterly provoked his anger.
Therefore his bloodguilt will be left on him,
and his Lord will repay him for his contempt.