Hosea 12 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

Ephraim’s Sins Rebuked by God

Hos 12:1“Ephraim feeds on the wind,
And pursues the east wind;
He daily increases lies and desolation.
Also they make a covenant with the Assyrians,
And oil is carried to Egypt.

Hos 12:2

Hos 12:2“The LORD also brings a charge against Judah,
And will punish Jacob according to his ways;
According to his deeds He will recompense him.

Hos 12:3

Hos 12:3He took his brother by the heel in the womb,
And in his strength he struggled with God.[fn]

Hos 12:4

Hos 12:4Yes, he struggled with the Angel and prevailed;
He wept, and sought favor from Him.
He found Him in Bethel,
And there He spoke to us—

Hos 12:5

Hos 12:5That is, the LORD God of hosts.
The LORD is His memorable name.

Hos 12:6

Hos 12:6So you, by the help of your God, return;
Observe mercy and justice,
And wait on your God continually.

Hos 12:7

Hos 12:7“A cunning Canaanite!
Deceitful scales are in his hand;
He loves to oppress.

Hos 12:8

Hos 12:8And Ephraim said,
‘Surely I have become rich,
I have found wealth for myself;
In all my labors
They shall find in me no iniquity that is sin.’

Hos 12:9

Hos 12:9“But I am the LORD your God,
Ever since the land of Egypt;
I will again make you dwell in tents,
As in the days of the appointed feast.

Hos 12:10

Hos 12:10I have also spoken by the prophets,
And have multiplied visions;
I have given symbols through the witness of the prophets.”

Hos 12:11

Hos 12:11Though Gilead has idols—
Surely they are vanity—
Though they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal,
Indeed their altars shall be heaps in the furrows of the field.

Hos 12:12

Hos 12:12Jacob fled to the country of Syria;
Israel served for a spouse,
And for a wife he tended sheep.

Hos 12:13

Hos 12:13By a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt,
And by a prophet he was preserved.

Hos 12:14

Hos 12:14Ephraim provoked Him to anger most bitterly;
Therefore his Lord will leave the guilt of his bloodshed upon him,
And return his reproach upon him.

See the NKJV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NKJV Footnotes

(12:3)

Compare Genesis 32:28

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