Hosea 12 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

Hos 12:1

Hos 12:1 [fn] The people of Israel[fn] feed on the wind;
they chase after the east wind all day long.
They pile up lies and violence;
they are making an alliance with Assyria
while sending olive oil to buy support from Egypt.

Hos 12:2

Hos 12:2Now the LORD is bringing charges against Judah.
He is about to punish Jacob[fn] for all his deceitful ways,
and pay him back for all he has done.

Hos 12:3

Hos 12:3Even in the womb,
Jacob struggled with his brother;
when he became a man,
he even fought with God.

Hos 12:4

Hos 12:4Yes, he wrestled with the angel and won.
He wept and pleaded for a blessing from him.
There at Bethel he met God face to face,
and God spoke to him[fn]—

Hos 12:5

Hos 12:5the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies,
the LORD is his name!

Hos 12:6

Hos 12:6So now, come back to your God.
Act with love and justice,
and always depend on him.

Hos 12:7

Hos 12:7But no, the people are like crafty merchants
selling from dishonest scales—
they love to cheat.

Hos 12:8

Hos 12:8Israel boasts, “I am rich!
I’ve made a fortune all by myself!
No one has caught me cheating!
My record is spotless!”

Hos 12:9

Hos 12:9“But I am the LORD your God,
who rescued you from slavery in Egypt.
And I will make you live in tents again,
as you do each year at the Festival of Shelters.[fn]

Hos 12:10

Hos 12:10I sent my prophets to warn you
with many visions and parables.”

Hos 12:11

Hos 12:11But the people of Gilead are worthless
because of their idol worship.
And in Gilgal, too, they sacrifice bulls;
their altars are lined up like the heaps of stone
along the edges of a plowed field.

Hos 12:12

Hos 12:12Jacob fled to the land of Aram,
and there he[fn] earned a wife by tending sheep.

Hos 12:13

Hos 12:13Then by a prophet
the LORD brought Jacob’s descendants[fn] out of Egypt;
and by that prophet
they were protected.

Hos 12:14

Hos 12:14But the people of Israel
have bitterly provoked the LORD,
so their Lord will now sentence them to death
in payment for their sins.