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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.
See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NLT Footnotes
Verses 12:1-14 are numbered 12:2-15 in Hebrew text.
Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel; also in 12:8, 14.
Jacob sounds like the Hebrew word for “deceiver.”
As in Greek and Syriac versions; Hebrew reads to us.
Hebrew as in the days of your appointed feast.
Hebrew Israel. See note on 10:11b.
Hebrew brought Israel. See note on 10:11b.
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