Hosea 12

1The people of Israel 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.

2Now the Lord is bringing charges against Judah. He is about to punish Jacob for all his deceitful ways, and pay him back for all he has done.

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

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—

5the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, the Lord is his name!

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

12Jacob fled to the land of Aram, and there he earned a wife by tending sheep.

13Then by a prophet the Lord brought Jacob’s descendants out of Egypt; and by that prophet they were protected.

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