Ephraim feeds on awind
And pursues the beast wind continually;
He abounds in falsehood and destruction.
Moreover, he cuts a covenant with Assyria,
And oil is carried to Egypt.
Yahweh’s Contention with Judah
2 And Yahweh has a acontention with Judah
And will punish Jacob baccording to his ways;
He will cause everything to return to him according to his deeds.
3 In the womb he atook his brother by the heel,
And in his maturity he bwrestled with God.
4 Indeed, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed;
He wept and asought His favor.
He found Him at bBethel,
And there He spoke with us,
5 Even Yahweh, the God of hosts,
Yahweh is His aname of remembrance.
6 Therefore, areturn to your God,
bKeep lovingkindness and justice,
And chope in your God continually.
7 A merchant, in whose hands are deceptive abalances,
He loves to oppress.
8 And Ephraim said, “Surely I have become arich;
I have found wealth for myself;
In all my labors they will find in me
bNo iniquity, which would be sin.”
9 But I have been Yahweh your God since the land of Egypt;
I will make you asettle in tents again,
As in the days of the appointed festival.
10 And I have spoken to the aprophets,
And I made visions abound,
And by the hand of the prophets I gave bparables.
11 Is there wickedness in Gilead?
Surely they are worthless.
In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls;
Yes, atheir altars are like the stone heaps
Beside the furrows of the field.
12 Now aJacob fled to the field of Aram,
And bIsrael worked for a wife,
And for a wife he kept sheep.
13 But by a aprophet Yahweh brought Israel up from Egypt,
And by a prophet he was kept.
14 aEphraim has provoked to bitter anger;
So his Lord will leave his bbloodguilt on him
And cause his creproach to return to him.