1 Ephraim feeds on wind, and follows after the east wind; all the day he multiplies lies and ruin. And they make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt.
2 Jehovah also has a quarrel with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; He will repay him according to his deeds.
3 He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he contended with God.
4 Yes, he wept and pleaded with Him, and he contended with the Angel and prevailed. He found Him at Bethel, and He spoke with us there,
5 even Jehovah the God of Hosts. Jehovah is His memorial.
6 Therefore return to your God; keep kindness and justice, and wait for your God continually.
7 He is a merchant; the scales of deceit are in his hand; he loves to oppress.
8 And Ephraim said, I am rich; I have found much wealth for myself. In all my labors they shall find no iniquity in me that is sin.
9 But I am Jehovah your God ever since the land of Egypt; I will again make you live in tents, as in the days of the appointed feasts.
10 I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions; and used parables by the hand of the prophets.
11 Is Gilead evil? Surely they are vanity. They sacrificed bulls in Gilgal; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the field.
12 And Jacob fled into the land of Syria, and Israel served for a wife; yea, he kept sheep for a wife.
13 And by a prophet Jehovah brought Israel up out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was protected.
14 Ephraim has provoked Him to anger most bitterly. Therefore He shall leave the guilt of his blood upon him, and his Lord shall return his reproach unto him.