(NLT)
Hosea
12
:
1
The 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.
(NLT)
Hosea
12
:
2
Now 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.
(NLT)
Hosea
12
:
3
Even in the womb, Jacob struggled with his brother; when he became a man, he even fought with God.
(NLT)
Hosea
12
:
4
Yes, 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--
(NLT)
Hosea
12
:
5
the LORD God of Heaven's Armies, the LORD is his name!
(NLT)
Hosea
12
:
6
So now, come back to your God. Act with love and justice, and always depend on him.
(NLT)
Hosea
12
:
7
But no, the people are like crafty merchants selling from dishonest scales--they love to cheat.
(NLT)
Hosea
12
:
8
Israel boasts, "I am rich! I've made a fortune all by myself! No one has caught me cheating! My record is spotless!"
(NLT)
Hosea
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.
(NLT)
Hosea
12
:
10
I sent my prophets to warn you with many visions and parables."
(NLT)
Hosea
12
:
11
But 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.
(NLT)
Hosea
12
:
12
Jacob fled to the land of Aram, and there he earned a wife by tending sheep.
(NLT)
Hosea
12
:
13
Then by a prophet the LORD brought Jacob's descendants out of Egypt; and by that prophet they were protected.
(NLT)
Hosea
12
:
14
But the people of Israel have bitterly provoked the LORD, so their Lord will now sentence them to death in payment for their sins.