1Ephraim feeds on the wind;

he pursues the east wind all day

and multiplies lies and violence.

He makes a treaty with Assyria

and sends olive oil to Egypt.

2The Lord has a charge to bring against Judah;

he will punish Jacob ^a according to his ways

and repay him according to his deeds.

3In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel;

as a man he struggled with God.

4He struggled with the angel and overcame him;

he wept and begged for his favor.

He found him at Bethel

and talked with him there—

5the Lord God Almighty,

the Lord is his name!

6But you must return to your God;

maintain love and justice,

and wait for your God always.

7The merchant uses dishonest scales

and loves to defraud.

8Ephraim boasts,

“I am very rich; I have become wealthy.

With all my wealth they will not find in me

any iniquity or sin.”

9“I have been the Lord your God

ever since you came out of Egypt;

I will make you live in tents again,

as in the days of your appointed festivals.

10I spoke to the prophets,

gave them many visions

and told parables through them.”

11Is Gilead wicked?

Its people are worthless!

Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?

Their altars will be like piles of stones

on a plowed field.

12Jacob fled to the country of Aram ^b ;

Israel served to get a wife,

and to pay for her he tended sheep.

13The Lord used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt,

by a prophet he cared for him.

14But Ephraim has aroused his bitter anger;

his Lord will leave on him the guilt of his bloodshed

and will repay him for his contempt.