| Christian Standard Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Ephraim chases the wind and pursues the east wind. He continually multiplies lies and violence. He makes a covenant with Assyria, and olive oil is carried to Egypt. | 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. |
| 2The LORD also has a dispute with Judah. He is about to punish Jacob according to his conduct; he will repay him based on his actions. | 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. |
| 3In the womb he grasped his brother's heel, and as an adult he wrestled with God. | 3Even in the womb, Jacob struggled with his brother; when he became a man, he even fought with God. |
| 4Jacob struggled with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought his favor. He found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with him. | 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 is the God of Armies; the LORD is his name. | 5the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies, the LORD is his name! |
| 6But you must return to your God. Maintain love and justice, and always put your hope in God. | 6So now, come back to your God. Act with love and justice, and always depend on him. |
| 7A merchant loves to extort with dishonest scales in his hands. | 7But no, the people are like crafty merchants selling from dishonest scales— they love to cheat. |
| 8But Ephraim thinks, "How rich I have become; I made it all myself. In all my earnings, no one can find any iniquity in me that I can be punished for!" | 8Israel boasts, “I am rich! I’ve made a fortune all by myself! No one has caught me cheating! My record is spotless!” |
| 9I have been the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt. I will make you live in tents again, as in the festival days. | 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 will speak through the prophets and grant many visions; I will give parables through the prophets. | 10I sent my prophets to warn you with many visions and parables.” |
| 11Since Gilead is full of evil, they will certainly come to nothing. They sacrifice bulls in Gilgal; even their altars will be like piles of rocks on the furrows of a field. | 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 territory of Aram. Israel worked to earn a wife; he tended flocks for a wife. | 12Jacob fled to the land of Aram, and there he earned a wife by tending sheep. |
| 13The LORD brought Israel from Egypt by a prophet, and Israel was tended by a prophet. | 13Then by a prophet the LORD brought Jacob’s descendants out of Egypt; and by that prophet they were protected. |
| 14Ephraim has provoked bitter anger, so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him and repay him for his contempt. | 14But the people of Israel have bitterly provoked the LORD, so their Lord will now sentence them to death in payment for their sins. |
| The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
|
    |