1 The people of Israelfeed 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.
2 Now theLordis bringing charges against Judah.
He is about to punish Jacobfor all his deceitful ways,
and pay him back for all he has done.
3 Even in the womb,
Jacob struggled with his brother;
when he became a man,
he even fought with God.
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—
5 theLordGod of Heaven’s Armies,
theLordis his name!
6 So now, come back to your God.
Act with love and justice,
and always depend on him.
7 But no, the people are like crafty merchants
selling from dishonest scales—
they love to cheat.
8 Israel boasts, “I am rich!
I’ve made a fortune all by myself!
No one has caught me cheating!
My record is spotless!”
9 “But I am theLordyour 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.
10 I sent my prophets to warn you
with many visions and parables.”
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.
12 Jacob fled to the land of Aram,
and there heearned a wife by tending sheep.
13 Then by a prophet
theLordbrought Jacob’s descendantsout of Egypt;
and by that prophet
they were protected.
14 But the people of Israel
have bitterly provoked theLord,
so their Lord will now sentence them to death
in payment for their sins.
—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/6/32k/HOS/12-e9aea042c7358ebeadc3d873d98cffed.mp3?version_id=116—