1: Ephraim feeds on wind, And chases the east wind. He continually multiplies lies and desolation. They make a covenant with Assyria, And oil is carried into Egypt. 2: Yahweh also has a controversy with Judah, And will punish Jacob according to his ways; According to his deeds he will repay him. 3: In the womb he took his brother by the heel; And in his manhood he had power with God. 4: Indeed, he had power over the angel, and prevailed; He wept, and made supplication to him. He found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with us, 5: Even Yahweh, the God of hosts; Yahweh is his name of renown! 6: Therefore turn to your God. Keep kindness and justice, And wait for your God continually. 7: A merchant has dishonest scales in his hand. He loves to defraud. 8: Ephraim said, "Surely I have become rich, I have found myself wealth. In all my wealth they won't find in me any iniquity that is sin." 9: "But I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt. I will yet again make you to dwell in tents, As in the days of the solemn feast. 10: I have also spoken to the prophets, And I have multiplied visions; And by the ministry of the prophets I have used parables. 11: If Gilead is wicked, Surely they are worthless. In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls. Indeed, their altars are like heaps in the furrows of the field. 12: Jacob fled into the country of Aram, And Israel served to get a wife, And for a wife he tended flocks and herds. 13: By a prophet Yahweh brought Israel up out of Egypt, And by a prophet he was preserved. 14: Ephraim has provoked to anger most bitterly. Therefore his blood will be left on him, And his his Lord will repay his contempt.
