Font Size
Hosea 12
New International Reader's Version
Hosea 12
New International Reader's Version
12 The people of Ephraim look to others for help.
It’s like chasing the wind.
The wind they keep chasing
is hot and dry.
They tell more and more lies.
They are always hurting others.
They make a peace treaty with Assyria.
They send olive oil to Egypt to get help.
2 The Lord is bringing charges against Judah.
He will punish Jacob’s people
because of how they act.
He’ll pay them back
for the evil things they’ve done.
3 Even before Jacob was born,
he was holding on to his brother’s heel.
When he became a man,
he struggled with God.
4 At Peniel he struggled with the angel and won.
Jacob wept and begged for his blessing.
God also met with him at Bethel.
He talked with him there.
5 He is the Lord God who rules over all.
His name is the Lord.
6 People of Jacob, you must return to your God.
You must hold on to love and do what is fair.
You must trust in your God always.
7 You are like a trader who uses dishonest scales.
You love to cheat others.
8 People of Ephraim, you brag,
“We are very rich.
We’ve become wealthy.
And no one can prove we sinned
to gain all this wealth.”
9 The Lord says,
“I have been the Lord your God
ever since you came out of Egypt.
But I will make you live in tents again.
That is what you did when you celebrated
the Feast of Booths in the desert.
10 I spoke to the prophets.
They saw many visions.
I gave you warnings through them.”
11 The people of Gilead are evil!
They aren’t worth anything!
Gilgal’s people sacrifice bulls to other gods.
Their altars will become like piles of stones
on a plowed field.
12 Jacob ran away to the country of Aram.
There Israel served Laban to get a wife.
He took care of sheep to pay for her.
13 The prophet Moses brought Israel up from Egypt.
The Lord used him to take care of them.
14 But Ephraim’s people have made the Lord very angry.
Their Lord will hold them accountable for the blood they’ve spilled.
He’ll pay them back for the shameful things they’ve done.
Hosea 12
New International Version
Hosea 12
New International Version
12 [a]1 Ephraim(A) feeds on the wind;(B)
he pursues the east wind all day
and multiplies lies and violence.(C)
He makes a treaty with Assyria(D)
and sends olive oil to Egypt.(E)
2 The Lord has a charge(F) to bring against Judah;(G)
he will punish(H) Jacob[b] according to his ways
and repay him according to his deeds.(I)
3 In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel;(J)
as a man he struggled(K) with God.
4 He struggled with the angel and overcame him;
he wept and begged for his favor.
He found him at Bethel(L)
and talked with him there—
5 the Lord God Almighty,
the Lord is his name!(M)
6 But you must return(N) to your God;
maintain love and justice,(O)
and wait for your God always.(P)
7 The merchant uses dishonest scales(Q)
and loves to defraud.
8 Ephraim boasts,(R)
“I am very rich; I have become wealthy.(S)
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;(T)
I will make you live in tents(U) again,
as in the days of your appointed festivals.
10 I spoke to the prophets,
gave them many visions
and told parables(V) through them.”(W)
11 Is Gilead wicked?(X)
Its people are worthless!
Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?(Y)
Their altars will be like piles of stones
on a plowed field.(Z)
12 Jacob fled to the country of Aram[c];(AA)
Israel served to get a wife,
and to pay for her he tended sheep.(AB)
13 The Lord used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt,(AC)
by a prophet he cared for him.(AD)
14 But Ephraim has aroused his bitter anger;
his Lord will leave on him the guilt of his bloodshed(AE)
and will repay him for his contempt.(AF)
Footnotes
- Hosea 12:1 In Hebrew texts 12:1-14 is numbered 12:2-15.
- Hosea 12:2 Jacob means he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for he takes advantage of or he deceives.
- Hosea 12:12 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia
New International Reader's Version (NIRV) 
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.