Chapter 11

11:1When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called My son.
2The more they called them,
the more they departed from Me.
They kept sacrificing to the Baals
and burning offerings to idols.
3It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
taking them in My arms,
but they never knew that I healed them.
4I led them with human cords,
with ropes of love.
To them I was like one
who eases the yoke from their jaws;
I bent down to give them food.
5Israel will not return to the land of Egypt
and Assyria will be his king,
because they refused to repent.
6A sword will whirl through his cities;
it will destroy and devour the bars of his gates,
because of their schemes.
7My people are bent on turning from Me.
Though they call to Him on high,
He will not exalt them at all.
8How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I surrender you, Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
I have had a change of heart;
My compassion is stirred!
9I will not vent the full fury of My anger;
I will not turn back to destroy Ephraim.
For I am God and not man,
the Holy One among you;
I will not come in rage.
10They will follow the Lord;
He will roar like a lion.
When He roars,
His children will come trembling from the west.
11They will be roused like birds from Egypt
and like doves from the land of Assyria.
Then I will settle them in their homes.

This is the Lord's declaration.
12 Ephraim surrounds me with lies,
the house of Israel, with deceit.
Judah still wanders with God
and is faithful to the holy ones.

Chapter 12

12:1Ephraim 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.
2The Lord also has a dispute with Judah.
He is about to punish Jacob according to his ways;
He will repay him based on his actions.
3In the womb he grasped his brother's heel,
and as an adult he wrestled 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.
5Yahweh is the God of Hosts;
Yahweh is His name.
6But you must return to your God.
Maintain love and justice,
and always put your hope in God.
7A merchant loves to extort
with dishonest scales in his hands.
8But Ephraim says:
"How rich I have become;
I made it all myself.
In all my earnings,
no one can find any crime in me
that I can be punished for!"
9I have been Yahweh your God
ever since the land of Egypt.
I will make you live in tents again,
as in the festival days.
10I spoke through the prophets
and granted many visions;
I gave parables through the prophets.
11Since Gilead is full of evil,
they will certainly come to nothing.
They sacrifice bulls in Gilgal;
even their altars will be like heaps of rocks
on the furrows of a field.
12Jacob fled to the land of Aram.
Israel worked to earn a wife;
he tended flocks for a wife.
13The Lord brought Israel from Egypt by a prophet,
and Israel was tended by a prophet.
14Ephraim has provoked bitter anger,
so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him
and repay him for his contempt.