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Hosea 12

Hosea reaches back to the patriarch himself. Ephraim feeds on wind and ships oil to Egypt while courting Assyria — but the indictment widens to Jacob, who grabbed his brother's heel in the womb and later wrestled God at Bethel. Watch how the prophet turns the nation's own ancestor into both warning and summons.

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  1. 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. 2

    The LORD also has a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his deeds he will repay him.

  3. 3

    In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he contended with God.

  4. 4

    Indeed, he struggled with the angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication to him. He found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with us—

  5. 5

    even the LORD, the God of Armies. The LORD is his name of renown!

  6. 6

    Therefore turn to your God. Keep kindness and justice, and wait continually for your God.

  7. 7

    A merchant has dishonest scales in his hand. He loves to defraud.

  8. 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. 9

    “But I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt. I will yet again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn feast.

  10. 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. 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. 12

    Jacob fled into the country of Aram. Israel served to get a wife. For a wife he tended flocks and herds.

  13. 13

    By a prophet the LORD brought Israel up out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was preserved.

  14. 14

    Ephraim has bitterly provoked anger. Therefore his blood will be left on him, and his Lord will repay his contempt.

Jacob the grasper, Ephraim the merchant

The grasping that named Jacob ("heel") resurfaces as Ephraim's crooked scales: "a merchant has dishonest scales in his hand." Boasting "I have become rich," Ephraim assumes wealth proves innocence. Against this, Hosea sets the wilderness God who "brought Israel up out of Egypt" by a prophet — a hint at his own role — and the call of verse 6: "turn to your God. Keep kindness and justice."

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Hosea overview
Why Hosea matters for covenant love, betrayal, judgment, mercy, and the pain of unfaithfulness.
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Wisdom
In Scripture wisdom is less a stockpile of facts than a way of living rightly before God. From Proverbs to James, it begins with the fear of the LORD and shows up in how you treat people and time.
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