| New Living Translation | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1 The people of Israel feed 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. | 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. |
| 2Now the LORD is bringing charges against Judah. He is about to punish Jacob for all his deceitful ways, and pay him back for all he has done. | 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. |
| 3Even in the womb, Jacob struggled with his brother; when he became a man, he even fought with God. | 3In the womb he grasped his brother's heel, and as an adult he wrestled with God. |
| 4Yes, 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 — | 4Jacob struggled with the Angel and prevailed; he wept and sought His favor. He found him at Bethel, and there He spoke with him. |
| 5the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies, the LORD is his name! | 5Yahweh is the God of Hosts; Yahweh is His name. |
| 6So now, come back to your God. Act with love and justice, and always depend on him. | 6But you must return to your God. Maintain love and justice, and always put your hope in God. |
| 7But no, the people are like crafty merchants selling from dishonest scales— they love to cheat. | 7A merchant loves to extort with dishonest scales in his hands. |
| 8Israel boasts, “I am rich! I’ve made a fortune all by myself! No one has caught me cheating! My record is spotless!” | 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!" |
| 9“But I am the LORD your 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. | 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 sent my prophets to warn you with many visions and parables.” | 10I spoke through the prophets and granted many visions; I gave parables through the prophets. |
| 11But 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. | 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, and there he earned a wife by tending sheep. | 12Jacob fled to the land of Aram. Israel worked to earn a wife; he tended flocks for a wife. |
| 13Then by a prophet the LORD brought Jacob’s descendants out of Egypt; and by that prophet they were protected. | 13The LORD brought Israel from Egypt by a prophet, and Israel was tended by a prophet. |
| 14But the people of Israel have bitterly provoked the LORD, so their Lord will now sentence them to death in payment for their sins. | 14Ephraim has provoked bitter anger, so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him and repay him for his contempt. |
| Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. | Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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