| New Living Translation | NET 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 continually feeds on the wind; he chases the east wind all day; he multiplies lies and violence. They make treaties with Assyria, and send olive oil as tribute 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 covenant lawsuit against Judah; he will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds. |
| 3Even in the womb, Jacob struggled with his brother; when he became a man, he even fought with God. | 3In the womb he attacked his brother; in his manly vigor he struggled 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 — | 4He struggled with an angel and prevailed; he wept and begged for his favor. He found God at Bethel, and there he spoke with him! |
| 5the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies, the LORD is his name! | 5As for the LORD God Almighty, the LORD is the name by which he is remembered! |
| 6So now, come back to your God. Act with love and justice, and always depend on him. | 6But you must return to your God, by maintaining love and justice, and by waiting for your God to return to you. |
| 7But no, the people are like crafty merchants selling from dishonest scales— they love to cheat. | 7The businessmen love to cheat; they use dishonest scales. |
| 8Israel boasts, “I am rich! I’ve made a fortune all by myself! No one has caught me cheating! My record is spotless!” | 8Ephraim boasts, "I am very rich! I have become wealthy! In all that I have done to gain my wealth, no one can accuse me of any offense that is actually sinful." |
| 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. | 9"I am the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt; I will make you live in tents again as in the days of old. |
| 10I sent my prophets to warn you with many visions and parables.” | 10I spoke to the prophets; I myself revealed many visions; I spoke in 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. | 11Is there idolatry in Gilead? Certainly its inhabitants will come to nothing! Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Surely their altars will be like stones heaped up on a plowed field! |
| 12Jacob fled to the land of Aram, and there he earned a wife by tending sheep. | 12Jacob fled to the country of Aram, then Israel worked to acquire a wife; he tended sheep to pay for her. |
| 13Then by a prophet the LORD brought Jacob’s descendants out of Egypt; and by that prophet they were protected. | 13The LORD brought Israel out of Egypt by a prophet, and due to a prophet Israel was preserved alive. |
| 14But the people of Israel have bitterly provoked the LORD, so their Lord will now sentence them to death in payment for their sins. | 14But Ephraim bitterly provoked him to anger; so he will hold him accountable for the blood he has shed, his Lord will repay him for the contempt he has shown. |
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