| Berean Study Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Ephraim chases the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; he multiplies lies and violence; he makes a covenant with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt. | 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. |
| 2The LORD also brings a charge against Judah. He will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds. | 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. |
| 3In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel, and in his vigor he wrestled with God. | 3Even in the womb, Jacob struggled with his brother; when he became a man, he even fought with God. |
| 4Yes, he struggled with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought His favor; he found Him at Bethel and spoke with Him there— | 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 — |
| 5the LORD is the God of Hosts—the LORD is His name of renown. | 5the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies, the LORD is his name! |
| 6But you must return to your God, maintaining love and justice, and always waiting on your God. | 6So now, come back to your God. Act with love and justice, and always depend on him. |
| 7A merchant loves to defraud with dishonest scales in his hands. | 7But no, the people are like crafty merchants selling from dishonest scales— they love to cheat. |
| 8And Ephraim boasts: “How rich I have become! I have found wealth for myself. In all my labors, they can find in me no iniquity that is sinful.” | 8Israel boasts, “I am rich! I’ve made a fortune all by myself! No one has caught me cheating! My record is spotless!” |
| 9But I am the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt. I will again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the appointed feast. | 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. |
| 10I spoke through the prophets and multiplied their visions; I gave parables through the prophets. | 10I sent my prophets to warn you with many visions and parables.” |
| 11Is there iniquity in Gilead? They will surely come to nothing. Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Indeed, their altars will be heaps of stones in the furrows of the field. | 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. |
| 12Jacob fled to the land of Aram and Israel worked for a wife—for a wife he tended sheep. | 12Jacob fled to the land of Aram, and there he earned a wife by tending sheep. |
| 13But by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was preserved. | 13Then by a prophet the LORD brought Jacob’s descendants out of Egypt; and by that prophet they were protected. |
| 14Ephraim has provoked bitter anger, so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt upon him and repay him for his contempt. | 14But the people of Israel have bitterly provoked the LORD, so their Lord will now sentence them to death in payment for their sins. |
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