1 Ephraim compasseth Me about with lies, And the house of Israel with deceit; And Judah is yet wayward towards God, And towards the Holy One who is faithful.
2 Ephraim striveth after wind, and followeth after the east wind; All the day he multiplieth lies and desolation; And they make a covenant with Assyria, And oil is carried into Egypt.
3 The LORD hath also a controversy with Judah, And will punish Jacob according to his ways, According to his doings will He recompense him.
4 In the womb he took his brother by the heel, And by his strength he strove with a godlike being;
5 So he strove with an angel, and prevailed; He wept, and made supplication unto him; At Beth-el he would find him, And there he would speak with us;
6 But the LORD, the God of hosts, The LORD is His name.
7 Therefore turn thou to thy God; Keep mercy and justice, And wait for thy God continually.
8 As for the trafficker, the balances of deceit are in his hand. He loveth to oppress.
9 And Ephraim said: ‘Surely I am become rich, I have found me wealth; In all my labours they shall find in me No iniquity that were sin.’
10 But I am the LORD thy God From the land of Egypt; I will yet again make thee to dwell in tents, As in the days of the appointed season.
11 I have also spoken unto the prophets, And I have multiplied visions; And by the ministry of the prophets have I used similitudes.
12 If Gilead be given to iniquity Becoming altogether vanity, In Gilgal they sacrifice unto bullocks; Yea, their altars shall be as heaps In the furrows of the field.
13 And Jacob fled into the field of Aram, And Israel served for a wife, And for a wife he kept sheep.
14 And by a prophet the LORD brought Israel up out of Egypt, And by a prophet was he kept.
15 Ephraim hath provoked most bitterly; Therefore shall his blood be cast upon him, And his reproach shall his Lord return unto him.