| International Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1 "Ephraim feeds on the wind, chasing after the eastern winds, storing up lies and desolation day after day. They are making a contract with the Assyrians, and sending oil to 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. |
| 2The LORD accuses Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; he will repay him for what he does. | 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. |
| 3He circumvented his brother in the womb, and as an adult he fought with God. | 3In the womb he grasped his brother's heel, and as an adult he wrestled with God. |
| 4He even fought the angel and won; he cried and prayed to him. Then at Bethel he found him, and there he spoke with us— | 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 the Heavenly Armies— the LORD is his name. | 5Yahweh is the God of Hosts; Yahweh is His name. |
| 6So you, return to your God; guard grace and justice, and look to your God always. | 6But you must return to your God. Maintain love and justice, and always put your hope in God. |
| 7"Now as for the merchant, deceitful balances remain in his hand, and he loves to defraud. | 7A merchant loves to extort with dishonest scales in his hands. |
| 8Ephraim claims, 'I have become rich, I have made a fortune! Because of all my wealth, no one will find any iniquity or sin in me.' | 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"Yet I remain the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. I will make you live in tents again, as in the festival of that name. | 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 spoke to the prophets, giving revelation after revelation, and employing parables in the prophetic writings. | 10I spoke through the prophets and granted many visions; I gave parables through the prophets. |
| 11"There's iniquity in Gilead, isn't there? They have become truly vain. They sacrifice bulls in Gilgal; their altars are like piles of stone in furrowed fields. | 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 into the land of Aram; Israel served there to obtain his wife, tending sheep to gain his wife. | 12Jacob fled to the land of Aram. Israel worked to earn a wife; he tended flocks for a wife. |
| 13"By a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was rescued. | 13The LORD brought Israel from Egypt by a prophet, and Israel was tended by a prophet. |
| 14Ephraim has stirred up violent anger; therefore the guilt of his blood will remain on him, and his Lord will repay him for his contempt." | 14Ephraim has provoked bitter anger, so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him and repay him for his contempt. |
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