Hosea 12
What Happens in This Chapter
Hosea speaks for God against Ephraim, the northern kingdom of Israel, for lying, making deals with Assyria and Egypt, and cheating people in business. He looks back at their ancestor Jacob, who wrestled with God and worked years for a wife, and at the prophet who led Israel out of Egypt. God calls the people to come back to him, to keep love and fairness, and to wait for him. The chapter ends by saying God will pay Ephraim back for what he has done.
Plain reading written for kids. Short sentences, everyday words, one idea at a time.
Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he daily increaseth lies and desolation; and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt.
1Ephraim chases the wind and runs after the hot east wind all day. He tells more and more lies. He hurts more and more people. He makes a deal with the country of Assyria. He sends olive oil down to Egypt.
Ephraim was the biggest tribe in the north, so its name is used for the whole northern kingdom of Israel. The east wind there is hot and dry, and it dries up plants.
2The LORD hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him.
2The LORD has a complaint against Judah too. He will punish the people of Jacob for the way they live. He will pay them back for the things they do.
3He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God:
3Before Jacob was born, he grabbed his brother's heel. When he was strong and grown, he wrestled with God.
This is Jacob, the grandson of Abraham. His story is in Genesis. He was also called Israel, and the whole nation was named after him.
4Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in Bethel, and there he spake with us;
4Yes, he wrestled with the angel and won. He cried and begged the angel to be kind to him. He met God at a town called Bethel. God talked with him there.
5Even the LORD God of hosts; the LORD is his memorial.
5That God is the LORD, the God who leads armies. "The LORD" is his name, the name people remember.
6Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually.
6So you must come back to your God. Keep loving others and keep being fair. Wait for your God all the time.
7He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress.
7Ephraim is like a trader with crooked scales in his hand. He cheats people when he weighs things. He loves to take what is not his.
8And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance: in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin.
8Ephraim brags, "Look how rich I have become! I found all this money myself. In all my work no one can find any sin in me."
9And I that am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feast.
9But I am the LORD your God. I have been your God since you were in the land of Egypt. I will make you live in tents again. It will be like the days of the special feast.
The KJV word "tabernacles" means tents. At the special feast each year, the people slept in little shelters to remember their years in the desert.
10I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.
10I spoke to you through prophets. A prophet is someone who tells people what God says. I gave the prophets many dreams and pictures. Through them I told you stories to teach you.
11Is there iniquity in Gilead? surely they are vanity: they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the fields.
11Is there wrong in the land of Gilead? Yes, and those people will come to nothing. In the town of Gilgal they kill bulls as gifts to false gods. Their altars will end up as piles of stones in the plowed fields.
12And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.
12Jacob ran away to the land of Aram. There Jacob worked hard to earn a wife. He took care of sheep so he could marry.
13And by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved.
13The LORD used a prophet to bring Israel out of Egypt. A prophet also kept the people safe.
14Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly: therefore shall he leave his blood upon him, and his reproach shall his LORD return unto him.
14Ephraim made God very, very angry. So his Lord will hold him guilty for the blood he spilled. God will pay him back for the shame he caused.
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