1The people of Ephraim look to others for help.
It’s like chasing the wind.
The wind they keep chasing
is hot and dry.
They tell more and more lies.
They are always hurting others.
They make a peace treaty with Assyria.
They send olive oil to Egypt to get help.
2The Lord is bringing charges against Judah.
He will punish Jacob’s people
because of how they act.
He’ll pay them back
for the evil things they’ve done.
3Even before Jacob was born,
he was holding on to his brother’s heel.
When he became a man,
he struggled with God.
4At Peniel he struggled with the angel and won.
Jacob wept and begged for his blessing.
God also met with him at Bethel.
He talked with him there.
5He is the Lord God who rules over all.
His name is the Lord.
6People of Jacob, you must return to your God.
You must hold on to love and do what is fair.
You must trust in your God always.
7You are like a trader who uses dishonest scales.
You love to cheat others.
8People of Ephraim, you brag,
“We are very rich.
We’ve become wealthy.
And no one can prove we sinned
to gain all this wealth.”
9The Lord says,
“I have been the Lord your God
ever since you came out of Egypt.
But I will make you live in tents again.
That is what you did when you celebrated
the Feast of Booths in the desert.
10I spoke to the prophets.
They saw many visions.
I gave you warnings through them.”
11The people of Gilead are evil!
They aren’t worth anything!
Gilgal’s people sacrifice bulls to other gods.
Their altars will become like piles of stones
on a plowed field.
12Jacob ran away to the country of Aram.
There Israel served Laban to get a wife.
He took care of sheep to pay for her.
13The prophet Moses brought Israel up from Egypt.
The Lord used him to take care of them.
14But Ephraim’s people have made the Lord very angry.
Their Lord will hold them accountable for the blood they’ve spilled.
He’ll pay them back for the shameful things they’ve done.
1「以法蓮以風為食，
整天追逐東風，
虛謊和暴力日益增多；
他跟亞述結盟，
向埃及進貢橄欖油。」
2耶和華指控猶大；
要按雅各所行的懲罰他，
照雅各所做的報應他。
3雅各在母胎之中曾抓住哥哥的腳跟，
壯年之時曾跟上帝角力。
4他跟天使角力得勝，
向天使哭求福分。
他在伯特利遇見祂，
在那裡與祂說話——
5就是萬軍之上帝耶和華，
耶和華是祂的名。
6所以，你們要歸向你們的上帝，
持守仁愛和公義，常常等候祂。
7以法蓮是個不誠實的商人，
手裡拿著騙人的秤，喜歡壓榨人。
8以法蓮說：「我發財了，
我依靠自己致富。
沒有人能從我的勞碌中找出過錯和罪惡。」
9耶和華說：
「從你們在埃及的時候，
我就是你們的上帝耶和華。
我要使你們再次住在帳篷裡，
就像從前守節期時一樣。
10我曾對先知講話，賜給他們許多異象，
藉他們用比喻警告你們。」
11基列人充滿罪惡，終必滅亡。
他們在吉甲用公牛獻祭，
他們的祭壇像田間犁溝裡的石堆。
12雅各曾逃往亞蘭，
以色列在那裡為娶妻而服侍人，
為得到妻子而替人牧羊。
13耶和華藉著先知帶領以色列離開埃及，
也藉著先知保護他。
14但以法蓮卻極大地觸怒耶和華，
所以他的主要讓他血債血還，
以羞辱還羞辱。
