Hosea 12

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¹Ephraim feeds on wind, and chases the east wind. He continually multiplies lies and desolation. They make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt. ✦ ²Yahweh also has a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his deeds he will repay him. ✦ ³In the womb he took his brother by the heel; and in his manhood he contended with God. ✦ ⁴Indeed, he struggled with the angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication to him. He found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with us, ✦ ⁵even Yahweh, the God of Armies; Yahweh is his name of renown! ✦ ⁶Therefore turn to your God. Keep kindness and justice, and wait continually for your God. ✦ ⁷A merchant has dishonest scales in his hand. He loves to defraud. ✦ ⁸Ephraim said, “Surely I have become rich, I have found myself wealth. In all my wealth they won’t find in me any iniquity that is sin.” ✦ ⁹“But I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt. I will yet again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn feast. ✦ ¹⁰I have also spoken to the prophets, and I have multiplied visions; and by the ministry of the prophets I have used parables. ✦ ¹¹If Gilead is wicked, surely they are worthless. In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls. Indeed, their altars are like heaps in the furrows of the field. ✦ ¹²Jacob fled into the country of Aram, and Israel served to get a wife, and for a wife he tended flocks and herds. ✦ ¹³By a prophet Yahweh brought Israel up out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was preserved. ✦ ¹⁴Ephraim has bitterly provoked anger. Therefore his blood will be left on him, and his Lord will repay his contempt. ✦

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Where this chapter connects

Gen 32 ·5 Mic 6 ·5 2 Kgs 17 ·5 Hos 4 ·4 Jer 2 ·4 Hos 8 ·3 Amos 5 ·3 1 Tim 6 ·3

Christ at the center

God's relentless love for an unfaithful bride dramatizes the gospel: 'Out of Egypt I called my son' is fulfilled in Jesus, who redeems an adulterous people at his own cost.

How Hosea 12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

Pastoral

SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Hosea videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Hosea 12YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Hosea 12David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on HoseaMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Hosea 12Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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