Hosea 12
God recounts Jacob's history, wrestling with the angel, meeting God at Bethel, and challenges Israel to return like their ancestor did. Ephraim's lies and violence are condemned, while the prophet's role in delivering Israel from Egypt is affirmed.
HoseaChapter 12 of 1414 versesBerean Standard Bible
In this passage: EphraimIsraelEgyptAssyria
If God speaks to you through Hosea 12, record what He said in Doxa and come back to it.
Ephraim feeds on the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; he multiplies lies and violence; he makes a covenant with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.
The LORD has a charge to bring against Judah. He will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds.
In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel, and in his vigor he wrestled with God.
Quoted in the Deeper Dive, day 49: How did Israel first hear the story of Jacob and Esau?
Yes, he struggled with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought His favor; he found Him at Bethel and spoke with Him there—
the LORD God of Hosts, the LORD is His name of renown.
But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and always wait on your God.
A merchant loves to defraud with dishonest scales in his hands.
And Ephraim boasts: “How rich I have become! I have found wealth for myself. In all my labors, they can find in me no iniquity that is sinful.”
But I am the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt. I will again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the appointed feast.
I spoke through the prophets and multiplied their visions; I gave parables through the prophets.
Is there iniquity in Gilead? They will surely come to nothing. Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Indeed, their altars will be heaps of stones in the furrows of the field.
Jacob fled to the land of Aram and Israel worked for a wife—for a wife he tended sheep.
But by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was preserved.
Ephraim has provoked bitter anger, so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt upon him and repay him for his contempt.
Read next
How to Hear God’s Voice: A Practical Guide for BelieversScripture is the record of a God who speaks. This guide covers how to hear Him today and keep what He says.Cross-references for Hosea 12
“After this, his brother came out grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. And Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.”
“He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”
“You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.”
“For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to Him in everything He tells you.”
“Then all the Israelites did this—they did just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron.”
Cross-references from OpenBible.info, licensed CC BY.
Hosea 12 on Doxa
- Why Jacob's Name Was a Warning Israel Had to Hear (Genesis 25:19–26) · Quoted in the Deeper Dive, day 49
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If God speaks to you through Hosea 12
Doxa is where you record what God has said to you, in the words it came in, weigh it against Scripture with people you trust, and come back to it in the years that follow.
