Ephraim 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.
2Allah also has a controversy with Judah,
And will punish Yaqub 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 had power with God.
4Indeed, he had power over the angel, and prevailed;
He wept, and made supplication to him.
He found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with us,
5Even Allah, the Lord God of the universe;
Allah[1] is his name of renown!
6Therefore turn to your God.
Keep kindness and justice,
And wait for your God continually.
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 will not find in me any iniquity that is sin.“
9“But I am Allah your God from the land of Egypt.
I will yet again make you to 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.
12Yaqub 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 Allah brought Israel up out of Egypt,
And by a prophet he was preserved.
14Ephraim has provoked to anger most bitterly.
Therefore his blood will be left on him,
And his Lord will repay his contempt.
[1] in Hebrew, “YHWH is his name of renown.“