12 The people of Israel feed on the wind; they chase after the east wind all day long. They pile up lies and violence; they are making an alliance with Assyria while sending olive oil to buy support from Egypt.H669H7462H7307H7291H6921H3117H7235H3577H7701H3772H1285H804H8081H2986H47142Now the Lord is bringing charges against Judah. He is about to punish Jacob for all his deceitful ways, and pay him back for all he has done.H3068H7379H3063H6485H3290H1870H4611H77253Even in the womb, Jacob struggled with his brother; when he became a man, he even fought with God.H251H6117H990H202H8280H4304Yes, he wrestled with the angel and won. He wept and pleaded for a blessing from him. There at Bethel he met God face to face, and God spoke to him①—/ ①As in Greek and Syriac versions; Hebrew reads to us.H7786H4397H3201H1058H2603H4672H1008H16965the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, the Lord is his name!H3068H430H6635H3068H21436So now, come back to your God. Act with love and justice, and always depend on him.H7725H430H8104H2617H4941H6960H430H85487But no, the people are like crafty merchants selling from dishonest scales—they love to cheat.H3667H3976H4820H3027H157H62318Israel boasts, “I am rich! I’ve made a fortune all by myself! No one has caught me cheating! My record is spotless!”H669H559H6238H4672H202H3018H4672H5771H23999“But I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in Egypt. And I will make you live in tents again, as you do each year at the Festival of Shelters.H3068H430H776H4714H3427H168H3117H415010I sent my prophets to warn you with many visions and parables.”H1696H5030H7235H2377H1819H3027H503011But the people of Gilead are worthless because of their idol worship. And in Gilgal, too, they sacrifice bulls; their altars are lined up like the heaps of stone along the edges of a plowed field.H205H1568H7723H2076H7794H1537H4196H1530H8525H770412Jacob fled to the land of Aram, and there he earned a wife by tending sheep.H3290H1272H7704H758H3478H5647H802H802H810413Then by a prophet the Lord brought Jacob’s descendants out of Egypt; and by that prophet they were protected.H5030H3068H5927H3478H4714H5030H810414But the people of Israel have bitterly provoked the Lord, so their Lord will now sentence them to death in payment for their sins.H669H3707H8563H5203H1818H2781H113H7725