The Message Bible MSG
New International Version NIV
1 Ephraim, obsessed with god-fantasies, chases ghosts and phantoms. He tells lies nonstop, soul-destroying lies. Both Ephraim and Judah made deals with Assyria and tried to get an inside track with Egypt.
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Ephraim feeds on the wind; he pursues the east wind all day and multiplies lies and violence. He makes a treaty with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.
2 God is bringing charges against Israel. Jacob's children are hauled into court to be punished.
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The LORD has a charge to bring against Judah; he will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds.
3 In the womb, that heel, Jacob, got the best of his brother. When he grew up, he tried to get the best of God.
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In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel; as a man he struggled with God.
4 But God would not be bested. God bested him. Brought to his knees, Jacob wept and prayed. God found him at Bethel. That's where he spoke with him.
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He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged for his favor. He found him at Bethel and talked with him there—
5 God is God-of-the-Angel-Armies, God-Revealed, God-Known.
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the LORD God Almighty, the LORD is his name!
6 What are you waiting for? Return to your God! Commit yourself in love, in justice! Wait for your God, and don't give up on him - ever!
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But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always.
7 The businessmen engage in wholesale fraud. They love to rip people off!
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The merchant uses dishonest scales and loves to defraud.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.