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.
Israel served to get a wife.
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.
This passage is an example of material that relates to sacrifices. Most of the fine detail of such material is included in Leviticus, but some also in Numbers. In its ancient context the passage relates to what is called priestly material of the Pentateuch and the stipulations contributed towards ancient Israelite worship. The five main sacrifices are presented in Leviticus 1-5, the burnt offering, the grain offering, the fellowship offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering. These offerings were presented on various occasions, including to atone for sin, as voluntary measures and as scheduled offerings during regular national festivals throughout each year. In the Christian canonical biblical context, the sacrificial material is seen as part of the Old Covenant that has now been replaced by the New. According to the New Testament, Jesus himself has fulfilled the sacrificial requirements of the Old Covenant and there is no more need for any further sacrifices (e.g. Hebrews 10). Thus for Christians, in many ways this material is of historical interest and not something to be followed in practice. And yet, the Old Testament sacrificial material went further than just ritual. In fact, the idea was to sacrifice from what one had and serve Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament ultimately voluntarily and out of gladness, and to take care of one’s neighbor, including the weak and destitute (cf. e.g. Deuteronomy 12:4-7, 26; Hosea 12, Amos 4-5). In that sense, the related Old Testament themes do carry over to the New Testament and to Christians as exhortations of good practice, both in an individual and collective sense.