World English Bible

Hosea 12:12

“Jacob fled into the country of Aram, and Israel served to get a wife, and for a wife he tended flocks and herds.”

Verse in context — Hosea 12

I have also spoken to the prophets, and I have multiplied visions; and by the ministry of the prophets I have used parables.

If Gilead is wicked, surely they are worthless. In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls. Indeed, their altars are like heaps in the furrows of the field.

Jacob fled into the country of Aram, and Israel served to get a wife, and for a wife he tended flocks and herds.

By a prophet Yahweh brought Israel up out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was preserved.

Ephraim has bitterly provoked anger. Therefore his blood will be left on him, and his Lord will repay his contempt.

God’s steadfast love for His unfaithful people, symbolized through Hosea’s marriage.