# General Information:

Hosea the prophet is speaking about Israel.

# false scales

The merchants use scales that do not accurately measure the weight of the money or products they are buying or selling.

# they love to defraud

The merchants cheat their customers by lying to them and taking more money than they should.

# I have certainly become very rich; I have found wealth for myself

These two phrases mean the same thing and mean that the people of Ephraim consider themselves to be very prosperous. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-parallelism]])

# I have found wealth

Becoming wealthy by trading is spoken of as finding wealth. AT: "I have made much money" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])

# they will not find any iniquity in me, anything that would be sin

These two phrases mean the same thing and emphasize that the people of Ephraim consider themselves to be blameless. Learning that someone has sinned is spoken of as finding sin in that person. AT: "they will not discover that I have done anything sinful" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-doublet]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])

# translationWords

* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/names/ephraim]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/works]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/iniquity]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/sin]]