The Lord sent words to His people by a man called Hosea through the times of four kings in Judah.

The first thing the Lord told him was, "go get a wife for yourself from the ladies who turn away from their husbands, and children who turn away," to show My people how bad they have turned away from Me.

 

 

So Hosea went and picked one of those ladies and they got married and had a baby. The Lord told Hosea to call the baby Jezreel because, the Lord said, I will get back at king Jehu for the bad he did to the family of Jezreel.

 

When the lady had another baby, the Lord told Hosea to call the baby, Lo-ruhammah because I won’t be kind any more to the north part of My kingdom, but I will be kind to Judah.

 

 

I will save them, but not with swords and bows and arrows and horses.

Then the lady had another baby and the Lord told Hosea to call the baby Loammi because My people are not My people anymore. You are not My people and I am not your God.

But I tell you, the children of Israel will be so many that you can’t count them, as many as the sand at the ocean. And where it is being said, You are not My people, it will be said, You are the sons of the Living god.

 

Then the Lord said, Come back to Me or I will send bad trouble on you. You aren’t doing the right thing. You are following the bad ones.

When the trouble comes, you will turn back to Me so it can be better for you. If you don’t turn back the land will be dry with nothing to eat. I will show you how bad you have been.

I will take all the good stuff I gave you, that you took and gave to your statues that you bowed down to. Then I will lead My people with soft words out into the wilderness to talk sweet words to her.

I will make the land full of good fruit and not dry anymore. Instead of calling the Lord, Master, you will call Him your special best husband.

 

I will take away the names of all the bad ones and stop all the hurting and killing and war. All the people and animals will lie down to rest and will be safe everywhere they go.

The Lord will make you His best and special wife forever and it will be right and full of love and kindness. And no one will turn away anymore.

 

 

The Lord will hear the heavens and the heavens will hear what the earth says and all the grain and wine and oil will grow and be happy.

And I will make lots of laughing at My house when I have My parties. And the people will say, You are our God and the Lord will say, You are My people.

The Lord told Hosea, Go get your wife who left you and is now to be sold as a slave and bring her home with you and love her because she is like My people who left Me and bow down to other gods

 

and love to drink lots of wine, but I still love them.

 

 

So Hosea went and bought back his wife for 15 silver pieces and a big basket full of barley.

 

Hosea told her, You will stay only with me for many days and not be with any other man and I will only be to you

 

because the children of Israel will be many days with no king or prince or special gifts to the Lord God.

But after this they will come back and look for the Lord their God and David their king and they will be amazed at the Lord and how special and good He is in the days at the end.

The Lord said, Listen to what I say, O children of Israel, because there is nothing true or kind in the land and no one knows about God.

 

There is just lying and hurting and hitting and cutting and breaking promises and taking other men’s wives and big fighting so that the blood runs on the ground together.

 

The land will sing sad songs because of this. The people will be tired and sad with the animals and birds and fish.

 

But no one tries to get anyone to do right. My people are ruined because they don’t know, they turned away from knowing what is true. They forgot My rules.

 

 

Instead of getting good things and being lifted up high, they will be embarrassed. They set their hearts to do bad stuff.

 

 

 

So I will spank them and give them back what they are doing so they will see how bad it is, says the Lord.

 

 

They ask rocks and tree stumps what to do instead of asking Me, the One who made them.

 

I won’t spank your children for doing the bad because they do what they saw you do.

 

You slide back from me like a big cow sliding down a muddy hill, but the Lord will feed them like a little lamb in a big good place.

 

 

The princes love to do the wrong thing for money.

 

 

The wind lifts them up in her wings

 

 

 

and they will be embarrassed about the bad stuff they do.