1 SAY ye unto your brethren, Ammi; [ "My people" Rel 302 OT Student Manual ] and to your sisters, Ruhamah.

2 Plead with your mother, [The Nation Israel Rel 302 OT Student Manual ] plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

3 Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, [ The captivity Rel 302 OTStudent Manual. ] and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.

4 And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms.

5 For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, [ Who were her lovers in this statement? The priests, priestesses, and idols of the Canaanite temples or, in the larger sense, any person one loves more than God - or those placed before him. To whom is the adulterous wife giving credit for her food and clothing? The false Gods to whom she was worshipping! To whom were the Israelites attributing the fruitful land in which they lived? to their false gods or idols.) How do people today give credit to false gods for the blessings they receive?
] that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink. [ Worldly values and treasures of the earth. ]

6 ¶ Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.

7 And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.

8 For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, [ Worldly values and treasures of the earth. ] which they prepared for Baal.

9 Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given [ What is the purpose of husband reminding his wife that he—not her lovers—that have supplied her with food, water, and other possessions? In what ways has the Lord provided us with material and spiritual blessings? How can we show our appreciation to the Lord for the blessings he gives us? ] to cover her nakedness. [ Israel’s sin. The coats of skin were also given to Adam and Eve to cover their nakedness(Kafar). ]

10 And now will I discover her lewdness [ What do you suppose he means to discover her lewdness? her sins = Israel’s sin How do you suppose that the husband would feel to find his wife cheaing him in such a manner? How does the Lord feel when he has done so much for us and we cheat him? ] in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand. [ What is the attitude of the husband toward his unfaithful wife at this point? He is going to destroy everything related to her other lovers - everything! How does this attitude change in verses 14–23? (Point out that even though the wife had been unfaithful, the husband still loved her and wanted her to come back to him. Likewise, the Lord still loves his people who have gone astray, and he wants them to turn again to him.)]

11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.

12 And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.

13 And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD. [ So here we are given the crines that she has committed (adultry - she is a whore or harlot). ]

14 ¶ Therefore, behold, I will allure her, [Jehovah still cares for her and will try to win her back.] and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.

15 And I will give her [ provide great blessings ] her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. [ like he did when he lead the children of Israel out of Egypt the first time ]

16 And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; [ Hebrew for “my husband”. ] and shalt call me no more Baali. [ Hebrew for “my master” - So eventually Israel will accept God as her Lord and her true husband. ]

17 For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.

18 And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.

19 And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; [ What did the husband promise his wife if she would return to him? Where do we become betrothed for the Eternities? In the Holy Temples The fulness of the new and everlasting covenant restored to Israel in the latter days and the eternal blessings that will result from Israel’s faithful marriage to Jehovah. So what then is the Lord promising his people if they will repent and return to him? Why is this promise important? We can know that through repentance we can return to him - we belong to him. ] yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.

20 I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD. [ How do we come to know the Lord? By learning his ways, then by living as he would have us live. We eventually become that which we emulate. Note that this verse begins with faithfulness - that we shall know him! ]

21 And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;

22 And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel. [ Hebrew for “God shall sow”. The downtrodden and poor Israel. Like the Jezreel Valley, they have great potential and will be resown and made fruitful by the Lord. ]

23 And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.