Week 901 · about 45 minutes
Hosea 5
Hosea 5 · Memory verse Hosea 5:4
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Hosea 5), the matching word search and answer key (Hosea 5 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a wooden spoon
Hold a wooden spoon. Read Hosea 5 in about four minutes, stopping at Hosea 5:4: “Their deeds won’t allow them to turn to their God; for the spirit of prostitution is within them, and they don’t know Yahweh.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Hosea 5?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Hosea 5 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, ““Listen to this, you priests! Listen, house of Israel, and give ear, house of the king! For the judgment is against you; for you have been a snare at Mizpah, and a net spread on Tabor.” That is not a motto invented for a poster. It is the first sentence a family hears when this page is opened at night.
Keep going a little further. The chapter also says, ““Blow the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah! Sound a battle cry at Beth Aven, behind you, Benjamin!” Hosea 5 opens with these words: ““Listen to this, you priests! Listen, house of Israel, and give ear, house of the king! For the judgment is against you; for you have been…” The line to keep is Hosea 5:4: “Their deeds won’t allow them to turn to their God; for the spirit of prostitution is within them, and they don’t know Yahweh.” Carry the word “deeds” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Hosea 5:4: “Their deeds won’t allow them to turn to their God; for the spirit of prostitution is within them, and they don’t know Yahweh.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Hosea 5? Then try this: Read “Their deeds won’t allow them to turn to their God; for the spirit of prostitution is within them, and they…” once more. What does it show you about God? You do not have to finish every verse. You can close the book after the memory verse and still have read the Bible together.
Group game
Walk the room as if you are moving through Hosea 5. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Hosea 5:4. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Hosea 5 and write Hosea 5:4 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Hosea 5:4
“Their deeds won’t allow them to turn to their God; for the spirit of prostitution is within them, and they don’t know Yahweh.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Hosea 5. Help us remember Hosea 5:4 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.