Hosea’s task made him afraid
To love a wife who had betrayed
A faithful husband like the Lord
Whose love is like a three-fold cord
Now Joel saw the locusts swarm
And called the people to reform
The Lord accepts a broken heart
Repent and let the Lord restart
Amos heard the Lion’s roar
His trembling soul could not ignore
The heart-quake and the earthquake’s shock
And so the shepherd left his flock
Hear this you stubborn, wayward race
I bought your freedom from disgrace
But you forgot my covenant
You did not grieve, nor raise lament
Oh, Israel, what you do not know
Is how to live, your love to show
Your shame is written in the books
The foe will come with crooks and hooks
And through the ruins, by the breach
Your road will lie beyond the reach
Of any of your lifeless bulls
The worship of you stupid fools
I sent my promised punishments
You did not heed my covenant
Famine, drought and mildew came
You did not turn, nor call my name
You fell from grace, defiled the land
Your fields are turned to ash and sand
Your strength has gone, your armies bled
Your mighty ones have turned and fled
Oh come and find me, Joseph’s spawn
Forsake the night, await the dawn
For he who sets the stars in place
And reigns in glory, in his grace
Controls the seas and marks the land
Who rides the clouds, by whose command
A city stands or falls by sword
I sit enthroned, I am the Lord!
Do not despise the poor who groan
And bring their case before my throne
I hear their cries, I feel the rod
I sense their pain where you have trod
Seek good, not evil, come and live
For from my hand I freely give
My endless love on those who weep
Those who return my laws to keep
But on the ones who steal and speak
Oppression on the poor and weak
My wrath will burn, my judgment fair
Upon their heads I will declare
You do not know for what you seek,
The day the Lord shall save the weak
For on that day when I shall come
There’ll be no place to hide or run
Your solemn offerings I despise
Your noisy, sordid sacrifice
Your sacred gifts I cannot stand
Your music and that worship band
You do not know the day draws near
When terror stalks and holy fear
Will bring your feasting to an end
And you to exile I will send
The Lord renewed the prophet’s call
He stood beside a well-built wall
A plumb-line showed the wall was true
But Israel’s crooked through and through
The Sovereign Lord called to my eyes
A tray of fruit which signifies
The time is ripe for Israel’s crimes
To come before the Lord sublime
The One who summons Pleiades
The One who stills the raging seas
The One who sets the earth aright
The One who sees in dark and light
The One who gives the nations space
The One who rules the world in grace
He is the Lord that is his name
Before him none can stake a claim.
Seek me and live, my people turn!
Come find me and my ways relearn
Forsake your gods of wood and stone
We’ll build a city for your home
Your gardens’ fruit will satisfy
Your every need and there will I
Ensure your peace and drink the wine
For I am yours and you are mine
To Edom Obadiah preached
Don’t gloat when Jacob’s walls are breached
An eagle soaring very high
Is not beyond my piercing eye
Now Micah showed us what is good
To act in justice as we should
Let mercy be our greatest love
And humbly walk with God above
And Nahum knew the Lord is kind
To those who trust with heart and mind
But with an overwhelming spate
The Ninevites will meet their fate
Then Habakkuk came to complain
And asked the Lord to please explain
Just why the wicked nations reign
And why God’s people are in pain
And Zephaniah’s chapters few
Are like Isaiah in review
The great day of the Lord is near
A day of judgment, holy fear
The set completes with Malachi
With many questions – How? What? Why?
Before I judge the human race
I’ll send a messenger of grace
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