Hosea 2:20 (DRB)

Passage

And I will espouse thee to me in faith: and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.

Nearby Context

Hosea 2:18 And in that day I will make a covenant with them, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of the air, and with the creeping things of the earth: and I will destroy the bow, and the sword, and war out of the land: and I will make them sleep secure.

Hosea 2:19 And I will espouse thee to me for ever: and I will espouse thee to me in justice, and judgment, and in mercy, and in commiserations.

Hosea 2:20 And I will espouse thee to me in faith: and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.

Hosea 2:21 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.

Hosea 2:22 And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil, and these shall hear Jezrahel.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "faith", "espouse", "thee", "thou", "shalt", and "lord". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "faith" and "espouse", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 19's "And I will espouse thee to me..." into verse 21's "And it shall come to pass in...", so "faith" and "espouse" belong inside that flow. In Hosea context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "faith" and "espouse" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.