Hosea 2:20 (YLT)

Passage

And betrothed thee to Me in faithfulness, And thou hast known Jehovah.

Nearby Context

Hosea 2:18 And I have made to them a covenant in that day, with the beast of the field, And with the fowl of the heavens, And the creeping thing of the ground, And bow, and sword, and war I break from off the land, And have caused them to lie down confidently.

Hosea 2:19 And I have betrothed thee to Me to the age, And betrothed thee to Me in righteousness, And in judgment, and kindness, and mercies,

Hosea 2:20 And betrothed thee to Me in faithfulness, And thou hast known Jehovah.

Hosea 2:21 And it hath come to pass in that day, I answer--an affirmation of Jehovah, I answer the heavens, and they answer the earth.

Hosea 2:22 And the earth doth answer the corn, And the new wine, and the oil, And they answer Jezreel.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "faith", "betrothed", "thee", "faithfulness", "thou", "hast", "known", and "jehovah". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "faith" and "betrothed", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 19's "And I have betrothed thee to Me..." into verse 21's "And it hath come to pass in...", so "faith" and "betrothed" 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 "betrothed" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.