Hosea 2:20

Easy-to-Read Version

I will make you my faithful bride. Then you will really know the Lord .

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
I will take you to be my wife in faithfulness,and you will know the Lord.

Hebrew Names Version
I will even betroth you to me in faithfulness; And you shall know the LORD.

King James Version
I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord .

English Standard Version
I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord .

New American Standard Bible
And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the LORD.

New Century Version
I will be true to you as my promised bride, and you will know the Lord .

Amplified Bible
"I will betroth you to Me in stability and in faithfulness. Then you will know (recognize, appreciate) the LORD [and respond with loving faithfulness].

Geneva Bible (1587)
I will euen marry thee vnto me in faithfulnes, and thou shalt knowe the Lord.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the LORD.

Legacy Standard Bible
And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.Then you will know Yahweh.

Berean Standard Bible
And I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will know the LORD."

Contemporary English Version
and faithfulness. Then you will truly know who I am.

Complete Jewish Bible
When that day comes, I will make a covenant for them with the wild animals, the birds in the air and the creeping things of the earth. I will break bow and sword, sweep battle from the land, and make them lie down securely.

Darby Translation
and I will betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know Jehovah.

George Lamsa Translation
So I will betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know the LORD.

Good News Translation
I will keep my promise and make you mine, and you will acknowledge me as Lord .

Lexham English Bible
I will take you as my wife in faithfulness, and you will know Yahweh.

Literal Translation
I will even betroth you to Me in faithfulness. And you shall know Jehovah.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
In faith also will I mary the vnto my self, & thou shalt knowe the LORDE.

American Standard Version
I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness; and thou shalt know Jehovah.

Bible in Basic English
I will take you as my bride in good faith, and you will have knowledge of the Lord.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
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 land, and will make them to lie down safely.

King James Version (1611)
I will euen betroth thee vnto me in faithfulnesse, and thou shalt know the Lord.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
In faythfulnesse also wyll I marry thee vnto my selfe, and thou shalt know the Lorde.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
and I will betroth thee to myself in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord.

English Revised Version
I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.

World English Bible
I will even betroth you to me in faithfulness; And you shall know Yahweh.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Y schal spouse thee to me in feith; and thou schalt wite, that Y am the Lord.

Update Bible Version
I will even betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know Yahweh.

Webster's Bible Translation
I will even betroth thee to me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.

New English Translation
I will commit myself to you in faithfulness; then you will acknowledge the Lord ."

New King James Version
I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, And you shall know the LORD.

New Living Translation
I will be faithful to you and make you mine, and you will finally know me as the Lord .

New Life Bible
I will keep My promise and make you Mine. Then you will know the Lord.

New Revised Standard
I will take you for my wife in faithfulness; and you shall know the Lord .

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Yea I will take thee unto myself, in faithfulness, - So shalt thou know Yahweh.

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

Revised Standard Version
I will betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know the LORD.

Young's Literal Translation
And betrothed thee to Me in faithfulness, And thou hast known Jehovah.

Contextual Overview

¹⁴ "So I, the Lord, will speak romantic words to her. I will lead her into the desert and speak tender words. ¹⁵ There I will give her vineyards. I will give her Achor Valley as a doorway of hope. Then she will answer as she did when she came out of the land of Egypt." ¹⁶ This is what the Lord says. "At that time you will call me ‘My husband.' You will not call me ‘My Baal.' ¹⁷ I will take the names of those false gods out of her mouth. Then people will not use those names again. ¹⁸ "At that time I will make an agreement for the Israelites with the animals of the field, the birds of the sky, and the crawling things on the ground. I will break the bow, the sword, and the weapons of war in that land. I will make the land safe, so the people of Israel can lie down in peace. ¹⁹ And I will make you my bride forever. I will make you my bride with goodness and justice and with love and mercy. ²⁰ I will make you my faithful bride. Then you will really know the Lord . ²¹ And at that time I will answer." This is what the Lord says. "I will speak to the skies, and they will give rain to the earth. ²² The earth will produce grain, wine, and oil, and they will meet Jezreel's needs. ²³ I will sow her many seeds on her land. To Lo-Ruhamah, I will show mercy. To Lo-Ammi, I will say, ‘You are my people.' And they will say to me, ‘You are our God.'"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

and: Jeremiah 9:24, Jeremiah 24:7, Jeremiah 31:33, Jeremiah 31:34, Ezekiel 38:23, Matthew 11:27, Luke 10:22, John 8:55, John 17:3, 2 Corinthians 4:6, Philippians 3:8, Colossians 1:10, 2 Timothy 1:12, Hebrews 8:11, 1 John 4:6, 1 John 5:20

Reciprocal: Song of Solomon 3:11 - in the day of his Song of Solomon 4:9 - my spouse Isaiah 11:5 - and faithfulness Isaiah 54:5 - thy Maker Isaiah 62:4 - Beulah Jeremiah 3:14 - for I am married Jeremiah 31:12 - wheat Jeremiah 32:41 - assuredly Ezekiel 16:60 - I will establish Ezekiel 36:11 - and ye Ezekiel 39:28 - shall they Hosea 6:3 - we know Romans 7:4 - that ye 1 Corinthians 10:13 - but 2 Corinthians 11:2 - I have Revelation 12:1 - a woman Revelation 19:7 - for

Cross-References

Genesis 2:18
Then the Lord God said, "I see that it is not good for the man to be alone. I will make the companion he needs, one just right for him."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness,.... Which lies in keeping the marriage contract inviolable; Christ will never suffer his faithfulness to fail, nor break his covenant; as he is faithful to his Father that appointed him, so he is, and will be, to his church and people, and to every believer, to whom he is espoused; and it is he that makes them faithful unto him, and gives them faith to believe in him, receive, embrace, own, and acknowledge him as their husband: and in this sense some understand it, rendering it, "in faith" z; so the Targum and others. This is the third time the word "betroth" is used, or this promise made; which, according to Jerome, refers to them espousing of the Jews in Abraham, at Mount Sinai, and in the times of Christ; and, according to Kimchi, to the three captivities of the Jews, in Egypt, in Babylon, and that in which they now are: and some Christian writers think the mystery of the Trinity is here pointed at; and the sense to be, that all the three divine Persons, Father, Son, and Spirit, would espouse them: but rather it is so often repeated to confirm it, and express the certainty of it, which might, on many accounts, seem a thing incredible.

And thou shall know the Lord; that the Messiah is Jehovah, and that he is their husband; they shall all know him, from the least to the greatest; they shall have a saving knowledge of him, which will issue in eternal life; they shall own him, and acknowledge him, serve and obey him, as their Lord, Head, and Husband, as well as love him, and believe in him. The Targum is,

"and ye shall know to fear before the Lord;''

see Jeremiah 31:34. Let it be observed, here are no conditions throughout, it is only "I will", and "thou shalt".

z באמונה "in fide", V. L. &c.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And thou shalt know the Lord - This knowledge of God follows on God’s act of betrothal and of love. “We love God, because God first loved us.” And the true knowledge of God includes the love of God. “To love man, we must know him: to know God, we must love Him.” To “acknowledge” God, is not yet to “know” Him. They who love not God, will not even acknowledge Him as He Is, “Supreme Wisdom and Goodness and Power, the Creator and Preserver; the Author of all which is good, the Governor of the world, Redeemer of man, the most bounteous Rewarder of those who serve Him, the most just retributor of those who persevere in rebellion against Him.” They who will not love God, cannot even “know” aright of God. But to “know God,” is something beyond this. It is to know by experience that God is good; and this God makes known to the soul which he loves, while it meditates on Him, reads of Him; speaks of Him, adores Him, obeys Him. “This knowledge cometh from the revelation of God the Father, and in it is true bliss. Whence, when Peter confessed Him to be the Son of man and Son of God, He said, “Blessed art thou, for Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven.” Yea, this knowledge is life eternal, as He said, “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent” John 17:3.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Hosea 2:20. In faithfulness — Thou shalt no more prostitute thyself to idols, but be faithful to him who calls himself thy husband.

Thou shalt know the Lord. — There shall be no more infidelity on thy part nor divorce on mine; and thou shalt experience me to be the sole, present, and eternal good of thy immortal spirit: and when this conviction is fully rooted, then there can be no more idolatry, for it shall be seen that an idol is nothing in the world.