Hosea 2:19–20

God tells his people: I will betroth you to me forever, in faithfulness

¹⁹And I will betroth you to me forever; and I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, and in loyal love and in compassion.
²⁰And I will betroth you to me in faithfulness, and you will know YHWH.

Study it word by word

In its context

¹⁷And I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they will no longer be remembered by their name.

¹⁸And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the animals of the field, and with the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground; and bow and sword and war I will break from the land, and I will make them lie down in safety.

…

²¹And it will happen on that day that I will respond, declares YHWH; I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth;

²²and the earth will respond to the grain and to the new wine and to the oil, and they will respond to Jezreel.

Read all of Hosea 2

Its words in the original

אֵרַשְׂתִּיerasti· betroth
Betroth: a firm agreement made before the wedding.
עוֹלָםolam· forever, eternal
A very long time whose end cannot be seen: looking forward, "forever"; looking back, "of old", "ancient".
צֶדֶקtsedek· righteousness, what is right
Righteousness: what is right, what is as it should be; just (weights, judgment).
מִשְׁפָּטmishpat· justice, judgment
What is right and the decision that establishes it: the judgment of a judge, someone's right, a rule or ordinance, a custom. "Do righteousness and justice" is to treat each one as is due.
חֶסֶדchesed· loyal love
"Chesed": love that stays faithful to a commitment. It is kindness that does not remain a feeling: it acts in favor of the other and does not abandon him. The Bible says it above all of God's love for his people.
רַחֲמִיםrachamim· compassion
Deep compassion, tender mercy like that of a mother; also the womb.
אֱמוּנָהemuna· faithfulness, steadiness
Steadiness; from there faithfulness, being trustworthy.
יָדַעַתְּyadaat· know
Know. Not only having a fact: it is knowing by experience and closely; also recognize, care for, make known. So Hebrew also uses it for the intimate union of a man and his wife ("he knew his wife").
יְהוָהyehva· YHWH
The personal name of the God of Israel, written in Hebrew with four letters, Y-H-W-H, without vowels. Out of reverence Jews stopped pronouncing it and read "Adonai" (Lord), so many Bibles put "the LORD" or "Jehovah". This translation keeps the four letters. The name is related to the verb "to be" (Exodus 3:14-15). He is not a god other than Elohim: "YHWH Elohim" is the same Creator God, called by his name.

Faithfulness