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Summary
- God can restore a broken marriage, and many couples have rebuilt theirs after betrayal and years of hurt.
- If a spouse hits, threatens or frightens you, your safety comes first: in the US call the National Domestic Violence Hotline on 1-800-799-7233, or 911 in an emergency.
- No church asks anyone to stay in an abusive marriage; the US Catholic bishops say that violence and abuse, not divorce, break up a marriage.
- Rebuilding starts when the harm stops, and goes on through honest truth-telling, real repentance, forgiveness and patient help from a pastor or counselor.
- Forgiveness can be given at once, but trust grows back slowly, in small promises kept day after day.
- After adultery, some churches allow divorce and the Catholic Church allows separation, but neither requires a betrayed spouse to leave, and many marriages recover.
- Through Hosea, God promised that the valley of trouble would become “a door of hope” (Hosea 2:15).
Bibliography (Click to show)
- The Holy Bible, King James Version (text from BibleGateway): Genesis 2:24; Joshua 7:24–26; Psalm 34:18; Proverbs 15:1, 15:22; Ecclesiastes 4:9–12; Lamentations 3:22–23; Hosea 2:14–15, 3:1–3; Joel 2:25; Malachi 2:14; Matthew 18:21–22, 19:3–9; Luke 16:10; Romans 12:18; 2 Corinthians 7:10; Galatians 6:9; Ephesians 4:25–32, 5:25–29; Colossians 3:12–14; James 1:19.
- National Domestic Violence Hotline, thehotline.org (phone and text numbers, checked 26 October 2026).
- United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, When I Call for Help: A Pastoral Response to Domestic Violence Against Women (revised edition, 2002).
- The Church of England, Responding Well to Domestic Abuse: Policy and Practice Guidance (2017).
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 2380–2384 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2nd edition, 1997).
- The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), chapter 24, “Of Marriage and Divorce”, as published by the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
- Retrouvaille International, retrouvaille.org (program description, checked 26 October 2026).
- Strong’s Hebrew dictionary and the Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon, entry H5911 (Achor), via Blue Letter Bible.
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