The Lord will give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, but your Teacher will no longer hide Himself—with your own eyes you will see Him.
Parallel translations
- WEB Though the Lord may give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers won’t be hidden any more, but your eyes will see your teachers;
- KJV And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:
- NKJV And though the Lord gives you The bread of adversity and the water of affliction, Yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, But your eyes shall see your teachers.
- NASB Although the Lord has given you bread of deprivation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher, will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will see your Teacher.
- NLT Though the Lord gave you adversity for food and suffering for drink, he will still be with you to teach you. You will see your teacher with your own eyes.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Though God gives bread of adversity and water of affliction, He will no longer hide their teachers from them. It matters because even in hardship God provides faithful guidance.
Overview
God acknowledges seasons of hardship—'bread of adversity'—yet promises that His teachers will be visible and accessible, no longer hidden. Affliction will not cut His people off from instruction. This reflects God's commitment to lead His people through trials, ultimately giving the great Teacher and the indwelling Spirit who guides into all truth.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- 1 Kgs 22:27and tell them that this is what the king says: ‘Put this man in prison and feed him only bread and water until I return safely.’”
- Ps 80:5You fed them with the bread of tears and made them drink the full measure of their tears.
- Amos 8:11–12Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord GOD, when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.
- Ps 127:2In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for bread to eat—for He gives sleep to His beloved.
- Acts 14:22strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. “We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.
- Ps 74:9There are no signs for us to see. There is no longer any prophet. And none of us knows how long this will last.
- Ps 102:9For I have eaten ashes like bread and mixed my drink with tears
- Deut 16:3You must not eat leavened bread with it; for seven days you are to eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left the land of Egypt in haste—so that you may remember for the rest of your life the day you left the land of Egypt.
- Ps 30:5For His anger is fleeting, but His favor lasts a lifetime. Weeping may stay the night, but joy comes in the morning.
- Eph 4:11And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,
- Ezek 4:13–17Then the LORD said, “This is how the Israelites will eat their defiled bread among the nations to which I will banish them.”
- Ezek 24:22–23Then you will do as I have done: You will not cover your lips or eat the bread of mourners.
- 2 Chr 18:26and tell them that this is what the king says: ‘Put this man in prison and feed him only bread and water until I return safely.’”
- Matt 9:38Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 30:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.