“Only don’t do two things to me; then I will not hide myself from your face:
Parallel translations
- KJV Only do not two things unto me: then will I not hide myself from thee.
- BSB Only grant these two things to me, so that I need not hide from You:
- NKJV “Onlytwo things do not do to me, Then I will not hide myself from You:
- NASB ¶“Only two things I ask that You do not do to me, Then I will not hide from Your face:
- NLT “O God, grant me these two things, and then I will be able to face you.
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
Job asks God for two conditions so he can speak freely. He seeks relief from fear before pleading his case.
Overview
Turning to God, Job requests two things so that he will not hide from God's face. He longs for an honest encounter but needs God to ease the terror and affliction that overwhelm him. The verse begins Job's direct petition, showing his desire to meet God openly rather than cower.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Gen 3:8–10They heard Yahweh God’s voice walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God among the trees of the garden.
- Rev 6:15–16The kings of the earth, the princes, the commanding officers, the rich, the strong, and every slave and free person, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains.
- Job 9:34–35Let him take his rod away from me. Let his terror not make me afraid;
- Ps 139:12even the darkness doesn’t hide from you, but the night shines as the day. The darkness is like light to you.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 13:20 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.