Teach me what I cannot see; if I have done wrong, I will not do it again.’
Parallel translations
- WEB Teach me that which I don’t see. If I have done iniquity, I will do it no more’?
- KJV That which I see not teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, I will do no more.
- NKJV Teach me what I do not see; If I have done iniquity, I will do no more’?
- NASB Teach me what I do not see; If I have done wrong, I will not do it again’?
- NLT Or ‘I don’t know what evil I have done—tell me. If I have done wrong, I will stop at once’?
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
The penitent also prays, 'Teach me what I cannot see; if I have sinned, I will stop.' Genuine repentance welcomes correction and instruction.
Overview
Continuing the model of true contrition, Elihu describes one who asks God to reveal hidden faults and pledges to forsake iniquity. This humility before God's teaching contrasts with self-justification. It echoes the psalmist's prayer to be searched and cleansed of hidden faults (Ps. 19:12; 139:23-24), a teachable heart that the Spirit works in those united to Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ps 32:8I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will give you counsel and watch over you.
- Ps 19:12Who can discern his own errors? Cleanse me from my hidden faults.
- Ps 139:23–24Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.
- Ps 25:4–5Show me Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths.
- Ps 143:8–10Let me hear Your loving devotion in the morning, for I have put my trust in You. Teach me the way I should walk, for to You I lift up my soul.
- Prov 28:13He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
- Job 10:2I will say to God: Do not condemn me! Let me know why You prosecute me.
- Job 35:11who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the air?’
- Luke 3:8–14Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
- Eph 4:22to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
- Eph 4:25–28Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one another.
- Job 33:27Then he sings before men with these words: ‘I have sinned and perverted what was right; yet I did not get what I deserved.
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 34:32 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.