Bible Strands
Isaiah 30:20
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet addresses the people of Zion and Jerusalem, marking the moment God shifts from withholding immediate deliverance to promising direct presence after their cries for help. This declaration bridges the assurance of answered prayer in verse 19 and the promise of clear auditory guidance in verse 21.
The words — The compound phrase לֶחֶם צָר (lechem tzar) literally renders "bread of distress," paired with מַיִם לָחַץ (mayim lachatz) for "water of oppression," while the verb יִכָּנֵף (yi.ka.Nef) denotes a definitive end to divine concealment.
The thread — The motif of punitive sustenance runs through 1 Kings 22:27 and Amos 8:11, while the theme of God's sorrowful provision parallels Psalm 80:5.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to accept that God's disciplinary provision establishes the necessary condition for His unveiled presence and direct instruction.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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:
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 22:27 and 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.’”
- Psalms 80:5 You fed them with the bread of tears and made them drink the full measure of their tears.
- Amos 8:11 Behold, 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.
- Psalms 127:2 In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for bread to eat—for He gives sleep to His beloved.
- Acts 14:22 strengthening 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.
- Psalms 74:9 There are no signs for us to see. There is no longer any prophet. And none of us knows how long this will last.
- Deuteronomy 16:3 You 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.
- Psalms 30:5 For His anger is fleeting, but His favor lasts a lifetime. Weeping may stay the night, but joy comes in the morning.
- Psalms 102:9 For I have eaten ashes like bread and mixed my drink with tears
- Ezekiel 4:13 Then the LORD said, “This is how the Israelites will eat their defiled bread among the nations to which I will banish them.”