2 Chronicles 7:11–22

The Lord Answers Solomon’s Prayer—1 Kings 9:1–9

¹¹Solomon finished the Lord’s temple and the royal palace and completed everything he had in mind for the Lord’s temple and his own palace. ¹²Then the Lord appeared to him at night. He said to Solomon, 

“I have heard your prayer 

and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices. 

¹³I may shut the sky so that there is no rain, 

or command grasshoppers to devour the countryside, 

or send an epidemic among my people. 

¹⁴However, if my people, who are called by my name, 

will humble themselves, 

pray, search for me, and turn from their evil ways, 

then I will hear ⸤their prayer⸥ from heaven, forgive their sins, 

and heal their country. 

¹⁵My eyes will be open, 

and my ears will pay attention to those prayers at this place. 

¹⁶I have chosen and declared this temple holy 

so that my name may be placed there forever. 

My eyes and my heart will always be there. 

¹⁷“If you will be faithful to me as your father David was, 

do everything I command, 

and obey my laws and rules, 

¹⁸then I will establish your royal dynasty 

as I said in a promise to your father David, 

‘You will never fail to have an heir ruling Israel.’ 

¹⁹But if you and your descendants turn away from me 

and abandon my commands and laws that I gave you, 

and follow and serve other gods and worship them, 

²⁰then I will uproot Israel from the land I gave them. 

I will reject this temple that I declared holy for my name. 

I will make it an example 

and an object of ridicule for all the people of the world. 

²¹Everyone passing by this impressive temple will be appalled. 

They will ask, 

‘Why did the Lord do these things to this land and this temple?’ 

²²They will answer ⸤themselves⸥, 

‘They abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors, 

who brought them out of Egypt. 

They adopted other gods, worshiped, and served them. 

That is why he brought this disaster on them.’ ”