1 Kings 8:33–53

³³When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy,

because they have sinned against You, ⁱ

and they return to You and praise Your name,

and they pray and plead with You

for mercy in this temple,

³⁴may You hear in heaven

and forgive the sin of Your people Israel.

May You restore them to the land

You gave their ancestors. ^j

³⁵When the skies are shut and there is no rain,

because they have sinned against You, ^k

and they pray toward this place

and praise Your name,

and they turn from their sins

because You are afflicting them, ^l

³⁶may You hear in heaven

and forgive the sin of Your servants

and Your people Israel,

so that You may teach them the good way

they should walk in. ^m

May You send rain on Your land

that You gave Your people for an inheritance. ⁿ

³⁷When there is famine on the earth,

when there is pestilence,

when there is blight, mildew, locust, or grasshopper, ^o

when their enemy besieges them

in the region of their fortified cities, ^p

when there is any plague or illness,

³⁸whatever prayer or petition

anyone from Your people Israel might have—

each man knowing his own afflictions ^qr

and spreading out his hands toward this temple ^s—

³⁹may You hear in heaven, Your dwelling place,

and may You forgive, act, and repay the man,

according to all his ways, since You know his heart,

for You alone know every human heart, ^t

⁴⁰so that they may fear ^uYou

all the days they live on the land ^v

You gave our ancestors.

⁴¹Even for the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel

but has come from a distant land ^w

because of Your name—

⁴²for they will hear of Your great name,

mighty hand, ^xand outstretched arm,

and will come ^yand pray toward this temple—

⁴³may You hear in heaven, Your dwelling place,

and do according to all the foreigner asks You for.

Then all the people on earth will know ^zYour name,

to fear You as Your people Israel do

and know that this temple I have built

is called by Your name.

⁴⁴When Your people go out to fight against their enemies, ^a

wherever You send them,

and they pray to Yahweh

in the direction of the city You have chosen ^b

and the temple I have built for Your name,

⁴⁵may You hear their prayer and petition in heaven

and uphold their cause. ^c

⁴⁶When they sin against You—

for there is no one who does not sin ^d—

and You are angry with them

and hand them over to the enemy,

and their captors deport them to the enemy’s country ^e—

whether distant or nearby—

⁴⁷and when they come to their senses ^f

in the land where they were deported

and repent and petition You in their captors’ land:

“We have sinned and done wrong;

we have been wicked,” ^g

⁴⁸and when they return to You with their whole mind and heart

in the land of their enemies who took them captive, ^h

and when they pray to You in the direction of their land

that You gave their ancestors,

the city You have chosen, ⁱ

and the temple I have built for Your name,

⁴⁹may You hear in heaven, Your dwelling place,

their prayer and petition and uphold their cause.

⁵⁰May You forgive Your people

who sinned against You

and all their rebellions ^jagainst You,

and may You give them compassion

in the eyes of their captors,

so that they may be compassionate to them. ^k

⁵¹For they are Your people and Your inheritance; ^l

You brought them out of Egypt,

out of the middle of an iron furnace. ^m

⁵²May Your eyes be open to Your servant’s petition

and to the petition of Your people Israel,

listening to them whenever they call to You.

⁵³For You, Lord God, have set them apart as Your inheritance

from all the people on earth,

as You spoke through Your servant Moses

when You brought their ancestors out of Egypt. ⁿ