The Lord Gives Solomon a Promise and a Warning

7:11 After Solomon finished building the Lord’s temple and the royal palace, and accomplished all his plans for the Lord’s temple and his royal palace,12 7:12 the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him: “I have answered13 your prayer and chosen this place to be my temple where sacrifices are to be made.14 7:13 When15 I close up the sky16 so that it doesn’t rain, or command locusts to devour the land’s vegetation,17 or send a plague among my people, 7:14 if my people, who belong to me,18 humble themselves, pray, seek to please me,19 and repudiate their sinful practices,20 then I will respond21 from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.22 7:15 Now I will be attentive and responsive to the prayers offered in this place.23 7:16 Now I have chosen and consecrated this temple by making it my permanent home;24 I will be constantly present there.25 7:17 You must serve me as your father David did. Do everything I commanded and obey my rules and regulations.26 7:18 Then I will establish your dynasty,27 just as I promised your father David, ‘You will not fail to have a successor ruling over Israel.’28

7:19 “But if you people29 ever turn away from me, fail to obey the regulations and rules I instructed you to keep,30 and decide to serve and worship other gods,31 7:20 then I will remove you32 from my land I have given you,33 I will abandon this temple I have consecrated with my presence,34 and I will make you35 an object of mockery and ridicule36 among all the nations. 7:21 As for this temple, which was once majestic,37 everyone who passes by it will be shocked and say, ‘Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?’ 7:22 Others will then answer,38 ‘Because they abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors,39 who led them out of Egypt. They embraced other gods whom they worshiped and served.40 That is why he brought all this disaster down on them.’ ”