The Lord Appears to Solomon^(A)

¹¹ Solomon finished the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord and his royal ·palace [^Lhouse]. He had success in ·doing [completing; accomplishing] everything he planned in the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord and his own ·palace [^Lhouse]. ¹² Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself to be a ·Temple [^Lhouse] ·for [of] sacrifices.

¹³ “·I may [^LIf I…] ·stop the sky [shut the heavens] from sending rain. ·I may [^L…or if I…] command the locusts to ·destroy [devour] the land. ·I may [^L…or if I…] send ·sicknesses [plague; pestilence] to my people. ¹⁴ Then if my people, who ·are called by my name [belong to me], will humble themselves, if they will pray and seek ·me [^Lmy face] and stop their evil ways, I will hear them from heaven. I will forgive their sin, and I will ·heal [restore] their land. ¹⁵ Now ·I will see them, and I will listen [my eyes will be open and my ears attentive; 6:40] to the prayers prayed in this place. ¹⁶ I have chosen this ·Temple [^Lhouse] and ·made it holy [consecrated/purified/sanctified it]. So ·I will be worshiped [^Lmy name will be] there forever. Yes, ·I will always watch over it and love it [^Lmy eyes and my heart will be there forever].

¹⁷ “But you must ·serve [^Lwalk before] me as your father David did. You must ·obey [do] all I have commanded and keep my laws and rules. ¹⁸ If you do, I will ·make your kingdom strong [secure/establish your throne/dynasty]. This is the ·agreement [covenant; treaty] I made with your father David, saying, ‘·Someone from your family will always [You will not fail to have a successor to] rule in Israel [17:10–14; 2 Sam. 7:11–16].’

¹⁹ “But ·you must follow me and obey the [if any of you turn away from me and abandon/forsake my…] laws and commands I have given you, and you must not serve or worship other gods. ²⁰ If you do, I will ·take the Israelites out of [^Luproot you from] my land, the land I have given ·you [^Lthem], and I will ·leave [reject; disown; abandon] this ·Temple [^Lhouse] that I have ·made holy [^Lconsecrated/purified/sanctified for my name]. All the nations will ·make fun of [mock] it and ·speak evil about [ridicule] it. ²¹ This ·Temple [^Lhouse] is ·honored [exalted] now, but then, everyone who passes by will be ·shocked [appalled]. They will ask, ‘Why did the Lord do this terrible thing to this land and this ·Temple [^Lhouse]?’ ²² People will answer, ‘This happened because they ·left [abandoned; forsook] the Lord, the God of their ·ancestors [fathers], the God who brought them out of Egypt. They ·decided to follow [embraced; adopted] other gods and worshiped and served them, so he brought all this ·disaster [calamity] on them.’”

The Lord Appears to Solomon Again^(A)

9 Solomon finished building the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord and ·his royal palace [^Lthe king’s house] and everything he wanted to build. ² Then the Lord appeared to him ·again [^La second time] just as he had done before, in Gibeon. ³ The Lord said to him: “I have heard your prayer and ·what you have asked me to do [^Lpleas/requests/supplications that you made before me]. I have ·made this Temple holy [^Lconsecrated this house] that you built, and I ·will be worshiped there [^Lhave put my name there] forever. ·I will watch over it and protect it always [^LMy eyes and my heart will be there all the days].

⁴ “But you must ·serve [walk before; follow] me as your father David did; ·he was fair and sincere […with integrity of heart and godliness/uprightness]. You must obey all I have commanded and keep my ·laws [statutes; decrees] and ·rules [regulations; judgments]. ⁵ If you do, I will ·make your kingdom strong [^Lestablish the throne of your kingdom]. This is the promise I made to your father David—·that someone from his family would always rule [you will never lack a man/successor on the throne of] Israel [2 Sam. 7:16].

⁶ “But if you and your children do not follow me and obey the laws and ·commands [decrees] I have given you, and if you serve ·or [and] worship other gods, ⁷ I will ·force Israel to leave [banish/^Lcut off Israel from] the land I have given them, and I will ·leave [reject; disown; remove from my sight] this ·Temple [^Lhouse] that I have ·made holy [^Lconsecrated for my name]. ·All the nations will make fun of Israel and speak evil about them [^LIsrael will become a byword/proverb among the nations/peoples]. ⁸ If the ·Temple is destroyed [^Lhouse becomes a heap of rubble], everyone who passes by will be ·shocked [astonished; appalled]. They will ·make fun of you [scoff; hiss] and ask, ‘Why did the Lord do this terrible thing to this land and this ·Temple [^Lhouse]?’ ⁹ People will answer, ‘This happened because they ·left [abandoned; deserted; forsook] the Lord their God. This was the God who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, but they ·decided to follow [embraced; adopted] other gods. They worshiped and served those gods, so the Lord brought all this ·disaster [adversity; calamity] on them.’”