Immerse: Kingdoms Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 205
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SAMUEL–KINGS
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oath of innocence in front of your altar in this Temple, then hear
from heaven and judge between your servants—the accuser and
the accused. Punish the guilty as they deserve. Acquit the innocent
because of their innocence.
“If your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they
have sinned against you, and if they turn to you and acknowledge your
name and pray to you here in this Temple, then hear from heaven and
forgive the sin of your people Israel and return them to this land you
gave their ancestors.
“If the skies are shut up and there is no rain because your people
have sinned against you, and if they pray toward this Temple and
acknowledge your name and turn from their sins because you have
punished them, then hear from heaven and forgive the sins of your
servants, your people Israel. Teach them to follow the right path, and
send rain on your land that you have given to your people as their
special possession.
“If there is a famine in the land or a plague or crop disease or attacks
of locusts or caterpillars, or if your people’s enemies are in the land
besieging their towns—whatever disaster or disease there is—and if
your people Israel pray about their troubles, raising their hands toward
this Temple, then hear from heaven where you live, and forgive. Give
your people what their actions deserve, for you alone know each
human heart. Then they will fear you as long as they live in the land
you gave to our ancestors.
“In the future, foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel
will hear of you. They will come from distant lands because of your
name, for they will hear of your great name and your strong hand and
your powerful arm. And when they pray toward this Temple, then hear
from heaven where you live, and grant what they ask of you. In this
way, all the people of the earth will come to know and fear you, just
as your own people Israel do. They, too, will know that this Temple
I have built honors your name.
“If your people go out where you send them to fight their enemies,
and if they pray to the Lord by turning toward this city you have
chosen and toward this Temple I have built to honor your name, then
hear their prayers from heaven and uphold their cause.
“If they sin against y ou—and who has never sinned?—you might
become angry with them and let their enemies conquer them and
take them captive to their land far away or near. But in that land of
exile, they might turn to you in repentance and pray, ‘We have sinned,
done evil, and acted wickedly.’ If they turn to you with their whole
heart and soul in the land of their enemies and pray toward the land