1 Kings 9:1-9

Expanded Bible

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.’”