1 Kings 8:29Easy To Read VersionIn the past you said, ‘I will be honored there.’ So please watch this temple night and day. Please listen to the prayer that I pray to you at this temple. See the chapter |
At the time that Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, became king of Judah, he was 41 years old. Rehoboam ruled in the city of Jerusalem for 17 years. This is the city in which the Lord chose to be honored. He chose this city from all the other cities of Israel. Rehoboam’s mother was Naamah. She was an Ammonite.
‘I brought my people, Israel, out of Egypt. But I had not yet chosen a city from among the family groups of Israel for a temple to honor me. And I had not chosen a man to be leader over my people, Israel. But now I have chosen Jerusalem to be the city where I will be honored. And I have chosen David to rule over my people, Israel.’
The Lord said, “I forced the people of Israel to leave their land. I will do the same to Judah. I will take Judah out of my sight. I will not accept Jerusalem. Yes, I chose that city. I was talking about Jerusalem when I said, ‘My name will be there.’ But I will destroy the temple [309] that is in that place.”
Manasseh also made a statue of an idol and put it in God’s temple—the very same temple that God had talked about to David and his son Solomon. God had said, “I will put my name in this house and in Jerusalem—the city that I chose from \{all the cities in\} all the family groups—\{and my name will be there\} forever!
Please open your eyes and ears and listen to the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night. I am praying for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we people of Israel have done against you. I am confessing that I have sinned against you and that the other people in my father’s family have sinned against you.
Daniel always prayed to God three times every day. Three times every day, Daniel got down on his knees and prayed and praised God. When Daniel heard about the new law he went to his house. Daniel went up to his room on the roof of his house. Daniel went to the windows that opened toward Jerusalem. Then Daniel got down on his knees and prayed, like he always did.
Then the Lord will choose a place to be his special house. The Lord will put his name there. And you must bring all the things I command you to that place. Bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, one tenth of your crops and animals, [75] your special gifts, any gifts you promised to the Lord, and the first animals born in your herd and flock.