“If I shut up the sky so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to prayer that is made in this place.
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2 Chronicles 7:13-15 sits inside this longer paragraph.
“If I shut up the sky so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to prayer that is made in this place. For now I have chosen and made this house holy, that my name may be there forever; and my eyes and my heart will be there perpetually.
Parallel Translations
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“If I shut up the sky so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to prayer that is made in this place.
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If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.
Show all 3 translations
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If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people;
if My people, upon whom My name is called, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Now Mine eyes shall be open, and Mine ears attent, unto the prayer that is made in this place.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (45)
- Lamentations 3:40-41 (v14) Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to Yahweh. Let’s lift up our heart with our hands to God in the heavens.
- Isaiah 55:6-7 (v14) Seek Yahweh while he may be found. Call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let…
- James 4:9-10 (v14) Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he…
- Proverbs 28:13 (v14) He who conceals his sins doesn’t prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
- 2 Chronicles 6:37-39 (v14) yet if they come to their senses in the land where they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication to you in the land of…
Show all 45 cross-references
- Deuteronomy 4:29-30 (v14) But from there you shall seek Yahweh your God, and you shall find him when you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.…
- Jeremiah 33:6 (v14) ‘Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them; and I will reveal to them abundance of peace and truth.
- 2 Chronicles 33:12-13 (v14) When he was in distress, he begged Yahweh his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him; and he was…
- Ezekiel 33:11 (v14) Tell them, ‘ “As I live,” says the Lord Yahweh, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and…
- 2 Chronicles 6:27 (v14) then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants of your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should…
- Leviticus 26:40-41 (v14) “ ‘If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, in their trespass which they trespassed against me; and also that…
- Ezekiel 18:27-30 (v14) Again, when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he will save his…
- Jeremiah 8:22 (v14) Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then isn’t the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
- Isaiah 63:19 (v14) We have become like those over whom you never ruled, like those who were not called by your name.
- Deuteronomy 30:1-6 (v14) It shall happen, when all these things have come on you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you shall call them…
- Isaiah 59:20 (v14) “A Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from disobedience in Jacob,” says Yahweh.
- 2 Chronicles 6:30 (v14) then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive, and render to every man according to all his ways, whose heart you know (for you,…
- Isaiah 45:19 (v14) I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of darkness. I didn’t say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, Yahweh,…
- Acts 9:11 (v14) The Lord said to him, “Arise, and go to the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judah for one named Saul, a man of…
- Jeremiah 51:9 (v14) “We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. Forsake her, and let’s each go into his own country; for her judgment reaches to…
- 2 Chronicles 33:18-19 (v14) Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of Yahweh, the God…
- Psalms 60:2 (v14) You have made the land tremble. You have torn it. Mend its fractures, for it quakes.
- 1 Peter 3:12 (v15) For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears open to their prayer; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:26-28 (v13) “When the sky is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against you; if they pray toward this place, and confess your…
- 2 Chronicles 6:40 (v15) “Now, my God, let, I beg you, your eyes be open, and let your ears be attentive, to the prayer that is made in this place.
- Deuteronomy 11:17 (v13) and Yahweh’s anger be kindled against you, and he shut up the sky so that there is no rain, and the land doesn’t yield its fruit; and you…
- 2 Chronicles 6:20 (v15) that your eyes may be open toward this house day and night, even toward the place where you have said that you would put your name; to…
- Nehemiah 1:6 (v15) Let your ear now be attentive, and your eyes open, that you may listen to the prayer of your servant, which I pray before you at this time,…
- Revelation 11:6 (v13) These have the power to shut up the sky, that it may not rain during the days of their prophecy. They have power over the waters, to turn…
- Revelation 3:7 (v13) “To the angel of the assembly in Philadelphia write: “He who is holy, he who is true, he who has the key of David, he who opens and no one…
- Deuteronomy 11:12 (v15) a land which Yahweh your God cares for. Yahweh your God’s eyes are always on it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year.
- 2 Samuel 24:13-15 (v13) So Gad came to David, and told him, and said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months…
- Psalms 65:2 (v15) You who hear prayer, all men will come to you.
- Psalms 130:2 (v15) Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my petitions.
- Exodus 10:4-6 (v13) Or else, if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country, and they shall cover the surface of…
- Job 12:14 (v13) Behold, he breaks down, and it can’t be built again. He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.
- Ezekiel 14:19-21 (v13) “Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my wrath on it in blood, to cut off from it man and animal; though Noah, Daniel,…
- Joel 2:25 (v13) I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the great locust, the grasshopper, and the caterpillar, my great army,…
- Numbers 14:12 (v13) I will strike them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”
- Numbers 16:46-47 (v13) Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, put fire from the altar in it, lay incense on it, carry it quickly to the congregation, and make…
- Job 11:10 (v13) If he passes by, or confines, or convenes a court, then who can oppose him?
- Psalms 105:34 (v13) He spoke, and the locusts came with the grasshoppers, without number,
- Psalms 107:34 (v13) and a fruitful land into a salt waste, for the wickedness of those who dwell in it.
- Joel 1:4-7 (v13) What the swarming locust has left, the great locust has eaten. What the great locust has left, the grasshopper has eaten. What the…
- Luke 4:25 (v13) But truly I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up three years and six months, when a…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (12 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v14 I will cause the pestilence to cease and destroy…
I will cause the pestilence to cease and destroy the beasts that hurt the fruits of the earth, and send rain in due season.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv13–15 2Ch 7:13 If I shut up heaven that there…
2Ch 7:13 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;
Ver. 13. If I shut up heaven, &c.] In answer this is to that prayer of Solomon, 1Ki 8:35; 1Ki 8:37.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv13, 15 If I command the locusts, i.e. use my authority…
If I command the locusts, i.e. use my authority and power over them to cause them to do so. A metaphor elsewhere used in reference to unreasonable creatures, as 1Ki 17:4; Amo 9:3, who are not properly capable of a command, or of obedience.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv13, 15 Verse 13. Or if I send pestilence] "The angel…
Verse 13. Or if I send pestilence] "The angel of death." - Targum.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv13–15 2Ch 7:13. If I command the locusts to devour…
2Ch 7:13. If I command the locusts to devour the land — That is, use my authority and power over them to cause them to do so. A metaphor elsewhere used in reference to irrational animals, as 1Ki 17:4, Amo 9:3, which are not properly capable of receiving a command, or of paying obedience to it. Other national judgments are here supposed, such as famine, war, and the ravages of savage beasts.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v15 The prayer that is made in this place -…
The prayer that is made in this place - literally, as in the margin. The unsual phrase includes the two cases of prayers offered in 2Ch 6:24 and toward 2Ch 6:34, 2Ch 6:38 the sanctuary.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v14 Face, to appease me, that I may look down…
Face, to appease me, that I may look down upon them in mercy. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv13, 15 13. to devour the land] LXX. to devour the…
13. to devour the land] LXX. to devour the trees; cp. Exo_10:15; Joe_1:6-7.
13–15. These vv. have no parallel in 1 Kings.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv13–15 (13) If I shut up heaven that there be…
(13) If I shut up heaven that there be no rain.—Deu_11:17; 2Ch_6:26.
If.—Hçn, as in Jer_3:1; Isa_54:15.
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The locusts.—Hâgâb, a winged and edible species (Lev_11:22). In 2Ch_6:28, two other kinds, the ’arbeh and hâsîl, were mentioned.
If I send pestilence.—2Ch_6:28; 1 Chronicles 21
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On v13 Vers. 13-15. These three verses (the counterparts of (2Ch_6:26,…
Vers. 13-15. These three verses (the counterparts of (2Ch_6:26, 2Ch_6:28, 2Ch_6:40) are not in the parallel. Although we can scarcely trace the principle of their selection from the seven parts of the prayer, they would seem to have been selected from the original work, as samples of a reply which presumably embraced reference to all the seven. When, in ver. 14, it is said, I will heal their land, the telling expression, according to the Authorized Version, must be understood to refer to the removing of drought by rain. On the other hand, the Authorized Version is, in ver. 15, unfortunate in the unnecessary and misleading insertion of the italics found there, and in the use of the preposition "in" for of, the simple case construct, which is manifestly what is wanted and intended. It was not absolutely essential that prayer should be made in the place. How many references there are to prayer being made from a distance toward the place!
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v13 Suppose that I shut up the heavens so that…
Suppose that I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain
Here "heavens" refers to the sky, and is spoken of as if it were a building in which God stores the rain. See how you translated a similar phrase in 2 Chronicles 6:26. AT: "Suppose that I do not allow the rain to fall from the skies" (See: Metaphor)
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devour the land
The word "land" represents the plants and crops on the land. (See: Metonymy)
if I send disease among my people
Here "send disease" represents causing diseases. AT: "if I cause my people to have diseases" (See: Metaphor)
who are called by my name
Here being called by God's name is an idiom meaning belonging to God. AT: "who belong to me" (See: Idiom)
seek my face
Here God's face represents his acceptance of them. Possible meanings are "seek my face" represents 1) urgently asking him for forgiveness. AT: "beg me to forgive them" or 2) strongly wanting to please him. AT: "choose to please me" (See: Metaphor)
turn from their wicked ways
Here "turn from" is a metaphor meaning to stop doing something, and "ways" represent behavior. AT: "stop their wicked behavior" or "stop doing wicked things" (See: Metaphor)
heal their land
Here land that does not produce much is spoken of as though it were sick. AT: "make their land good again" or "make their land produce good crops" (See: Personification)
my eyes will be open
The eyes being open is a metonym for seeing. Here it represents looking attentively. AT: "I will pay attention to you" or "I will watch you" (See: Metonymy)
my ears attentive to the prayers
The ears being attentive is a metonym for listening attentively. AT: "I will listen to the prayers" (See: Metonymy)
the prayers that are made in this place
This can be expressed in active form. AT: "to the prayers that you make in this place" or "to you as you pray to me in this place" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
heaven
command
devour
people of God
call
name
humble
face
turn
evil
forgive
sin
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v13 7:13-15 These verses refer directly to Solomon’s prayer (see…
7:13-15 These verses refer directly to Solomon’s prayer (see 6:26, 28, 40). God outlined for Solomon the requirements for rescue from judgment. In Solomon’s prayer, each case had been addressed separately; in the Lord’s answer, the required response is developed more generally and comprehensively. The people need humility, repentance, seeking the Lord, and prayer in order to be healed from their distresses.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.