Solomon’s Prayer at the Dedication of the Temple
1 Kings 8 46 "If they sin against you[1]-- for there is no one who does not sin-- and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near; 47 yet if they come to their senses in the land to which they have been taken captive, and repent, and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, 'We have sinned, and have done wrong; we have acted wickedly'; 48if they repent with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies, who took them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their ancestors, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name; 49 then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, maintain their cause 50 and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you; and grant them compassion in the sight of their captors, so that they may have compassion on them 51 (for they are your people[2] and heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron-smelter). 52 Let your eyes be open to the plea of your servant (=Solomon), and to the plea of your people Israel, listening to them whenever they call to you. 53 For you have separated them from among all the peoples of the earth, to be your heritage (election), just as you promised through Moses, your servant, when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, O Lord Yahweh."
A Sermon on the Fall of the North
2 Kings 17 7 This [= the Assyrian capture of Samaria in 722 BCE] occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against Yahweh their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods 8 and walked in the customs of the nations whom Yahweh drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs that the kings of Israel had introduced. 9 The people of Israel secretly did things that were not right against Yahweh their God. They built for themselves high places at all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city; 10 they set up for themselves pillars(cf. Jacob!) and sacred poles (Asherim) on every high hill and under every green tree; 11 there they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom Yahweh carried away before them. They did wicked things, provoking Yahweh to anger; 12 they served idols, of which Yahweh had said to them, "You shall not do this." 13 Yet Yahweh warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, "Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the law(torah) that I commanded your ancestors and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets." 14 They would not listen but were stubborn, as their ancestors had been, who did not believe in Yahweh their God. 15 They despised his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their ancestors, and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false(hebel) idols and became false; they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom Yahweh had commanded them that they should not do as they did. 16 They rejected all the commandments of Yahweh their God and made for themselves cast images of two calves(1 Kings 12 and often); they made a sacred pole, worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. 17 They made their sons and their daughters pass through fire(child sacrifice); they used divination and augury; and they sold themselves to do evil in the sight of Yahweh, provoking him to anger. 18 Therefore Yahweh was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight; none was left but the tribe of Judah alone.
19Judah also did not keep the commandments of Yahweh their God but walked in the customs that Israel had introduced. 20Yahweh rejected all the descendants of Israel; he punished them and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until he had banished them from his presence.
21 When he (Yahweh; or had Israel rebelled?) had torn Israel from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king. Jeroboam drove Israel from following Yahweh and made them commit great sin. 22 The people of Israel continued in all the sins that Jeroboam committed; they did not depart from them 23 until Yahweh removed Israel out of his sight, as he had foretold through all his servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day.
Thanslation: NRSV (highlighting, glossing, and inclusion of the divine name Yahweh by Ralph W. Klein)
February 17, 2008
[1] This is the seventh petition dealing with the need for repentance. Previous petitions had dealt with sins against the neighbor (31-32), sins against Yahweh, leading to battlefield defeat (33-34), sins against Yahweh, leading to drought (35-36), famine (37-40), a foreigner who would come to pray (41-43), and a battlefield prayer (44-45).
[2] Cf. the covenant formula: I am your God; you are my people.