1 Kings 9:1-9

The Lord appears again to Solomon

1 Solomon had finished building the Lord's temple and the king's palace. He had built everything that he had wanted to build. 2 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 The Lord said to Solomon,

‘I have heard your prayer and how you have asked me to help you. I have made this temple that you have built a special place for me. People will worship me there for ever. I will always be there to watch over it.

4 You must continue to serve me honestly and obey me, as your father David did. Do everything that I have commanded you to do. Obey my rules and my laws.

5 If you serve me truly, I will cause one of your descendants to rule over Israel as king for all time. That is what I promised to your father David when I said, “There will always be someone from your family to rule Israel as king.” 6 But if you or your descendants turn away from me, I will punish your people. I will do that if you do not obey the laws and rules that I have given to you. I will do it if you choose to serve and to worship other gods. 7 Then I will remove the Israelite people from the land that I have given to them. I will turn away from this temple that I have made a special place for people to worship me. People from all the other nations will insult the Israelites and they will laugh at them. 8 This temple will became a heap of stones. Everyone who sees it will be very surprised. They will laugh about it! They will ask, “Why has the Lord destroyed this land and this temple?” 9 People will answer, “He has done it because they have turned away from the Lord their God. He brought their ancestors out of Egypt. But they have chosen to worship other gods and to serve them. That is why the Lord has caused this trouble to happen to them.” ’