Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 6:37
and when they come to their senses in the land to which they were taken, and they repent and plead with You in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong; we have acted wickedly,’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Solomon addresses God during the temple dedication, outlining a future contingency where exiled Israel turns back to Him. The words — וְהֵשִׁיבוּ (ve/heShivu) literally means "and they will bring back," while שָׁבוּ (Shavu) means "and they will repent." Both verbs stem from the root שׁוּב, indicating a deliberate return of the heart and actions to their original source. The thread — The sequence runs through the immediate context of 2 Chronicles 6:36 and 6:38, and aligns with the corporate confession in Daniel 9:5 and the restorative petition of Jeremiah 31:18. Isaiah 64:6 provides the theological baseline that all human righteousness falls short, necessitating this turning. Why it lands — It requires a reader to stop rationalizing failure, name specific sins, and actively redirect allegiance toward God. The verse frames repentance not as a feeling but as a concrete movement of the heart and speech toward the One who was wronged.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Yet if they bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly;
Cross-references
- Isaiah 64:6 Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.
- Jeremiah 31:18 I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me severely, like an untrained calf. Restore me, that I may return, for You are the LORD my God.
- Daniel 9:5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commandments and ordinances.
- Luke 15:17 Finally he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food, but here I am, starving to death!
- Leviticus 26:40 But if they will confess their iniquity and that of their fathers in the unfaithfulness that they practiced against Me, by which they have also walked in hostility toward Me—
- Deuteronomy 4:29 But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
- Deuteronomy 30:1 “When all these things come upon you—the blessings and curses I have set before you—and you call them to mind in all the nations to which the LORD your God has banished you,
- Ezra 9:6 and said: “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, because our iniquities are higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached the heavens.
- Nehemiah 1:6 let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to hear the prayer that I, Your servant, now pray before You day and night for Your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins that we Israelites have committed against You. Both I and my father’s house have sinned.
- Nehemiah 9:26 But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.