2 Chronicles 7:14

and if My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God addresses Solomon at the temple dedication, following a catalog of potential judgments including drought, locusts, and plague. The statement establishes the conditional sequence required when those judgments fall upon His people.

The words — The Hebrew וְ/יִכָּנְעוּ (ve./yi.ka.ne.'U) means "so they may humble themselves," and עֲלֵי/הֶם ('a.lei./Hem) translates to "on them," anchoring the required posture of submission. These terms structure the conditional clause that precedes the promised divine response.

The thread — The demand to examine one's conduct and return to God appears in Lamentations 3:40, which commands testing one's ways and turning back to the LORD. Isaiah 55:6 reinforces the urgency of seeking Him while He may be found, and James 4:9 applies the pattern by linking mourning and turning to God with divine attention.

Why it lands — The text requires a specific sequence: self-humiliation, prayer, seeking God's presence, and abandoning wicked behavior. It ties corporate repentance directly to divine forgiveness and restoration, demanding active obedience rather than passive expectation.

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

וְיִכָּנְע֨וּve./yi.ka.ne.'Uso/ they may humble themselves עַמִּ֜י'a.M/ipeople/ my אֲשֶׁ֧ר'a.Sherwhich נִֽקְרָא־nik.ra'-it has been called שְׁמִ֣יshe.M/iname/ my עֲלֵיהֶ֗ם'a.lei./Hemon/ them וְיִֽתְפַּֽלְלוּ֙ve./yit.pa.Luso/ they may pray וִֽיבַקְשׁ֣וּvi./vak.Shuand/ they may seek פָנַ֔יfa.Na/iface/ my וְיָשֻׁ֖בוּve./ya.Shu.vuso/ they may turn מִדַּרְכֵיהֶ֣םmi./dar.khei./Hemfrom/ ways/ their הָרָעִ֑יםha./ra.'Im<the>/ wicked וַאֲנִי֙va./'a.Niand/ I אֶשְׁמַ֣ע'esh.Ma'I will hear מִן־min-from הַשָּׁמַ֔יִםha./sha.Ma.yimthe/ heavens וְאֶסְלַח֙ve./'es.Lachso/ I may forgive לְחַטָּאתָ֔םle./cha.ta.Ta/m<to>/ sin/ their וְאֶרְפָּ֖אve./'er.Pa'so/ I may heal אֶת־'et-<obj.>אַרְצָֽם׃'ar.Tza/mland/ their

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

Lamentations 3:40 Let us examine and test our ways, and turn back to the LORD.
Isaiah 55:6 Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.
James 4:9 Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom.
Proverbs 28:13 He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
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,’
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.
Jeremiah 33:6 Nevertheless, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal its people and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.
2 Chronicles 33:12 And in his distress, Manasseh sought the favor of the LORD his God and earnestly humbled himself before the God of his fathers.
Ezekiel 33:11 Say to them: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’
2 Chronicles 6:27 then may You hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, so that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk. May You send rain on the land that You gave Your people as an inheritance.