1Ki 8:46-53 | NET2full | STEP | “The time will come when your people will sin against you ( for there is no one who is sinless !) and you will be angry with them and deliver them over to their enemies , who will take them as prisoners to their own land , whether far away or close by .

‏ 1 Kings 8:46-53

46 “The time will come when your people ^{▼▼tn Heb “they”; the referent (your people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.} will sin against you (for there is no one who is sinless!) and you will be angry with them and deliver them over to their enemies, who will take them as prisoners to their own land, ^{▼▼tn Heb “the land of the enemy.”} whether far away or close by. 47 When your people ^{▼▼tn Heb “they”; the referent (your people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.} come to their senses ^{▼▼tn Or “stop and reflect”; Heb “bring back to their heart.”} in the land where they are held prisoner, they will repent and beg for your mercy in the land of their imprisonment, admitting, ‘We have sinned and gone astray; ^{▼▼tn Or “done wrong.”} we have done evil.’ 48 When they return to you with all their heart and being ^{▼▼tn Or “soul.”} in the land ^{▼▼tn Heb “in the land of their enemies.”} where they are held prisoner, and direct their prayers to you toward the land you gave to their ancestors, your chosen city, and the temple I built for your honor, ^{▼▼tn Heb “your name.” See the note on the word “reputation” in v. 41.} 49 then listen from your heavenly dwelling place to their prayers for help ^{▼▼tn Heb “their prayer and their request for help.”} and vindicate them. ^{▼▼tn Heb “and accomplish their justice.”} 50 Forgive all the rebellious acts of your sinful people and cause their captors to have mercy on them. ^{▼▼tn Heb “and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their rebellious acts by which they rebelled against you, and grant them mercy before their captors so they will show them mercy.”} 51 After all, ^{▼▼tn Or “for.”} they are your people and your special possession ^{▼▼tn Heb “inheritance.”} whom you brought out of Egypt, from the middle of the iron-smelting furnace. ^{▼▼tn The Hebrew term כּוּר (kur, “furnace,” cf. Akkadian kūru) is a metaphor for the intense heat of purification. A כּוּר was not a source of heat but a crucible (“iron-smelting furnace”) in which precious metals were melted down and their impurities burned away (see I. Cornelius, NIDOTTE 2:618-19). Thus Egypt served not as a place of punishment for the Israelites, but as a place of refinement to bring Israel to a place of submission to divine sovereignty.} ^{▼▼sn From the middle of the iron-smelting furnace. The metaphor of a furnace suggests fire and heat and is an apt image to remind the people of the suffering they endured while slaves in Egypt.}

52 “May you be attentive ^{▼▼tn Heb “May your eyes be open.”} to your servant’s and your people Israel’s requests for help and may you respond to all their prayers to you. ^{▼▼tn Heb “to listen to them in all their calling out to you.”} 53 After all, ^{▼▼tn Or “For.”} you picked them out of all the nations of the earth to be your special possession, ^{▼▼tn Heb “your inheritance.”} just as you, O Sovereign Lord, announced through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt.”