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26 “The time will come when[a] the skies[b] are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people[c] sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you,[d] and turn away from their sin because you punish[e] them, 27 then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Certainly[f] you will then teach them the right way to live[g] and send rain on your land that you have given your people to possess.[h]

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 6:26 tn Heb “when.” In the Hebrew text vv. 26-27a actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided into two sentences for stylistic reasons.
  2. 2 Chronicles 6:26 tn Or “heavens” (also in v. 12). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
  3. 2 Chronicles 6:26 tn Heb “they.”
  4. 2 Chronicles 6:26 tn Heb “confess [or perhaps, “praise”] your name.”
  5. 2 Chronicles 6:26 tn The Hebrew text reads “because you answer them,” as if the verb is from עָנָה (ʿanah, “answer”). However, this reference to a divine answer is premature, since the next verse asks for God to intervene in mercy. It is better to revocalize the consonantal text as תְעַנֵּם (teʿannem, “you afflict them”), a Piel verb form from the homonym עָנָה (“afflict”).
  6. 2 Chronicles 6:27 tn The present translation understands כִּי (ki) in an emphatic or asseverative sense (“Certainly”). Other translations have “indeed” (NASB), “when” (NRSV), “so” (NEB), or leave the word untranslated (NIV).
  7. 2 Chronicles 6:27 tn Heb “the good way in which they should walk.”
  8. 2 Chronicles 6:27 tn Or “for an inheritance.”

26 “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain(A) because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, 27 then hear from heaven and forgive(B) the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.

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