1 Kings 8:38 (KJV)

Passage

What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house:

Nearby Context

1 Kings 8:36 Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.

1 Kings 8:37 If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpiller; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be;

1 Kings 8:38 What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house:

1 Kings 8:39 Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;)

1 Kings 8:40 That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "prayer", "supplication", "soever", "people", "israel", "shall", "plague", and "heart". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "prayer" and "supplication", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 37's "If there be in the land famine..." into verse 39's "Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling...", so "prayer" and "supplication" belong inside that flow. In 1 Kings context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "prayer" and "supplication" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.