1 Kings 8:32 (ASV)

Passage

then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his own head, and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

Nearby Context

1 Kings 8:30 And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: yea, hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place; and when thou hearest, forgive.

1 Kings 8:31 If a man sin against his neighbor, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and he come [and] swear before thine altar in this house;

1 Kings 8:32 then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his own head, and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

1 Kings 8:33 When thy people Israel are smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee; if they turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication unto thee in this house:

1 Kings 8:34 then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "condemn", "hear", "thou", "heaven", "judge", "servants", "condemning", and "wicked". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "condemn" and "hear", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 31's "If a man sin against his neighbor..." into verse 33's "When thy people Israel are smitten down...", so "condemn" and "hear" 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 "condemn" and "hear" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.