1 Kings 3:14 (DRB)

Passage

And if thou wilt walk in my ways, and keep my precepts and my commandments, as thy father walked, I will lengthen thy days.

Nearby Context

1 Kings 3:12 Behold I have done for thee according to thy words, and have given thee a wise and understanding heart, in so much that there hath been no one like thee before thee, nor shall arise after thee.

1 Kings 3:13 Yea, and the things also which thou didst not ask, I have given thee; to wit, riches and glory: so that no one hath been like thee among the kings in all days heretofore.

1 Kings 3:14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, and keep my precepts and my commandments, as thy father walked, I will lengthen thy days.

1 Kings 3:15 And Solomon awaked, and perceived that it was a dream: and when he was come to Jerusalem, he stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered holocausts, and sacrificed victims of peace offerings, and made a great feast for all his servants.

1 Kings 3:16 Then there came two women that were harlots, to the king, and stood before him.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thou", "wilt", "walk", "ways", "keep", "precepts", "commandments", and "father". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thou" and "wilt", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 13's "Yea and the things also which thou..." into verse 15's "And Solomon awaked and perceived that it...", so "thou" and "wilt" 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 "thou" and "wilt" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.