1 Kings 8:35 (DRB)

Passage

If heaven shall be shut up, and there shall be no rain, because of their sins, and they, praying in this place, shall do penance to thy name, and shall be converted from their sins, by occasion of their afflictions:

Nearby Context

1 Kings 8:33 If thy people Israel shall fly before their enemies (because they will sin against thee) and doing penance, and confessing to thy name, shall come and pray, and make supplications to thee in this house:

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

1 Kings 8:35 If heaven shall be shut up, and there shall be no rain, because of their sins, and they, praying in this place, shall do penance to thy name, and shall be converted from their sins, by occasion of their afflictions:

1 Kings 8:36 Then hear thou them in heaven, and forgive the sins of thy servants, and of thy people Israel: and shew them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people in possession.

1 Kings 8:37 If a famine arise in the land, or a pestilence, or corrupt air, or blasting, or locust, or mildew; if their enemy afflict them, besieging the gates, whatsoever plague, whatsoever infirmity,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "heaven", "shall", "shut", "rain", "sins", "praying", and "place". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "heaven" and "shall", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 34's "Then hear thou in heaven and forgive..." into verse 36's "Then hear thou them in heaven and...", so "heaven" and "shall" 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 "heaven" and "shall" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.