2 Chronicles 7:13 (DRB)

Passage

If I shut up heaven, and there fall no rain, or if I give orders, and command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people:

Nearby Context

2 Chronicles 7:11 And Solomon finished the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all that he had designed in his heart to do, in the house of the Lord, and in his own house, and he prospered.

2 Chronicles 7:12 And the Lord appeared to him by night, and said: I have heard thy prayer, and I have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice.

2 Chronicles 7:13 If I shut up heaven, and there fall no rain, or if I give orders, and command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people:

2 Chronicles 7:14 And my people, upon whom my name is called, being converted, shall make supplication to me, and seek out my face, and do penance for their most wicked ways: then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins and will heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:15 My eyes also shall be open, and my ears attentive to the prayer of him that shall pray in this place.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "shut", "heaven", "fall", "rain", "give", "orders", "command", and "locust". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shut" and "heaven", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 12's "And the Lord appeared to him by..." into verse 14's "And my people upon whom my name...", so "shut" and "heaven" belong inside that flow. In 2 Chronicles context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

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