1 Kings 8:36 (WEB)

Passage

then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on your land, which you have given to your people for an inheritance.

Nearby Context

1 Kings 8:34 then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them again to the land which you gave to their fathers.

1 Kings 8:35 “When the sky is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against you; if they pray toward this place, and confess your name, and turn from their sin, when you afflict them,

1 Kings 8:36 then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on your land, which you have given to your people for an inheritance.

1 Kings 8:37 “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight, mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities; whatever plague, whatever sickness there is;

1 Kings 8:38 whatever prayer and supplication is made by any man, or by all your people Israel, who shall each know the plague of his own heart, and spread out his hands toward this house,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "hear", "heaven", "forgive", "servants", "people", "israel", "teach", and "good". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "hear" and "heaven", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 35's "When the sky is shut up and..." into verse 37's "If there is famine in the land...", so "hear" and "heaven" 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 "hear" and "heaven" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.