2 Chronicles 7:20 (WEB)

Passage

then I will pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.

Nearby Context

2 Chronicles 7:18 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, according as I covenanted with David your father, saying, ‘There shall not fail you a man to be ruler in Israel.’

2 Chronicles 7:19 But if you turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;

2 Chronicles 7:20 then I will pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.

2 Chronicles 7:21 This house, which is so high, everyone who passes by it shall be astonished, and shall say, ‘Why has Yahweh done this to this land and to this house?’

2 Chronicles 7:22 They shall answer, ‘Because they abandoned Yahweh, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and took other gods, worshiped them, and served them. Therefore he has brought all this evil on them.’”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "pluck", "roots", "land", "given", "house", "holy", "name", and "cast". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "pluck" and "roots", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 19's "But if you turn away and forsake..." into verse 21's "This house which is so high everyone...", so "pluck" and "roots" 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 "pluck" and "roots" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.