Page 140 - Wisdom and Sound Advice from the Torah

WISDOM AND SOUND ADVICE FROM TORAH

come, and when a prayer or plea is made by any of Your peo -
ple...—each one aware of the af flic tions of his own heart, and
spread ing out his hands to ward this house—then... forgive...
since You know his heart (for You alone know the hearts of all
men), so that they will fear You all the time they live in the
land You gave our fa thers. As for the for eign er... has come
from a dis tant land be cause of Your name—for men will hear
of Your great name and Your mighty hand and Your out -
stretched arm—when he comes and prays to ward this house...
so that all the peo ples of the earth may know Your name and
fear You... and say, 'We have sinned, we have done wrong, we
have act ed wick ed ly'; and if they turn back to You with all
their heart and soul in the land of their en e mies who took
them cap tive, and pray to You to ward the land You gave their
fa thers, to ward the city You have cho sen and the house I have
built for Your Name; then... hear their prayer and their plea,

and up hold their cause. And for give Your peo ple, who have
sinned against You; for give all the of fenses they have com mit -
ted against You... may You lis ten to them when ev er they cry
out to You." When Solomon had fin ished all these prayers
and sup pli ca tions to the Lord, he rose from be fore the al tar of
the Lord, where he had been kneel ing with his hands spread
out to ward heav en. (1 Kings, 8:22-54)

So I turned to the Lord God and plead ed with Him in prayer
and pe ti tion, in fast ing. I prayed to the Lord my God and
con fessed: "O Lord... we have sinned and done wrong. We
have been wick ed and have re belled; we have turned away
from Your com mands and laws. We have not lis tened to Your

ser vants the Prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings,
our prin ces and our fa thers, and to all the peo ple of the land.

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