23 Listen from heaven and decide who is right. Then punish the guilty person and let the innocent one go free.
24 Suppose your people Israel sin against you, and then an enemy defeats them. If they come to this temple and beg for forgiveness,
25 listen from your home in heaven. Forgive them and bring them back to the land you gave their ancestors.
26 Suppose your people sin against you, and you punish them by holding back the rain. If they stop sinning and turn towards this temple to pray in your name,
27 listen from your home in heaven and forgive them. The people of Israel are your servants, so teach them to live right. And send rain on the land you promised them for ever.
28 Sometimes the crops may dry up or rot or be eaten by locusts or grasshoppers, and your people will be starving. Sometimes enemies may surround their towns, or your people will become sick with deadly diseases.
29 Please listen when anyone in Israel truly feels sorry and sincerely prays with arms lifted towards your temple.