18. If you do, I will make your kingdom strong. This is the agreement I made with your father David. I told him, ‘David, someone from your family will always be king in Israel.’
19. “But you must not turn away from me. You must not stop obeying the laws and commands I gave you. You must not serve and worship other gods.
20. If you do, I will take the Israelites out of my land, the land I gave them. And I will leave this Temple that I have made holy. All the nations will make fun of it and speak evil about it.
21. This Temple is honored now. But then, everyone who passes by will be surprised. They will say, ‘Why has the Lord done this terrible thing to this land and this Temple?’
22. Then people will answer, ‘It’s because the Israelites left the Lord, the God their ancestors obeyed. He is the God who led them out of Egypt. But they accepted other gods and worshiped and served them. That is why the Lord brought this disaster on them.’”