⁷ Didn’t you, our God, force those who were living in this country out of Israel’s way? Didn’t you give this country to the descendants of your friend Abraham to have permanently? ⁸ His descendants have lived in it and built a holy temple for your name in it. They said, ⁹ ‘If evil comes in the form of war, flood,^[a] plague, or famine, we will stand in front of this temple and in front of you because your name is in this temple. We will cry out to you in our troubles, and you will hear us and save us.’