President Trump on Tuesday night read aloud verses from the Old Testament as part of his participation in a week-long Bible reading event.
Mr. Trump recited 2 Chronicles 7:11-22 as part of America Reads the Bible, a week of scripture reading to coincide with America’s 250th anniversary. It is organized by Christians Engaged, a group that advocates for prayer and Bible reading.
The passage read by Mr. Trump has been a rallying call for Christians around the world for decades. It was taped from the Oval Office last week.
“If my people who are called by name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sins and heal their land,” Mr. Trump said as part of his Bible reading.
“And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgements,” Mr. Trump continued. “Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying There shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel.”
“But if ye turn away and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you and you shall go and serve other gods and worship them; then I will pluck them up by the roots out of my land, which I have given them and this house which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight and will make it be a proverb and a byword among all nations,” he recited.
Other administration officials participating in the marathon Bible reading include Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner; Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins; Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth; Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum; White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles; White House Faith Office senior advisor Paula White-Cain; Vincent Haley, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council; and Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council.
Several Republican senators and representatives will also participate. The event organizers said they invited Democrats to participate, but they all declined.
Mr. Trump’s participation follows his public feud with Pope Leo XIV over the Iran War and his removal of an AI-generated photo appearing to depict him as Jesus healing a sick man. The president has said he thought the photo was of him as a doctor, not Jesus.
The marathon Bible reading kicked off Sunday morning at the Museum of the Bible and runs daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. through Saturday.
All told, nearly 500 participants will read Bible passages.
• Valerie Richardson contributed to this story.
