2 Chronicles 6
1 Then Solomon declared: “The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud;
Then said Solomon, “The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
2 and I have built You an exalted house, a place for You to dwell forever.”
And I have indeed built a dwelling-house for thee, and have settled a place for thy abode for ever.”
3 And as the whole assembly of Israel stood there, the king turned around and blessed them all
And the king turned his face, and blessed the whole congregation of Israel, and all the congregation of Israel was standing.
4 and said: “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who has fulfilled with His own hand what He spoke with His mouth to my father David, saying,
And he said, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hands fulfilled it, when he said,
5 ‘Since the day I brought My people out of the land of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house so that My Name would be there, nor have I chosen anyone to be ruler over My people Israel.
Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt, I did not make choice of any city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, that my name might be therein; nor did I make choice of any man to be a ruler over my people of Israel;
6 But now I have chosen Jerusalem for My Name to be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’
But I have made choice of Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and I have made choice of David to be over my people Israel,
7 Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel.
And it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord the God of Israel.
8 But the LORD said to my father David, ‘Since it was in your heart to build a house for My Name, you have done well to have this in your heart.
But the Lord said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thy heart to build a house unto my name, thou didst well in that it was in thy heart:
9 Nevertheless, you are not the one to build it; but your son, your own offspring, will build the house for My Name.’
Nevertheless thou shalt not thyself build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name.
10 Now the LORD has fulfilled the word that He spoke. I have succeeded my father David, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised. I have built the house for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel.
And the Lord hath fulfilled his word that he hath spoken; and I am risen up in the stead of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord hath spoken, and I have built the house unto the name of the Lord the God of Israel.
11 And there I have provided a place for the ark, which contains the covenant of the LORD that He made with the children of Israel.”
And I have placed there the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord which he hath made with the children of Israel.
12 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands.
And he now placed himself before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands;
13 Now Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had placed it in the middle of the courtyard. He stood on it, knelt down before the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven,
For Solomon had made a laver of copper, and had placed it in the midst of the out-court, five cubits being its length, five cubits its breadth, and three cubits its height; and he placed himself upon it, and kneeled down upon his knees in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven;
14 and said: “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven or on earth, keeping Your covenant of loving devotion with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts.
And he said, O Lord God of Israel, there is no god like thee in the heavens, or on the earth, thou who keepest the covenant, and the kindness for thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart;
15 You have kept Your promise to Your servant, my father David. What You spoke with Your mouth You have fulfilled with Your hand this day.
Who has kept for thy servant David my father that which thou hadst promised him; and thou spokest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thy hand, as it is this day.
16 Therefore now, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for Your servant, my father David, what You promised when You said: ‘You will never fail to have a man to sit before Me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants guard their way to walk in My law as you have walked before Me.’
And now, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for thy servant David my father that which thou hast spoken concerning him, saying, There shall never fail thee a man in my sight who sitteth on the throne of Israel, if thy children but take heed to their way to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me.
17 And now, O LORD, God of Israel, please confirm what You promised to Your servant David.
And now, O Lord, the God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant, unto David.
18 But will God indeed dwell with man upon the earth? Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.
For, in truth, will God then dwell with men on the earth? behold, the heavens and the heavens of heavens cannot contain thee: how much less then this house that I have built!
19 Yet regard the prayer and plea of Your servant, O LORD my God, so that You may hear the cry and the prayer that Your servant is praying before You.
Yet wilt thou turn thy regard unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to listen unto the entreaty and the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee:
20 May Your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, toward the place where You said You would put Your Name, so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place.
That thy eyes may be open toward this house day and night, toward the place of which thou hast said that thou wouldst put thy name there; that thou mayest listen unto the prayer which thy servant will pray at this place.
21 Hear the plea of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. May You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place. May You hear and forgive.
And listen thou to the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they will pray at this place: and oh, do thou hear from thy dwelling-place, from heaven; and hear, and forgive.
22 When a man sins against his neighbor and is required to take an oath, and he comes to take an oath before Your altar in this temple,
If any man trespass against his neighbor, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thy altar in this house:
23 then may You hear from heaven and act. May You judge Your servants, condemning the wicked man by bringing down on his own head what he has done, and justifying the righteous man by rewarding him according to his righteousness.
Then do thou hear from heaven, and act, and judge thy servants, by requiting the wicked, to bring his way upon his own head; and by justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.
24 When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and they return to You and confess Your name, praying and pleading before You in this temple,
And if thy people Israel be struck down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and they return and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication before thee in this house:
25 then may You hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel. May You restore them to the land You gave to them and their fathers.
Then do thou hear from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and cause them to return unto the land which thou hast given to them and to their fathers.
26 When the skies are shut and there is no rain because Your people have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and they turn from their sins because You have afflicted them,
When the heavens be shut up, and there he no rain, because they have sinned against thee, and they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, because thou hast afflicted them:
27 then may You hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, so that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk. May You send rain on the land that You gave Your people as an inheritance.
Then do thou hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel; for thou wilt direct them unto the good way, wherein they should walk; and give then rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance.
28 When famine or plague comes upon the land, or blight or mildew or locusts or grasshoppers, or when their enemies besiege them in their cities, whatever plague or sickness may come,
If there be famine in the land, if there be pestilence, blasting, or mildew, if there be locusts, or caterpillars; if their enemies besiege them in their land, in their gates at whatsoever plague, and at whatsoever sickness;
29 then may whatever prayer or petition Your people Israel make—each knowing his own afflictions and spreading out his hands toward this temple—
What prayer and what supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, when they shall be conscious every man of his plague and his pain, and he then spread forth his hands toward this house:
30 be heard by You from heaven, Your dwelling place. And may You forgive and repay each man according to all his ways, since You know his heart—for You alone know the hearts of men—
Then do thou hear from heaven the place of thy dwelling, and forgive, and give to every man in accordance with all his ways, as thou mayest know his heart; for thou, thyself alone, knowest the heart of the children of men;
31 so that they may fear You and walk in Your ways all the days they live in the land that You gave to our fathers.
In order that they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, all the days that they live on the face of the land which thou hast given unto our fathers.
32 And as for the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of Your great name and Your mighty hand and outstretched arm—when he comes and prays toward this temple,
But also to the stranger, who is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far-off country for the sake of thy great name, and of thy mighty hand, and of thy outstretched arm, — if they come and pray in this house, —
33 then may You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You. Then all the peoples of the earth will know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and they will know that this house I have built is called by Your Name.
Mayest thou likewise listen from heaven, from the place of thy dwelling, and do according to all that the stranger will call on thee for: in order that all people of the earth may know thy name, both to fear thee, as do thy people Israel, and to understand that this house, which I have built, is called by thy name.
34 When Your people go to war against their enemies, wherever You send them, and when they pray to You in the direction of the city You have chosen and the house I have built for Your Name,
If thy people go out to battle against their enemies on the way on which thou mayest send them, and they do pray unto thee in the direction of this city which thou hast chosen, and of the house that I have built unto thy name:
35 then may You hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and may You uphold their cause.
Then hear thou from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and procure them justice.
36 When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and deliver them to an enemy who takes them as captives to a land far or near,
If they sin against thee—for there is no man that may not sin, —and thou be angry with them, and give them up before the enemy, so that their captors carry them away captive unto a land far off or near;
37 and when they come to their senses in the land to which they were taken, and they repent and plead with You in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong; we have acted wickedly,’
And if they then take it to their heart in the land whither they have been carried captive, and repent and make supplication unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have committed iniquity, and have acted wickedly;
38 and when they return to You with all their heart and soul in the land of the enemies who took them captive, and when they pray in the direction of the land that You gave to their fathers, the city You have chosen, and the house I have built for Your Name,
And they return unto thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have been carried captive, and they pray in the direction of their land, which thou hast given unto their fathers, and of the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built unto thy name:
39 then may You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, their prayer and petition, and may You uphold their cause. May You forgive Your people who sinned against You.
Then hear thou from heaven, from the place of thy dwelling, their prayer and their supplications, and procure them justice, and forgive thy people for what they have sinned against thee.
40 Now, my God, may Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place.
Now, my God, let I beseech thee, thy eyes be open, and thy ears be attentive unto the prayer on this place.
41 Now therefore, arise, O LORD God, and enter Your resting place, You and the ark of Your might. May Your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and may Your godly ones rejoice in goodness.
And now arise, O Lord God, unto thy resting-place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O Lord God, clothe themselves with salvation, and let thy pious servants rejoice in happiness.
42 O LORD God, do not reject Your anointed one. Remember Your loving devotion to Your servant David.”
O Lord God, turn not away the face of thy anointed: remember the pious deeds of David thy servant.
