2 Chronicles 6

1 Then Solomon said, O Lord, to the sun you have given the heaven for a living-place, but your living-place was not seen by men,

Then said Solomon, “The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

2 So I have made for you a living-place, a house in which you may be for ever present.

And I have indeed built a dwelling-house for thee, and have settled a place for thy abode for ever.”

3 Then, turning his face about, the king gave a blessing to all the men of Israel; and they were all on their feet together.

And the king turned his face, and blessed the whole congregation of Israel, and all the congregation of Israel was standing.

4 And he said, Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who himself gave his word to my father David, and with his strong hand has made his word come true, 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 From the day when I took my people out of the land of Egypt, no town in all the tribes of Israel has been marked out by me for the building of a house for the resting-place of my name; and I took no man to be a 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 made selection of Jerusalem, that my name might be there, and of 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 put up 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 David my father, You did well to have in your heart the desire to make a house for my name:

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 But you yourself will not be the builder of the house; but your son, the offspring of your body, he it is who will put up a 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 And the Lord has kept his word; for I have taken my father David's place on the seat of the kingdom of Israel, as the Lord gave his word; and I have made 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 put the ark, in which is the agreement of the Lord, which he made with the people 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 he took his place in front of the altar of the Lord, all the men of Israel being present,

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 (For Solomon had made a brass stage, five cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high, and had put it in the middle of the open space; on this he took his place and went down on his knees before all the meeting of Israel, stretching out his hands to 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 he said, O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth; keeping faith and mercy unchanging for your servants, while they go in your ways 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 For you have kept the word which you gave to your servant David, my father; with your mouth you said it and with your hand you have made it come true 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 So now, O Lord, the God of Israel, let your word to your servant David, my father, come true, when you said, You will never be without a man to take his place before me on the seat of the kingdom of Israel; if only your children give attention to their ways, walking in my law, as you have done 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 So now, O Lord, the God of Israel, make your word come true which you said 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 is it truly possible that God may be housed with men on earth? see, heaven and the heaven of heavens are not wide enough to be your resting-place: how much less this house which I have made:

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 Still, let your heart be turned to the prayer of your servant and to his prayer for grace, O Lord my God, and give ear to the cry and the prayer which your servant makes 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 That your eyes may be open to this house day and night, to this place of which you have said that you would put your name there; to give ear to the prayer which your servant may make, turning to 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 And give ear to the prayers of your servant and of your people Israel, when they make their prayers, turning to this place; give ear from heaven your living-place; and hearing have mercy.

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 If a man does wrong to his neighbour and has to take an oath, and comes before your altar to take his oath in this house:

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 let your ear be open in heaven, and be the judge of your servants, giving punishment to the wrongdoer, so that his sin may come on his head; and, by your decision, keeping from evil him who has done no wrong.

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 And if your people Israel are overcome in war, because of their sin against you; if they are turned to you again, honouring your name, making prayers and requesting your grace in this house:

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 give ear from heaven, and let the sin of your people Israel have forgiveness, and take them back again to the land which you gave to them and to 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 heaven is shut up and there is no rain, because of their sin against you: if they make prayers with their faces turned to this place, honouring your name and turning away from their sin when you send trouble on 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 give ear from heaven, so that the sin of your servants and the sin of your people Israel may have forgiveness, when you make clear to them the good way in which they are to go; and send rain on your land which you have given to your people for their heritage.

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 If there is no food in the land, if there is disease, if the fruits of the earth are damaged by heat or water, locust or worm; if their towns are shut in by their attackers: whatever trouble or whatever disease there may be:

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 Whatever prayer or request for your grace is made by any man, or by all your people Israel, whatever his trouble may be, whose hands are stretched out to this house:

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 Then give ear from heaven your living-place, answering with forgiveness, and give to every man, whose secret heart is open to you, the reward of all his ways; (for you, and you only, have knowledge of the hearts of the children 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 give you worship, walking in your ways, as long as they are living in the land which 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 man from a strange land, who is not of your people Israel but comes from a far country because of the glory of your name and your strong hand and your outstretched arm; when he comes to make his prayer, turning to this house:

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 give ear from heaven your living-place, and give him his desire, whatever it may be; so that all the peoples of the earth may have knowledge of your name, worshipping you as do your people Israel, and may see that this house which I have made is truly named 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 If your people go out to war against their attackers, by whatever way you may send them, if they make their prayers to you turning their faces to this town of yours and to this house which I have put up 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 give ear from heaven to their prayer and their cry for grace, and see right done to them.

Then hear thou from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and procure them justice.

36 If they do wrong against you, (for no man is without sin, ) and you are angry with them, and give them up into the power of those who are fighting against them, so that they take them away prisoners to a land far off 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 if they take thought, in the land where they are prisoners, turning again to you, crying out in prayer to you in that land, and saying, We are sinners, we have done wrong, we have done evil;

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 If with all their heart and soul they are turned again to you, in the land where they are prisoners, the land where they have been taken, and make their prayers, turning their eyes to their land which you gave to their fathers, and to the town which you took for yourself, and the house which I have made 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 give ear from heaven your living-place to their prayer and their cry, and see right done to them, answering with forgiveness your people who have done wrong 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, O my God, may your eyes be open and your ears awake to the prayers made 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 Up! now, O Lord God, come back to your resting-place, you and the ark of your strength: let your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let your saints be glad in what is good.

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, let him whom you have taken for yourself never be given up by you: keep in mind your mercies to David your servant.

O Lord God, turn not away the face of thy anointed: remember the pious deeds of David thy servant.