2 Chronicles 7

1 Now when Solomon's prayers were ended, fire came down from heaven, burning up all the offerings; and the house was full of the glory of the Lord.

When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from the sky and burned all the offerings and sacrifices [that were on the altar], and the glorious radiance of Yahweh filled the temple.

2 And the priests were not able to go into the house of the Lord, for the Lord's house was full of the glory of the Lord.

The radiance [was extremely bright], with the result that the priests could not enter the temple of Yahweh.

3 And all the children of Israel were looking on when the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord was on the house; and they went down on their knees, with their faces to the earth, worshipping and praising the Lord, and saying, He is good; for his mercy is unchanging for ever.

When all the Israeli people [who were there] saw the fire coming down and the glory of Yahweh above the temple, they prostrated themselves with their faces touching the ground. They worshiped and thanked Yahweh, singing, “Yahweh is always good to us; he faithfully loves us forever.”

4 Then the king and all the people made offerings before the Lord.

Then the king and all the people who were there dedicated the temple to Yahweh by offering more sacrifices to him. King Solomon gave 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats to be sacrificed.

5 King Solomon made an offering of twenty-two thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people kept the feast of the opening of the house of God.

6 And the priests were in their places, and the Levites with their instruments of music for the Lord's song, which David the king had made for the praise of the Lord whose mercy is unchanging for ever, when David gave praise by their hand; and the priests were sounding horns before them; and all Israel were on their feet.

The priests stood in their positions, and the other descendants of Levi stood in their positions holding the musical instruments [to praise] Yahweh, instruments that King David had caused to be made for praising Yahweh and thanking him. [They sang], “He faithfully loves us forever.” Facing the other descendants of Levi the priests stood, blowing their trumpets, while all the Israeli people were standing [and listening].

7 Then Solomon made holy the middle of the open square in front of the house of the Lord, offering the burned offerings there, and the fat of the peace-offerings; for there was not room on the brass altar which Solomon had made for all the burned offerings and the meal offerings and the fat.

Solomon dedicated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple. Then he gave offerings to be completely burned there along with the fat of the animals to be sacrificed to maintain fellowship with Yahweh. The priests burned them there in the courtyard because in addition to those things there were offerings of grain, with the result that there was not enough space on the bronze altar to burn all those sacrifices.

8 So Solomon kept the feast at that time for seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great meeting, for the people had come together from the way into Hamath and from as far as the river of Egypt.

Solomon [and the other people] celebrated the Festival of Living in Temporary Shelters for seven days. There was a huge group of people who celebrated with him. Some of them came from [as far away as] Lebo-Hamath [in the far north] and the border of Egypt [in the far south].

9 And on the eighth day they had a holy meeting; the offerings for making the altar holy went on for seven days, and the feast for seven days.

On the eighth/next day they gathered again [to worship Yahweh]. They had celebrated the dedication of the altar for seven days and the Festival of Living in Temporary Shelters for seven days.

10 And on the twenty-third day of the seventh month, he sent the people away to their tents, full of joy and glad in their hearts, because of all the good which the Lord had done to David and to Solomon and to Israel his people.

Then on the next day Solomon sent them to their homes. They were very joyful because of all the good things that Yahweh had done for David and Solomon and for all his Israeli people.

11 So Solomon came to the end of building the house of the Lord and the king's house; and everything which it was in his mind to make in the house of the Lord and for himself had been well done.

Solomon’s [workers] finished building the temple and Solomon’s palace. And Solomon finished doing everything else that he had planned to do.

12 Now the Lord came to Solomon in a vision by night, and said to him, I have given ear to your prayer, and have taken this place for myself as a house where offerings are to be made.

Then Yahweh appeared to him one night [in a dream] and said to him, “I have heard your prayer, and I have chosen this temple to be the place where my people will offer sacrifices to me.

13 If, at my word, heaven is shut up, so that there is no rain, or if I send locusts on the land for its destruction, or if I send disease on my people;

“When I prevent any rain from falling, or when I command locusts to eat all the crops, or when I send a plague among my people,

14 If my people, on whom my name is named, make themselves low and come to me in prayer, searching for me and turning from their evil ways; then I will give ear from heaven, overlooking their sin, and will give life again to their land.

if the people who belong to me humble themselves and pray, and request me to help them, and if they turn away from their sinful behavior, then I will hear from heaven. I will forgive them for having sinned and I will cause them to prosper again.

15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears awake to the prayers made in this place.

I [SYN] will see them and I [SYN] will hear them when they pray to me in this place.

16 For I have taken this house for myself and made it holy, so that my name may be there for ever; and my eyes and my heart will be there at all times.

I have chosen and have (set apart/dedicated) this temple in order that people may worship [MTY] me there forever. I will always watch over [MTY] it and protect [IDM] it.

17 And as for you, if you will go on your way before me as David your father did, doing whatever I have given you orders to do and keeping my laws and my decisions:

“And as for you, if you obey me as David your father did, and if you do all that I command you to do, and obey all my laws and decrees,

18 Then I will make strong the seat of your kingdom, as I gave my word to David your father, saying, You will never be without a man to be ruler in Israel.

I will make sure that your descendants will always be kings, which is what I promised to David your father, saying, ‘Some of your descendants will always be the kings of Israel.’

19 But if you are turned away from me, and do not keep my orders and my laws which I have put before you, but go and make yourselves servants to other gods, giving them worship:

“But if you Israelis turn away from me and disobey the decrees and commands that I have given to you, and you start to worship other gods,

20 Then I will have this people uprooted out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for my name, I will put away from before my eyes, and make it an example and a word of shame among all peoples.

I will cause you to be expelled from this land that I have given to you, and I will abandon this temple that I have set apart to be the place where people should worship me. I will cause it to be despised and ridiculed by people of all nations.

21 And this house will become a mass of broken walls, and everyone who goes by will be overcome with wonder, and will say, Why has the Lord done so to this land and to this house?

Although this temple is now greatly respected, when that happens, all the people who pass by will be appalled, and they will say, ‘Why has Yahweh done terrible things like this to this country and to this temple?’

22 And their answer will be, Because they were turned away from the Lord, the God of their fathers, who took them out of the land of Egypt, and took for themselves other gods and gave them worship and became their servants: that is why he has sent all this evil on them.

And others will reply, ‘It happened because they rejected Yahweh, the God to whom their ancestors belonged, the one who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and they have been worshiping other gods and trying to please them. And that is why Yahweh has caused them to experience all these disasters.’”