Chronicles II 6

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

Then Solomon said, “Yahweh has said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

2 But I have built a house to thy name, holy to thee, and prepared [for thee] to dwell in for ever.

But I have built you a house and home, a place for you to dwell in forever.”

3 And the king turned his face, and blessed all the congregation of Israel: and all the congregation of Israel stood by.

The king turned his face, and blessed all the assembly of Israel; and all the assembly of Israel stood.

4 And he said, Blessed [be] the Lord God of Israel: he has even fulfilled with his hands as he spoke with his mouth to my father David, saying,

He said, “Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David my father, and has with his hands fulfilled it, saying,

5 From the day when I brought up my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city of all the tribes of Israel, to build a house that my name should be there; neither did I choose a man to be a leader over my people Israel.

‘Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house in, that my name might be there, and I chose no man to be prince over my people Israel;

6 But I chose Jerusalem that my name should be there; and I chose David to be over my people Israel.

but now I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’

7 And it came into the heart of David my father, to build a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.

Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

8 But the Lord said to my father David, Whereas it came into thy heart to build a house for my name, thou didst well that it came into thy heart.

But Yahweh said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart;

9 Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; for thy son who shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house for my name.

nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who will come out of your body, he shall build the house for my name.’

10 And the Lord has confirmed this word, which he spoke; and I am raised up in the room of my father David, and I sit upon the throne of Israel as the Lord said, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord God of Israel:

“Yahweh has performed his word that he spoke; for I have risen up in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as Yahweh promised, and have built the house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

11 and I have set there the ark in which [is] the covenant of the Lord, which he made with Israel.

There I have set the ark, in which is Yahweh’s covenant, which he made with the children of Israel.”

12 And he stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread out his hands.

He stood before Yahweh’s altar in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands

13 For Solomon [had] made a brazen scaffold, and set it in the midst of the court of the sanctuary; the length of it [was] five cubits, and the breadth of it five cubits, and the height of it three cubits: and he stood upon it, and fell upon his knees before the whole congregation of Israel, and spread abroad his hands to heaven,

(for Solomon had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the middle of the court; and he stood on it, and knelt down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven).

14 and said, Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven, or on the earth; keeping covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with [their] whole heart.

Then he said, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth—you who keep covenant and loving kindness with your servants who walk before you with all their heart;

15 Even as thou hast kept [them] with thy servant David my father, as thou hast spoken to him in words: —thou hast both spoken with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled [it] with thy hands, as it is this day.

who have kept with your servant David my father that which you promised him. Yes, you spoke with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is today.

16 and now, Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father the things which thou spokest to him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man before me sitting on the throne of Israel, if only thy sons will take heed to their way to walk in my law, as thou didst walk before me.

“Now therefore, Yahweh, the God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father that which you have promised him, saying, ‘There shall not fail you a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children take heed to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.’

17 And now, Lord God of Israel, let, I pray thee, thy word be confirmed, which thou hast spoken to thy servant David.

Now therefore, Yahweh, the God of Israel, let your word be verified, which you spoke to your servant David.

18 For will God indeed dwell with men upon the earth? if the heaven and the heaven of heavens will not suffice thee, what then is this house which I have built?

“But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can’t contain you; how much less this house which I have built!

19 Yet thou shalt have respect to the prayer of thy servant, and to my petition, O Lord God, so as to hearken to the petition and the prayer which thy servant prays before thee this day:

Yet have respect for the prayer of your servant and to his supplication, Yahweh my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which your servant prays before you;

20 so that thine eyes should be open over this house by day and by night, towards this place, whereon thou saidst thy name should be called, so as to hear the prayer which thy servant prays towards this house.

that your eyes may be open toward this house day and night, even toward the place where you have said that you would put your name, to listen to the prayer which your servant will pray toward this place.

21 And thou shalt hear the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, whatsoever prayers they shall make towards this place: and thou shalt hearken in thy dwelling-place out of heaven, yea thou shalt hear, and be merciful.

Listen to the petitions of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Yes, hear from your dwelling place, even from heaven; and when you hear, forgive.

22 If a man sin against his neighbour, and he bring an oath upon him so as to make him swear, and he come and swear before the altar in this house;

“If a man sins against his neighbor, and an oath is laid on him to cause him to swear, and he comes and swears before your altar in this house,

23 then shalt thou hearken out of heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, to recompense the transgressor, and to return his ways upon his head: and to justify the righteous, to recompense him according to his righteousness.

then hear from heaven, act, and judge your servants, bringing retribution to the wicked, to bring his way on his own head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

24 And if thy people Israel should be put to the worse before the enemy, if they should sin against thee, and [then] turn and confess to thy name, and pray and make supplication before thee in this house;

“If your people Israel are struck down before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and they turn again and confess your name, and pray and make supplication before you in this house,

25 then shalt thou hearken out of heaven and shalt be merciful to the sins of thy people Israel, and thou shalt restore them to the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers.

then hear from heaven, and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them again to the land which you gave to them and to their fathers.

26 When heaven is restrained, and there is no rain, because they shall have sinned against thee, and [when] they shall pray towards this place, and praise thy name, and shall turn from their sins, because thou shalt afflict them;

“When the sky is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and confess your name, and turn from their sin when you afflict them,

27 then shalt thou hearken from heaven, and thou shalt be merciful to the sins of thy servants, and of thy people Israel; for thou shalt shew them the good way in which they shall walk; and thou shalt send rain upon thy land, which thou gavest to thy people for an inheritance.

then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk, and send rain on your land, which you have given to your people for an inheritance.

28 If there should be famine upon the land, if there should be death, a pestilent wind an blight; if there should be locust and caterpiller, and if the enemy should harass them before their cities: in whatever plague and whatever distress [they may be];

“If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight or mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is—

29 Then whatever prayer and whatever supplication shall be made by any man and all thy people Israel, if a man should know his own plague and his own sickness, and should spread forth his hands toward this house;

whatever prayer and supplication is made by any man, or by all your people Israel, who will each know his own plague and his own sorrow, and shall spread out his hands toward this house,

30 then shalt thou hear from heaven, out of thy prepared dwelling-place, and shalt be merciful, and shalt recompense to the man according to his ways, as thou shalt know his heart [to be]; for thou alone knowest the heart of the children of men:

then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive, and render to every man according to all his ways, whose heart you know (for you, even you only, know the hearts of the children of men),

31 that they may reverence all thy ways all the days which they live upon the face of the land, which thou gavest to our fathers.

that they may fear you, to walk in your ways as long as they live in the land which you gave to our fathers.

32 And every stranger who is not himself of thy people Israel, and who shall have come from a distant land because of thy great name, and thy mighty hand, and thy high arm; when they shall come and worship toward this place; —

“Moreover, concerning the foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, when he comes from a far country for your great name’s sake and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, when they come and pray toward this house,

33 then shalt thou hearken out of heaven, out of thy prepared dwelling-place, and shalt do according to all that the stranger shall call upon thee for; that all the nations of the earth may know thy name, and that they may fear thee, as thy people Israel [do], and that they may know that thy name is called upon this house which I have built.

then hear from heaven, even from your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you for; that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by your name.

34 And if thy people shall go forth to war against their enemies by the way by which thou shalt send them, and shall pray to thee toward this city which thou hast chosen, and [toward] the house which I have built to thy name;

“If your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way you send them, and they pray to you toward this city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name;

35 then shalt thou hear out of heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

then hear from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

36 Whereas if they shall sin against thee, (for there is no man who will not sin, ) and thou shalt smite them, and deliver them up before their enemies, and they that take them captive shall carry them away into a land of enemies, to a land far off or near;

“If they sin against you (for there is no man who doesn’t sin), and you are angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive to a land far off or near;

37 and [if] they shall repent in their land whither they were carried captive, and shall also turn and make supplication to thee in their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have transgressed, we have wrought unrighteously;

yet if they come to their senses in the land where they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication to you in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, we have done perversely, and have dealt wickedly;’

38 and [if] they shall turn to thee with all their heart and all their soul in the land of them that carried them captives, whither they carried them captives, and shall pray toward their land which thou gavest to their fathers, and the city which thou didst choose, and the house which I built to thy name: —

if they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been taken captive, and pray toward their land which you gave to their fathers, and the city which you have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for your name;

39 then shalt thou hear out of heaven, out of thy prepared dwelling-place, their prayer and their supplication, and thou shalt execute justice, and shalt be merciful to thy people that sin against thee.

then hear from heaven, even from your dwelling place, their prayer and their petitions, and maintain their cause, and forgive your people who have sinned against you.

40 And now, Lord, let, I pray thee, thine eyes be opened, and thine ears be attentive to the petition [made in] this place.

“Now, my God, let, I beg you, your eyes be open, and let your ears be attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.

41 And now, O Lord God, arise into thy resting-place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O Lord God, clothe themselves with salvation, and thy sons rejoice in prosperity.

“Now therefore arise, Yahweh God, into your resting place, you, and the ark of your strength. Let your priests, Yahweh God, be clothed with salvation, and let your saints rejoice in goodness.

42 O Lord God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of thy servant David.

“Yahweh God, don’t turn away the face of your anointed. Remember your loving kindnesses to David your servant.”