2 Chronicles 6

1 Then Solomon said: “The Lord has promised that he would dwell in a cloud.

Then, said Solomon, —Yahweh, said, that he would make his habitation in thick gloom;

2 But I have built a house to his name, so that he may dwell there forever.”

But, I, have built a house as a home for thee, —A settled place for thee to abide in, for ages.

3 And the king turned his face, and he blessed the entire multitude of Israel, (for the whole crowd was standing and attentive) and he said:

And the king turned about his face, and blessed all the convocation of Israel, —while, all the convocation of Israel, was standing;

4 “Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, who has completed the work that he spoke to David my father, saying:

and he said, Blessed be Yahweh, God of Israel, who spake with his mouth, unto David my father, -and, with his hand, hath fulfilled, saying:

5 ‘From the day when I led my people away from the land of Egypt, I did not choose a city from all the tribes of Israel, so that a house would be built in it to my name. And I did not choose any other man, so that he would be the ruler of my people Israel.

From the day I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt, I made choice of no city, out of all the tribes of Israel, for building a house, where my Name might be, —neither made I choice of any man, to be chief ruler over my people Israel:

6 But I chose Jerusalem, so that my name would be in it. And I chose David, so that I might appoint him over my people Israel.’

nevertheless I have made choice of Jerusalem, that my Name might be there, —and I have made choice of David, that he might be over my people Israel.

7 And though David, my father, had decided that he would build a house to the name of the Lord God of Israel,

And so it came to pass, that it was near the heart of David my father, —to build a house, to the Name of Yahweh, God of Israel.

8 the Lord said to him: ‘In so far as it was your will that you build a house to my name, certainly you have done well in having such a will.

Then said Yahweh unto David my father, Because it was near thy heart to build a house for my Name, thou didst well that it was near thy heart:

9 But you shall not build the house. Truly, your son, who will go forth from your loins, shall build a house to my name.’

Only, thou thyself, must not build the house, —but, thine own son, that proceedeth out of thy loins—he, shall build the house for my Name.

10 Therefore, the Lord has accomplished his word, which he had spoken. And I have risen up in place of my father David, and I sit upon the throne of Israel, just as the Lord spoke. And I have built a house to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

So then Yahweh hath established his word, which he spake, —and I have been raised up instead of David my father, and have taken my seat upon the throne of Israel, as spake Yahweh, and have built the house to the Name of Yahweh, God of Israel;

11 And I have placed in it the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he formed with the sons of Israel.”

and have put there, the ark, —wherein is the covenant of Yahweh, —which he solemnised with the sons of Israel.

12 Then he stood before the altar of the Lord, facing the entire multitude of Israel, and he extended his hands.

Then stood he before the altar of Yahweh, in the presence of all the convocation of Israel, —and spread forth his hands;

13 For indeed, Solomon had made a bronze base, and he had positioned it in the midst of the hall; it held five cubits in length, and five cubits in width, and three cubits in height. And he stood upon it. And next, kneeling down while facing the entire multitude of Israel, and lifting up his palms towards heaven,

for Solomon had made a platform of bronze, and had set it in the midst of the enclosure, five cubits, the length thereof, and, five cubits, the breadth thereof, and, three cubits, the height thereof, -and he stood thereon, and knelt upon his knees, in the presence of all the convocation of Israel, and spread forth his hands, heavenward;

14 he said: “O Lord God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven or on earth. You preserve covenant and mercy with your servants, who walk before you with all their hearts.

and said, O Yahweh! God of Israel, Not like unto thee, is there a god, in the heavens, or throughout the earth, —who keepest Covenant and Lovingkindness for thy servants who are walking before thee with all their heart:

15 You fulfilled for your servant David, my father, whatsoever you had said to him. And you carried out the deed that you promised with your mouth, just as the present time proves.

who hast kept, for thy servant David my father, that which thou didst promise him, —in that thou didst promise with thy mouth, and, with thy hand, hast fulfilled, as [it is] this day.

16 Now then, O Lord God of Israel, fulfill for your servant David, my father, whatsoever you said to him, saying: ‘There shall not fail to be a man from you before me, who will sit upon the throne of Israel, yet only if your sons will guard their ways, and will walk in my law, just as you also have walked before me.’

Now, therefore, O Yahweh—God of Israel, keep thou, for thy servant David my father, that which thou didst promise him, saying, There shall not be cut off to thee a man, from before me, to sit upon the throne of Israel, if only, thy sons take heed to their way, to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me.

17 And now, O Lord God of Israel, let your word be confirmed that you spoke to your servant David.

Now, therefore, O Yahweh, God of Israel, -verified be thy promise, which thou didst make unto thy servant David.

18 How then is it to be believed that God would dwell with men upon the earth? If heaven and the heavens of the heavens do not contain you, how much less this house that I have built?

But, in very deed, will God dwell with man on the earth? Lo! the heavens, even the leaven of heavens, cannot contain thee, how much less this house which I have built!

19 But it has been done for this only, so that you may look with favor upon the prayer of your servant, and on his supplication, O Lord my God, and so that you may hear the prayers which your servant pours out before you,

Wilt thou then turn unto the prayer of thy servant and unto his supplication, O Yahweh my God, —to hearken unto the cry and unto the prayer, wherewith thy servant is praying before thee:

20 and so that you may open your eyes over this house, day and night, over the place where you promised that your name would be invoked,

that thine eyes may be open toward this house, day and night, toward the place of which thou hast said thou wouldst set thy Name there, —to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant may pray towards this place:

21 and so that you may heed the prayer which your servant is praying within it, and so that you may heed the prayers of your servant and of your people Israel. Whoever will pray in this place, listen from your habitation, that is, from heaven, and forgive.

wilt thou therefore hearken unto the supplications of thy servant, and thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place, —yea wilt, thou thyself, hear, out of thine own dwelling-place, out of the heavens, and, when thou hearest, then wilt thou forgive?

22 If anyone will have sinned against his neighbor, and he arrives to swear against him, and to bind himself with a curse before the altar in this house,

If a man shall sin against his neighbour, and there shall be laid upon him an oath, to put him on oath, —and an oath shall come before thine altar in this house,

23 you will hear him from heaven, and you will execute justice for your servants, so that you return, to the iniquitous man, his own way upon his own head, and so that you vindicate the just man, repaying him according to his own justice.

then wilt, thou thyself, hear out of the heavens, and act, and judge thy servants, bringing back unto the lawless, to set his way upon his own head, —and justifying the righteous, by giving to him, according to his righteousness?

24 If your people Israel will have been overwhelmed by their enemies, (for they will sin against you) and having been converted will do penance, and if they will have beseeched your name, and will have prayed in this place,

Or, if thy people Israel be smitten before an enemy, because they have been sinning against thee, —and they turn, and confess thy Name, and pray and make supplication before thee, in this house,

25 you will heed them from heaven, and you will forgive the sin of your people Israel, and you will lead them back into the land that you gave to them and to their fathers.

then wilt, thou thyself, hear out of the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, —and bring them back unto the soil, which thou didst give to them and to their fathers?

26 If the heavens have been closed, so that rain does not fall, because of the sin of the people, and if they will petition you in this place, and confess to your name, and be converted from their sins when you will afflict them,

When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain, because they have been sinning against thee, —and they shall pray towards this place, and shall confess thy Name, from their sin, shall return, because thou hast been afflicting them,

27 heed them from heaven, O Lord, and forgive the sins of your servants and of your people Israel, and teach them the good way, by which they may advance, and give rain to the land that you gave to your people as a possession.

then wilt, thou thyself, hear [out of] the heavens and forgive the sin of thy servants, and thy people Israel, that thou mayest direct them into the good way, wherein they should walk, —and give rain, upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy people, for an inheritance?

28 If a famine will have risen up in the land, or pestilence, or fungus, or mildew, or locusts, or beetles, or if enemies will have laid waste to the countryside and will have besieged the gates of the cities, or whatever scourge or infirmity will have pressed upon them,

When there shall be, a famine, in the land, when there shall be, a pestilence, —when there shall be, blasting or mildew, locust or caterpillar, —when their enemy shall besiege them in the land at their own gates-whatsoever plague or whatsoever sickness; -

29 if anyone from your people Israel, knowing his own scourge and infirmity, will have made supplication and will have extended his hands in this house,

whatsoever prayer, whatsoever supplication, which any son of earth may have, or any of thy people Israel, —when any man shall come to know his plague, or his pain, and so he shall spread abroad his hands towards this house—

30 you will heed him from heaven, indeed from your sublime habitation, and you will forgive, and you will repay each one according to his ways, which you know him to hold in his heart. For you alone know the hearts of the sons of men.

then wilt, thou thyself, hear out of the heavens, the settled place of thine abode, and forgive, and grant to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou wilt know, —for, thou thyself alone, knowest the heart of the sons of men:

31 So may they fear you, and so may they walk in your ways, during all the days that they live upon the face of the land, which you gave to our fathers.

to the end they may revere thee, to walk in thy ways, all the days which they shall be living upon the face of the soil, —which thou gavest unto their fathers?

32 Also, if the outsider, who is not from your people Israel, will have arrived from a far away land, because of your great name, and because of your robust hand and your outstretched arm, and if he will adore in this place,

Moreover also, unto the stranger who is not, of thy people Israel, but he shall come in out of a far country—for the sake of thy great Name, and of thy strong hand, and of thine outstretched arm, —and so they shall come in and pray towards this house,

33 you will heed him from heaven, your most firm habitation, and you will accomplish all the things about which this sojourner will have called out to you, so that all the people of the earth may know your name, and may fear you, just as your people Israel do, and so that they may know that your name is invoked over this house, which I have built.

then wilt, thou thyself, hear out of the heavens, out of the settled place of thine abode, and do according to all for which the stranger shall cry unto thee, —to the end that all the peoples of the earth may know thy Name, so as to revere thee like thy people Israel, and know that, thy Name, hath been given unto this house, which I have built?

34 If, having gone out to war against their adversaries along the way that you will send them, your people adore you facing in the direction of this city, which you have chosen, and of this house, which I have built to your name,

When thy people shall go forth to war against their enemies, whithersoever thou mayest send them, —and shall pray unto thee in the direction of this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy Name,

35 you will heed their prayers from heaven, and their supplications, and you will vindicate them.

then wilt thou hear, out of the heavens, their prayer and their supplication, —and maintain their right.

36 But if they will have sinned against you (for there is no man who does not sin) and you will have become angry against them, and if you will have delivered them to their enemies, and so they lead them away as captives to a far away land, or even to one that is near,

When they sin against thee—for there is no son of earth who sinneth not—and thou shalt be angry with them, and deliver them up before an enemy, —who shall carry them away as their captives into a land—far away or near;

37 and if, having been converted in their heart in the land to which they had been led as captives, they will do penance, and beseech you in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have acted unjustly,’

and they come back to their right mind, in the land whither they have been taken captive, —and so turn and make supplication unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done perversely, and been lawless; —

38 and if they will have returned to you, with their whole heart and with their whole soul, in the land of their captivity to which they were led away, and if they will adore you in the direction of their own land, which you gave to their fathers, and of the city, which you have chosen, and of the house, which I have built to your name,

and so turn unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captive, —and shall pray in the direction of their own land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and the city which thou hast chosen, and unto the house which I have built for thy Name,

39 from heaven, that is, from your firm habitation, you will heed their prayers, and you will accomplish judgment, and you will forgive your people, even though they are sinners.

then wilt thou hear out of the heavens—out of the settled place of thine abode—their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, —and forgive thy people, that wherein they sinned against thee?

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

Now, O my God, let—I beseech thee—thine eyes be open, and thine ears attent, —unto the prayer of this place.

41 Now therefore, rise up, O Lord God, to your resting place, you and the ark of your strength. Let your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let your holy ones rejoice in what is good.

Now, therefore, arise! O Yahweh God, unto thy rest, thou, and the ark of thy strength: Thy priests, O Yahweh God, let them be clothed with salvation, and, thy men of lovingkindness, let them rejoice in prosperity.

42 O Lord God, may you not turn away from the face of your Christ. Remember the mercies of your servant, David.”

O Yahweh God! do not turn away thy face from thine Anointed One, —oh remember lovingkindness unto David thy servant.