2 Chronicles 7

1 And when Solomon had ended praying, the fire came down from the heavens and consumed the burnt-offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of Jehovah filled the house.

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 could not enter into the house of Jehovah, because the glory of Jehovah filled Jehovah's house.

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 saw how the fire came down, and the glory of Jehovah upon the house, and bowed themselves with their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshipped and thanked Jehovah: For he is good, for his loving-kindness [endureth] 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 And the king and all the people offered sacrifices before Jehovah.

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 And king Solomon sacrificed a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.

6 And the priests stood in their charges, and the Levites with Jehovah's instruments of music, which David the king had made to praise Jehovah, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever, when David praised by their means; and the priests sounded the trumpets opposite to them, and all Israel stood.

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 And Solomon hallowed the middle of the court that was before the house of Jehovah; for there he offered the burnt-offerings, and the fat of the peace-offerings, because the brazen altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt-offerings and the oblations 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 And at that time Solomon held the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entrance of Hamath unto the torrent 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 held a solemn assembly; for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast 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 three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their tents, joyful and glad of heart for the goodness that Jehovah 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 And Solomon completed the house of Jehovah, and the king's house; and all that came into Solomon's heart to make in the house of Jehovah, and in his own house, he did prosperously.

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

12 Then Jehovah appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: I have heard thy prayer, and I have chosen for myself this place for a house of sacrifice.

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 I shut up the heavens that there be no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among 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 and my people, who are called by my name, humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from the heavens, and forgive their sin, and heal 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 mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attentive to the prayer [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 now chosen and hallowed this house, that my name may be there for ever; and mine eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually.

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] thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and mine ordinances;

“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 will I establish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to rule over 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 ye turn away and forsake my statutes and my commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them;

“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 will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed to my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword 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, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passes by it; so that he shall say, Why has Jehovah done thus 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 they shall say, Because they forsook Jehovah the God of their fathers, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and have attached themselves to other gods, and have worshipped them and served them; therefore he has brought upon them all this evil.

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.’”