2 Chronicles 6

1 Then Solomon spoke, “The Lord said that he lives in deep darkness.

Then Solomon said, “Yahweh, you said that you would live in a dark cloud.

2 However, I have built you a magnificent Temple, a place for you to live forever.”

But now I have built a glorious temple for you to live in forever!”

3 Then the king turned and blessed the whole assembly of Israel, as they all stood.

Then while all the people stood there, Solomon turned toward the people and he [asked God to] bless them.

4 He said, “Praise the Lord God of Israel, who has kept the promise he made to my father David when he said,

He said to them, “Praise Yahweh, the God to whom we Israelis belong, who has caused to happen what he promised to my father David. What he said to David was this:

5 ‘Ever since the day I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I have not chosen a town from any tribe of Israel where a Temple could be built to honor me, and I have not chosen anyone to be ruler over my people Israel.

‘From the time that I brought my people out of Egypt, I have never chosen a city in Israel in which a temple should be built for people to [worship] me there. Nor did I choose anyone to be the leader of my Israeli people.

6 But now I have chosen Jerusalem so that I will be honored there, and I have chosen David to rule over my people Israel.’

But now I have chosen Jerusalem to be the place for people to worship me, and I have chosen you to rule my Israeli people.’”

7 My father David really wanted to build this Temple to honor the Lord, the God of Israel.

[Then Solomon said], “My father David wanted to build a temple for Yahweh, the God to whom we Israelis belong.

8 But the Lord told my father David, ‘You really wanted to build me a Temple to honor me—and it was good for you to want to do this.

But Yahweh said to him, ‘You have wanted to build a temple for me, and what you wanted to do was good.

9 But you are not going to build the Temple. Your son, one of your children, will build the Temple to honor me.’

However, you are not the one who I want to build the temple; it is one of your own sons who [I want to] build a temple for me.’

10 Now the Lord has kept the promise he made. For I have taken the place of my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel as the Lord said, and I have built the Temple to honor the Lord God of Israel.

“And Yahweh has done what he promised to do. I have become the king of Israel to succeed my father, and I am ruling the people, like Yahweh promised, and I have arranged for this temple to be built for us to worship Yahweh, the God to whom we Israelis belong.

11 I have placed the Ark there, which has inside it the agreement the Lord made with the sons of Israel.”

I have put the Sacred Chest in the temple, in which are the stone tablets [on which are engraved the Ten Commandments of] the agreement that Yahweh made with us Israeli people.”

12 Then Solomon stood in front of the altar of the Lord before the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands in prayer.

Then Solomon stood in front of the altar which was in front of the people of Israel who had gathered there.

13 Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high. He had set it in the middle of the courtyard, and he was standing on it. Then he knelt down before the whole assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven.

His workers had built a bronze platform there [for him to stand on], which was 7-1/2 feet long and 7-1/2 feet wide and 4-1/2 feet high. They put it in the outer courtyard. Solomon stood on that platform and then knelt down in front of all the people of Israel who had gathered there, and he spread out his arms toward heaven,

14 He said, “Lord God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven or on earth, keeping your agreement of trustworthy love with your servants who follow you with complete devotion.

and he prayed, “Yahweh, the God to whom we Israeli people belong, there is no God like you in heaven or on the earth. You solemnly promised that you would faithfully love us, and that is what you have done for us who earnestly do what you want us to do.

15 You have kept the promise you made to your servant, my father David. With your own mouth you made that promise, and with your own hands you have fulfilled it today.

“You have done the things that you promised my father David, who served you [very well], that you would do. Truly, you promised to do those things for him, and today we see that by your power you have caused it all to happen.

16 So now, Lord God of Israel, please keep the promise you made to your servant David, my father, when you told him, ‘If your descendants pay close attention to follow my way, and to keep my law as you have done, you will never fail to have one of them to sit on the throne of Israel.’

“So now, Yahweh, the God we Israelis belong to, please do the things that you promised to my father David that you would do. You said that there would always be some of his descendants to rule Israel, if they faithfully conduct their lives as he did.

17 Now, Lord God of Israel, please fulfill this promise you made to your servant David.

So now, God of us Israeli people, cause what you promised David, who served you [well], to happen.

18 But will God really live here on earth among people? The heavens, even highest heaven, cannot contain you, much less this Temple I have built!

“But, my God, will you really live on earth among people? There is surely not enough space for you in the sky, or even in the heaven! So there is surely not enough space for you to live in this temple that my workers have built.

19 Please listen to the prayer of your servant and his request, Lord my God. Please hear the appeals and the prayers that your servant is presenting before you.

But Yahweh, my God, please listen to my prayer, while I am pleading with you this day and do what I am requesting.

20 May you watch over this Temple day and night, caring for the place where you said you would be honored. May you hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place,

Please protect this temple day and night. This is the place about which you have said, ‘I will always be there.’ Please listen to my prayer about this place.

21 and hear the request of your servant and your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Please hear from heaven where you live. May you hear and forgive.

Listen to me when I pray, and listen to your Israeli people when they pray. Listen from heaven, where you live; and when you hear us pray, forgive us.

22 When someone sins against another and is required to take an oath declaring the truth before your altar in this Temple,

“If someone is accused of doing something wrong to another person, and they bring him to testify in front of your altar outside this holy temple, and if he says, ‘I did not do that; may God punish me if I am not telling the truth,’

23 listen from heaven, act and judge your servants. Pay back the guilty; vindicate and reward those who do right.

then you listen from heaven, and you decide who is telling the truth. Then punish the person who is guilty as he deserves to be punished, and declare that the other person is innocent.

24 When your people Israel are defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, and if they come back in repentance to you, praying for forgiveness in this Temple,

“And when your Israeli people are defeated by their enemies because they sinned against you, [and forced to go to some distant country, ] if they turn away from their sinful behavior and turn toward this temple and admit [that] you [have justly punished them], and plead [that you will forgive them],

25 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave them and their forefathers.

listen to them from heaven and forgive your Israeli people for the sins that they [have committed], and bring them back to this land that you gave to our ancestors.

26 If the skies are closed shut and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and if they come back in repentance to you, turning away from their sin because you have punished them,

“When you do not allow any rain to fall because your people have sinned against you, if they turn toward this temple and admit [that] you [have justly punished them], and turn away from their sinful behavior and humbly pray to you,

27 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the good way so that they can walk on it, and send rain on the earth that you have given to your people as their possession.

hear from heaven and forgive the sins of your Israeli people. Teach them the right way to conduct their lives. Then cause it to rain here on the land that you gave to your people to belong to them [permanently].

28 If there is famine in the land, or disease, or blight or mildew on the crops, or if there are locusts or caterpillars, or if an enemy comes to lay siege to the towns in the land—it can be whatever kind of plague or whatever kind of disease—

“And when the people of this land experience famines or if there is a plague, or when their crops are destroyed by very hot winds or by mildew or by locusts or grasshoppers, or when their enemies surround any of their cities [in order to attack them], if any of those bad things happen to them,

29 then whatever kind of prayer or whatever kind of appeal is made by anyone or all your people Israel, in fact anyone who, knowing their problems and pains, prays toward this Temple,

when your Israeli people earnestly plead with you, knowing in their inner beings that they are suffering [because they have sinned], if they stretch out their hands toward this temple and pray,

30 then hear from heaven, the place where you live, and forgive. Give according to the way they live their lives, for you know what people are really like inside, and you alone know the true character of people.

hear from your home in heaven, and forgive them. You alone know what each person is thinking, so reward each person according to everything that he does,

31 Then they will respect you and follow your ways all the time they live in the land you gave to our forefathers.

in order that they will revere you and conduct their lives as you want them to, all the time that they live in this land that you gave to our ancestors.

32 As for the foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel but who come from a distant land, having heard of your great nature and power and ability to help, when they come and pray toward this Temple,

“There will be some foreigners who do not belong to your Israeli people who have come here from countries far away because they have heard that you are very great and that you perform great miracles. If they turn toward this temple and pray,

33 then hear from heaven, the place where you live, and give them what they're asking. That way, everyone on earth will come to know and respect you, just as your own people Israel do. They will also know that this Temple I have built honors you.

from your home in heaven listen to their prayer, and do for them what they request you to do. Do that in order that all the people-groups in the world will know about you and revere you, like we, your own Israeli people do. And then they will know that this is the temple that I have caused to be built for you.

34 When your people go to fight against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to you towards the city you have chosen and the house I have built to honor you,

“When you send your people to go to places to attack their enemies, if they pray to you, wherever they are, if they turn toward this city that you have chosen and toward this temple that I have caused to be built to honor you,

35 then hear from heaven what they are praying and asking for, and support their cause.

listen in heaven to their prayers; listen to what they plead for you [to do], and assist them.

36 If they sin against you—and there is nobody who does not sin—you may become angry with them and hand them over to an enemy who takes them away as prisoners to a foreign land, near or far.

[“It is true that] everyone sins. So, when your people sin against you, and you become angry with them, you may allow their enemies to capture them and take them to their countries, even to countries that are far away.

37 But if they think again in their land of captivity and repent and plead for mercy from you, saying, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly,’

When that happens, while they are in the countries to which they were forced to go, if they are sorry for having sinned, if they say, ‘We have sinned; we have done things that are wrong and have done things that are very wicked,’

38 and they come back to you with complete sincerity in their thoughts and attitudes there in their land of captivity; and they pray towards the land you gave their forefathers and the city you chose and the Temple I have built to honor you,

if they repent very sincerely, and if they turn toward this land that you gave to our ancestors, and toward this city that you have chosen [to be the place where we should worship you], and toward this temple that I have caused to be built for you and pray,

39 then hear from heaven, the place where you live, respond and support their cause. Forgive your people who have sinned against you.

then from your home in heaven hear their prayer, and listen to them while they plead [for your help], and do what they ask you to do, and forgive your people who have sinned against you.

40 Now my God, please open your eyes, and may your ears pay attention to the prayers offered in this place.

“Now, my God, look at us and listen to us as we pray to you in this place.

41 ‘Come, Lord, and enter your home, together with your Ark of power. May your priests wear salvation like clothing; may your faithful people shout for joy in your goodness.

Yahweh our God, come and stay in this place with the Sacred Chest, the chest that shows that you are powerful. Yahweh God, cause your priests to know clearly that you have blessed them. Cause us your people to rejoice because of all the good things [that you do for us].

42 Lord God, don't reject the king you have chosen. Remember your trustworthy love for your servant David.’”

Yahweh God, do not reject me [the king] whom you have appointed [to be the king of Israel]; do not forget that you greatly loved David, who served you [very well].”