2 Chronicles 6

1 Then Salomon sayd, The Lord hath sayde that he would dwell in the darke cloude:

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

2 And I haue built thee an house to dwell in, an habitation for thee to dwell in for euer.

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

3 And the King turned his face, and blessed all the Congregation of Israel (for all the Congregation of Israel stoode there)

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:

4 And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who spake with his mouth vnto Dauid my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it, saying,

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

5 Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no citie of al the tribes of Israel to buylde an house, that my Name might be there, neyther chose I any man to be a ruler ouer my people Israel:

‘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.

6 But I haue chosen Ierusalem, that my Name might be there, and haue chosen Dauid to be ouer my people Israel.

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.’

7 And it was in the heart of Dauid my father to builde an house vnto the Name of the Lord God of Israel,

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

8 But the Lord sayde to Dauid my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to buylde an house vnto my Name, thou diddest well, that thou wast so minded.

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.

9 Notwithstanding thou shalt not build the house, but thy sonne which shall come out of thy loynes, he shall buylde an house vnto my Name.

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

10 And the Lord hath performed his worde that he spake: and I am risen vp in the roume of Dauid my father, and am set on the throne of Israel as the Lord promised, and haue built an house to the Name of the Lord God of Israel.

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.

11 And I haue set the Arke there, wherein is the couenant of the Lord, that he made with the children of Israel.

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

12 And the King stoode before the altar of the Lord, in the presence of all the Congregation of Israel, and stretched out his hands,

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

13 (For Salomon had made a brasen skaffold and set it in the middes of the court, of fiue cubites long, and fiue cubites broade, and three cubites of height, and vpon it he stoode, and kneeled downe vpon his knees before all the Congregation of Israel, and stretched out his hands toward heauen)

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,

14 And sayd, O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heauen nor in earth, which keepest couenant, and mercie vnto thy seruants, that walke before thee with all their heart.

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.

15 Thou that hast kept with thy seruant Dauid my father, that thou hast promised him: for thou spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as appeareth this day.

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.

16 Therefore now Lord God of Israel, keepe with thy seruant Dauid my father, that thou hast promised him, saying, Thou shalt not want a man in my sight, that shall sit vpon the throne of Israel: so that thy sonnes take heede to their wayes, to walke in my Lawe, as thou hast walked before me.

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.’

17 And now, O Lord God of Israel, let thy worde be verified, which thou spakest vnto thy seruant Dauid.

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

18 (Is it true in deede that God will dwell with man on earth? beholde, the heauens, and the heauens of heauens are not able to conteine thee: how much more vnable is this house, which I haue buylt?)

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?

19 But haue thou respect to the prayer of thy seruant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to heare the crye and prayer which thy seruant prayeth before thee,

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,

20 That thine eyes may be open toward this house day and night, euen toward the place, whereof thou hast sayde, that thou wouldest put thy Name there, that thou mayest hearken vnto the prayer, which thy seruant prayeth in this place.

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,

21 Heare thou therefore the supplication of thy seruant, and of thy people Israel, which they pray in this place: and heare thou in the place of thine habitation, euen in heauen, and when thou hearest, be mercifull.

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.

22 When a man shall sinne against his neighbour, and he laye vpon him an othe to cause him to sweare, and the swearer shall come before thine altar in this house,

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,

23 Then heare thou in heauen, and doe, and iudge thy seruants, in recompensing the wicked to bring his way vpon his head, and in iustifying the righteous, to giue him according to his righteousnes.

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.

24 And when thy people Israel shalbe ouerthrowen before the enemie, because they haue sinned against thee, and turne againe, and confesse thy Name, and pray, and make supplication before thee in this house,

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,

25 Then heare thou in heauen, and be mercifull vnto the sinne of thy people Israel, and bring them againe vnto the land which thou gauest to them and to their fathers.

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.

26 When heauen shall be shut vp, and there shalbe no rayne, because they haue sinned against thee, and shall pray in this place, and confesse thy Name, and turne from their sinne, when thou doest afflict them,

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,

27 Then heare thou in heauen, and pardon the sinne of thy seruants, and of thy people Israel (when thou hast taught them the good way wherein they may walke) and giue rayne vpon thy lande, which thou hast giuen vnto thy people for an inheritance.

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.

28 When there shalbe famine in the land, when there shalbe pestilence, blasting, or mildew, when there shall be grashopper, or caterpiller, when their enemie shall besiege them in the cities of their land, or any plague or any sickenesse,

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,

29 Then what prayer and supplication so euer shalbe made of any man, or of all thy people Israel, whe euery one shall knowe his owne plague, and his owne disease, and shall stretch forth his hands toward this house,

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,

30 Heare thou then in heauen, thy dwelling place, and be merciful, and giue euery man according vnto all his wayes, as thou doest knowe his heart (for thou onely knowest the hearts of the children of men)

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.

31 That they may feare thee, and walke in thy wayes as long as they liue in the land which thou gauest vnto our fathers.

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.

32 Moreouer, as touching ye stranger which is not of thy people Israel, who shall come out of a farre countrey for thy great Names sake, and thy mighty hande, and thy stretched out arme: when they shall come and pray in this house,

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,

33 Heare thou in heauen thy dwelling place, and doe according to all that the stranger calleth for vnto thee, that all the people of the earth may knowe thy Name, and feare thee like thy people Israel, and that they may knowe, that thy Name is called vpon in this house which I haue built.

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.

34 When thy people shall goe out to battell against their enemies, by the way that thou shalt send them, and they pray to thee, in the way towarde this citie, which thou hast chosen, euen toward the house which I haue built to thy Name,

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,

35 Then heare thou in heauen their prayer and their supplication, and iudge their cause.

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

36 If they sinne against thee (for there is no man that sinneth not) and thou be angry with them and deliuer them vnto the enemies, and they take them and cary them away captiue vnto a land farre or neere,

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,

37 If they turne againe to their heart in the lande whither they be caryed in captiues, and turne and pray vnto thee in the lande of their captiuitie, saying, We haue sinned, we haue transgressed and haue done wickedly,

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,’

38 If they turne againe to thee with all their heart, and with all their soule in the land of their captiuitie, whither they haue caryed them captiues, and pray toward their land, which thou gauest vnto their fathers, and toward the citie which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I haue built for thy Name,

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,

39 Then heare thou in heauen, in the place of thine habitation their prayer and their supplication, and iudge their cause, and be mercifull vnto thy people, which haue sinned against thee.

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.

40 Nowe my God, I beseech thee, let thine eyes be open, and thine eares attent vnto the prayer that is made in this place.

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.

41 Nowe therefore arise, O Lord God, to come into thy rest, thou, and the Arke of thy strength: O Lord God, let thy Priestes be clothed with saluation, and let thy Saints reioyce in goodnesse.

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.

42 O Lord God, refuse not the face of thine anoynted: remember the mercies promised to Dauid thy seruant.

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