2 Chronicles 6

1 Then said Solomon, The LORD has said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

Then said Solomon, 'Jehovah said — to dwell in thick darkness,

2 But I have built an house of habitation for you, and a place for your dwelling for ever.

and I — I have built a house of habitation for Thee, and a fixed place for Thy dwelling to the ages.'

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

And the king turneth round his face, and blesseth the whole assembly of Israel, and the whole assembly of Israel is standing,

4 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who has with his hands fulfilled that which he spoke with his mouth to my father David, saying,

and he saith, 'Blessed [is] Jehovah, God of Israel, who hath spoken with His mouth with David my father, and with His hands hath fulfilled [it], saying:

5 Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build an house in, that my name might be there; neither chose I any man to be a ruler over my people Israel:

'From the day that I brought out My people from the land of Egypt, I have not fixed on a city out of any of the tribes of Israel to build a house for my name being there, and I have not fixed on a man to be leader over My people Israel;

6 But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel.

and I fix on Jerusalem for My name being there, and I fix on David to be over My people Israel.

7 Now it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

'And it is with the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of Jehovah God of Israel,

8 But the LORD said to David my father, Forasmuch as it was in your heart to build an house for my name, you did well in that it was in your heart:

and Jehovah saith unto David my father, Because that it hath been with thy heart to build a house for My name, thou hast done well that it hath been with thy heart,

9 Notwithstanding you shall not build the house; but your son which shall come forth out of your loins, he shall build the house for my name.

but thou dost not build the house, for thy son who cometh forth out from thy loins, he doth build the house for My name.

10 The LORD therefore has performed his word that he has spoken: for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and am set on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

'And Jehovah doth establish His word that He spake, and I rise up in the stead of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as Jehovah spake, and I build the house for the name of Jehovah, God of Israel,

11 And in it have I put the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD, that he made with the children of Israel.

and I place there the ark, where [is] the covenant of Jehovah that He made with the sons of Israel.'

12 And he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands:

And he standeth before the altar of Jehovah, over-against all the assembly of Israel, and spreadeth out his hand, —

13 For Solomon had made a brazen scaffold of five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court: and upon it he stood, and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven.

for Solomon hath made a scaffold of brass, and putteth it in the midst of the court, five cubits its length, and five cubits its breadth, and three cubits its height, and he standeth upon it, and kneeleth on his knees over-against all the assembly of Israel, and spreadeth forth his hands towards the heavens —

14 And said, O LORD God of Israel, there is no God like you in the heaven, nor in the earth; which keep covenant, and show mercy unto your servants, that walk before you with all their hearts:

and saith, 'O Jehovah God of Israel, there is not like Thee a god in the heavens and in the earth, keeping the covenant and the kindness for Thy servants who are walking before Thee with all their heart;

15 You which have kept with your servant David my father that which you have promised him; and spoke with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is this day.

who hast kept for Thy servant David my father that which Thou didst speak to him; yea, Thou dost speak with Thy mouth, and with Thy hand hast fulfilled [it], as at this day.

16 Now therefore, O LORD 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 upon the throne of Israel; yet so that your children take heed to their way to walk in my law, as you have walked before me.

'And now, O Jehovah, God of Israel, keep for Thy servant David my father that which Thou didst speak to him, saying, There is not cut off to thee a man from before Me, sitting on the throne of Israel, only, if thy sons watch their way to walk in My law, as thou hast walked before Me.

17 Now then, O LORD God of Israel, let your word be verified, which you have spoken unto your servant David.

'And now, O Jehovah, God of Israel, is Thy word stedfast that Thou hast spoken to Thy servant, to David,

18 But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain you; how much less this house which I have built!

(for is it true? — God dwelleth with man on the earth! Lo, the heavens, and the heavens of the heavens, do not contain Thee, how much less this house that I have built?)

19 Have respect therefore to the prayer of your servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which your servant prays before you:

'And Thou hast turned unto the prayer of Thy servant, and unto his supplication, O Jehovah my God, to hearken unto the cry and unto the prayer that Thy servant is praying before Thee,

20 That your eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place whereof you have said that you would put your name there; to hearken unto the prayer which your servant prays toward this place.

for Thine eyes being open towards this house by day and by night, towards the place that Thou hast said to put Thy name there, to hearken unto the prayer that Thy servant prayeth towards this place.

21 Hearken therefore unto the supplications of your servant, and of your people Israel, which they shall make toward this place: hear you from your dwelling place, even from heaven; and when you hear, forgive.

'And Thou hast hearkened unto the supplications of Thy servant, and of Thy people Israel, that they pray towards this place, and Thou dost hear from the place of Thy dwelling, from the heavens, and hast hearkened, and forgiven.

22 If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to make him swear, and the oath come before your altar in this house;

'If a man doth sin against his neighbour, and he hath lifted up on him an oath to cause him to swear, and the oath hath come in before Thine altar in this house —

23 Then hear you from heaven, and do, and judge your servants, by requiting the wicked, by recompensing his way upon his own head; and by justifying the righteous, by giving him according to his righteousness.

then Thou dost hear from the heavens, and hast done, and hast judged Thy servants, to give back to the wicked, to put his way on his head, and to declare righteous the righteous, to give to him according to his righteousness.

24 And if your people Israel be put to the worse before the enemy, because they have sinned against you; and shall return and confess your name, and pray and make supplication before you in this house;

'And if Thy people Israel is smitten before an enemy, because they sin against Thee, and they have turned back and confessed Thy name, and prayed and made supplication before Thee in this house —

25 Then hear you from the heavens, and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which you gave to them and to their fathers.

then Thou dost hear from the heavens, and hast forgiven the sin of Thy people Israel, and caused them to turn back unto the ground that Thou hast given to them, and to their fathers.

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

'In the heavens being restrained, and there is no rain, because they sin against Thee, and they have prayed towards this place, and confessed Thy name — from their sin they turn back because Thou dost afflict them —

27 Then hear you from heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, when you have taught them the good way, wherein they should walk; and send rain upon your land, which you have given unto your people for an inheritance.

then Thou dost hear in the heavens, and hast forgiven the sin of Thy servants, and of Thy people Israel, because Thou directest them unto the good way in which they walk, and hast given rain on Thy land that Thou hast given to Thy people for an inheritance.

28 If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillars; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be:

'Famine, when it is in the land, pestilence, when it is, blasting, and mildew, locust, and caterpillar, when they are, when its enemies have distressed it in the land — its gates, any plague and any sickness;

29 Then what prayer or what supplication whatsoever shall be made of any man, or of all your people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house:

any prayer, any supplication that is for any man, and for all Thy people Israel, when they know each his own plague, and his own pain, and he hath spread out his hands towards this house:

30 Then hear you from heaven your dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart you know; (for you only know the hearts of the children of men: )

then Thou dost hear from the heavens, the settled place of Thy dwelling, and hast forgiven, and hast given to each according to all his ways (because Thou knowest his heart, for Thou — Thou only — hast known the heart of the sons of men),

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

so that they fear Thee, to walk in Thy ways, all the days that they are living on the face of the ground that Thou hast given to our fathers.

32 Moreover concerning the stranger, which is not of your people Israel, but has come from a far country for your great name's sake, and your mighty hand, and your stretched out arm; if they come and pray in this house;

'And also, unto the stranger who is not of Thy people Israel, and he hath come from a land afar off for the sake of Thy great name, and Thy strong hand, and Thy stretched-out arm, and they have come in and prayed towards this house:

33 Then hear you from the heavens, even from your dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calls to you for; that all people of the earth may know your name, and fear you, as does your people Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called by your name.

then Thou dost hear from the heavens, from the settled place of Thy dwelling, and hast done according to all that the stranger calleth unto Thee for: so that all the peoples of the earth do know Thy name, so as to fear Thee, as Thy people Israel, and to know that Thy name is called on this house that I have built.

34 If your people go out to war against their enemies by the way that you shall send them, and they pray unto you toward this city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name;

'When Thy people doth go out to battle against its enemies in the way that Thou dost send them, and they have prayed unto Thee the way of this city that Thou hast fixed on, and the house that I have built for Thy name:

35 Then hear you from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

then Thou hast heard from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and hast maintained their cause.

36 If they sin against you, (for there is no man which sins not, ) and you be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near;

'When they sin against Thee — for there is not a man who sinneth not — and Thou hast been angry with them, and hast given them before an enemy, and taken them captive have their captors, unto a land far off or near;

37 Yet if they call to reflect themselves in the land where they are carried captive, and turn and pray unto you in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly;

and they have turned [it] back unto their heart in the land whither they have been taken captive, and have turned back, and made supplication unto Thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done perversely, and have done wickedly;

38 If they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have carried them captives, and pray toward their land, which you gave unto their fathers, and toward the city which you have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for your name:

yea, they have turned back unto Thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their captivity, whither they have taken them captive, and they have prayed the way of their land that Thou hast given to their fathers, and of the city that Thou hast chosen, and of the house that I have built for Thy name:

39 Then hear you from the heavens, even from your dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive your people which have sinned against you.

then Thou hast heard from the heavens, from the settled place of Thy dwelling, their prayer and their supplications, and hast maintained their cause, and forgiven Thy people who have sinned against Thee.

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

'Now, my God, let, I beseech Thee, Thine eyes be open, and Thine ears attentive, to the prayer of this place:

41 Now therefore arise, O LORD God, into your resting place, you, and the ark of your strength: let your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and let your saints rejoice in goodness.

and now, rise, O Jehovah God, to Thy rest, Thou, and the ark of Thy strength; Thy priests, O Jehovah God, are clothed with salvation, and Thy saints rejoice in the goodness,

42 O LORD God, turn not away the face of your anointed: remember the mercies of David your servant.

O Jehovah God, turn not back the face of Thine anointed, be mindful of the kind acts of David Thy servant.'