2 Chronicles 6

1 Then Solomon said, “YHWH said [He would] dwell in thick darkness,

Then Solomon said, O Lord, to the sun you have given the heaven for a living-place, but your living-place was not seen by men,

2 and I have built a house of habitation for You, and a fixed place for Your dwelling for all ages.”

So I have made for you a living-place, a house in which you may be for ever present.

3 And the king turns around his face, and blesses the whole assembly of Israel, and the whole assembly of Israel is standing,

Then, turning his face about, the king gave a blessing to all the men of Israel; and they were all on their feet together.

4 and he says, “Blessed [is] YHWH, God of Israel, who has spoken with His mouth with my father David, and with His hands has fulfilled [it], saying,

And he said, Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who himself gave his word to my father David, and with his strong hand has made his word come true, saying,

5 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;

From the day when I took my people out of the land of Egypt, no town in all the tribes of Israel has been marked out by me for the building of a house for the resting-place of my name; and I took no man to be a ruler over my people Israel;

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

But now I have made selection of Jerusalem, that my name might be there, and of David, to be over my people Israel.

7 And it is with the heart of my father David to build a house for the Name of YHWH God of Israel,

Now it was in the heart of my father David to put up a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

8 and YHWH says to my father David, Because that it has been with your heart to build a house for My Name, you have done well that it has been with your heart,

But the Lord said to David my father, You did well to have in your heart the desire to make a house for my name:

9 but you do not build the house, for your son who comes forth out from your loins, he builds the house for My Name.

But you yourself will not be the builder of the house; but your son, the offspring of your body, he it is who will put up a house for my name.

10 And YHWH establishes His word that He spoke, and I rise up in the stead of my father David, and sit on the throne of Israel, as YHWH spoke, and I build the house for the Name of YHWH, God of Israel,

And the Lord has kept his word; for I have taken my father David's place on the seat of the kingdom of Israel, as the Lord gave his word; and I have made the house for the name of the Lord the God of Israel.

11 and I place the Ark there, where the covenant of YHWH [is] that He made with the sons of Israel.”

And there I have put the ark, in which is the agreement of the Lord, which he made with the people of Israel.

12 And he stands before the altar of YHWH, in front of all the assembly of Israel, and spreads out his hand—

Then he took his place in front of the altar of the Lord, all the men of Israel being present,

13 for Solomon has made a scaffold of bronze, and puts it in the midst of the court, five cubits its length, and five cubits its breadth, and three cubits its height, and he stands on it, and kneels on his knees in front of all the assembly of Israel, and spreads forth his hands toward the heavens—

(For Solomon had made a brass stage, five cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high, and had put it in the middle of the open space; on this he took his place and went down on his knees before all the meeting of Israel, stretching out his hands to heaven.)

14 and says, “O YHWH God of Israel, there is not like You a god in the heavens and in the earth, keeping the covenant and the kindness for Your servants who are walking before You with all their heart;

And he said, O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth; keeping faith and mercy unchanging for your servants, while they go in your ways with all their hearts;

15 who has kept for Your servant, my father David, that which You spoke to him; indeed, You speak with Your mouth, and with Your hand have fulfilled [it], as at this day.

For you have kept the word which you gave to your servant David, my father; with your mouth you said it and with your hand you have made it come true this day.

16 And now, O YHWH, God of Israel, keep for Your servant, my father David, that which You spoke to him, saying, A man of yours is never cut off from before My face, sitting on the throne of Israel—only, if your sons watch their way to walk in My law, as you have walked before Me.

So now, O Lord, the God of Israel, let your word to your servant David, my father, come true, when you said, You will never be without a man to take his place before me on the seat of the kingdom of Israel; if only your children give attention to their ways, walking in my law, as you have done before me.

17 And now, O YHWH, God of Israel, let Your word be steadfast that You have spoken to Your servant, to David.

So now, O Lord, the God of Israel, make your word come true which you said to your servant David.

18 For is it true [that] God dwells with man on the earth? Behold, the heavens, and the heavens of the heavens, do not contain You, how much less this house that I have built?

But is it truly possible that God may be housed with men on earth? see, heaven and the heaven of heavens are not wide enough to be your resting-place: how much less this house which I have made:

19 And You have turned to the prayer of Your servant, and to his supplication, O YHWH my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer that Your servant is praying before You,

Still, let your heart be turned to the prayer of your servant and to his prayer for grace, O Lord my God, and give ear to the cry and the prayer which your servant makes before you;

20 for Your eyes being open toward this house by day and by night, toward the place that You have said to put Your Name there, to listen to the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place.

That your eyes may be open to this house day and night, to this place of which you have said that you would put your name there; to give ear to the prayer which your servant may make, turning to this place.

21 And You have listened to the supplications of Your servant, and of Your people Israel, that they pray toward this place, and You hear from the place of Your dwelling, from the heavens, and have listened, and forgiven.

And give ear to the prayers of your servant and of your people Israel, when they make their prayers, turning to this place; give ear from heaven your living-place; and hearing have mercy.

22 If a man sins against his neighbor, and he has lifted up an oath on him to cause him to swear, and the oath has come in before Your altar in this house—

If a man does wrong to his neighbour and has to take an oath, and comes before your altar to take his oath in this house:

23 then You hear from the heavens, and have done, and have judged Your 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.

Then let your ear be open in heaven, and be the judge of your servants, giving punishment to the wrongdoer, so that his sin may come on his head; and, by your decision, keeping from evil him who has done no wrong.

24 And if Your people Israel is struck before an enemy because they sin against You, and they have turned back and confessed Your Name, and prayed and made supplication before You in this house—

And if your people Israel are overcome in war, because of their sin against you; if they are turned to you again, honouring your name, making prayers and requesting your grace in this house:

25 then You hear from the heavens and have forgiven the sin of Your people Israel, and caused them to return to the ground that You have given to them, and to their fathers.

Then give ear from heaven, and let the sin of your people Israel have forgiveness, and take them back again to the land which you gave to them and to their fathers.

26 In the heavens being restrained and there is no rain because they sin against You, and they have prayed toward this place and confessed Your Name, [and] they turn back from their sin because You afflict them—

When heaven is shut up and there is no rain, because of their sin against you: if they make prayers with their faces turned to this place, honouring your name and turning away from their sin when you send trouble on them:

27 then You hear in the heavens, and have forgiven the sin of Your servants, and of Your people Israel, because You direct them to the good way in which they walk, and have given rain on Your land that You have given to Your people for an inheritance.

Then give ear from heaven, so that the sin of your servants and the sin of your people Israel may have forgiveness, when you make clear to them the good way in which they are to go; and send rain on your land which you have given to your people for their heritage.

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

If there is no food in the land, if there is disease, if the fruits of the earth are damaged by heat or water, locust or worm; if their towns are shut in by their attackers: whatever trouble or whatever disease there may be:

29 any prayer, any supplication that is for any man, and for all Your people Israel, when they each know his own plague, and his own pain, and he has spread out his hands toward this house—

Whatever prayer or request for your grace is made by any man, or by all your people Israel, whatever his trouble may be, whose hands are stretched out to this house:

30 then You hear from the heavens, the settled place of Your dwelling, and have forgiven, and have given to each according to all his ways (because You know his heart, for You alone have known the heart of the sons of men),

Then give ear from heaven your living-place, answering with forgiveness, and give to every man, whose secret heart is open to you, the reward of all his ways; (for you, and you only, have knowledge of the hearts of the children of men; )

31 so that they fear You, to walk in Your ways, all the days that they are living on the face of the ground that You have given to our fathers.

So that they may give you worship, walking in your ways, as long as they are living in the land which you gave to our fathers.

32 And also, to the stranger who is not of Your people Israel, and he has come from a far-off land for the sake of Your great Name, and Your strong hand, and Your outstretched arm, and they have come in and prayed toward this house—

And as for the man from a strange land, who is not of your people Israel but comes from a far country because of the glory of your name and your strong hand and your outstretched arm; when he comes to make his prayer, turning to this house:

33 then You hear from the heavens, from the settled place of Your dwelling, and have done according to all that the stranger calls to You for, so that all the peoples of the earth know Your Name, so as to fear You, as Your people Israel, and to know that Your Name is called on this house that I have built.

Then give ear from heaven your living-place, and give him his desire, whatever it may be; so that all the peoples of the earth may have knowledge of your name, worshipping you as do your people Israel, and may see that this house which I have made is truly named by your name.

34 When Your people go out to battle against its enemies in the way that You send them, and they have prayed to You [in] the way of this city that You have fixed on, and the house that I have built for Your Name—

If your people go out to war against their attackers, by whatever way you may send them, if they make their prayers to you turning their faces to this town of yours and to this house which I have put up for your name:

35 then You have heard their prayer and their supplication from the heavens, and have maintained their cause.

Then give ear from heaven to their prayer and their cry for grace, and see right done to them.

36 When they sin against You—for there is not a man who does not sin—and You have been angry with them, and have given them before an enemy, and their captors have taken them captive to a land far off or near;

If they do wrong against you, (for no man is without sin, ) and you are angry with them, and give them up into the power of those who are fighting against them, so that they take them away prisoners to a land far off or near;

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

And if they take thought, in the land where they are prisoners, turning again to you, crying out in prayer to you in that land, and saying, We are sinners, we have done wrong, we have done evil;

38 indeed, they have turned back to You with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their captivity, to where they have taken them captive, and they have prayed [in] the way of their land that You have given to their fathers, and of the city that You have chosen, and of the house that I have built for Your Name—

If with all their heart and soul they are turned again to you, in the land where they are prisoners, the land where they have been taken, and make their prayers, turning their eyes to their land which you gave to their fathers, and to the town which you took for yourself, and the house which I have made for your name:

39 then You have heard from the heavens, from the settled place of Your dwelling, their prayer and their supplications, and have maintained their cause, and forgiven Your people who have sinned against You.

Then give ear from heaven your living-place to their prayer and their cry, and see right done to them, answering with forgiveness your people who have done wrong against you.

40 Now my God, I implore You, let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to the prayer of this place.

Now, O my God, may your eyes be open and your ears awake to the prayers made in this place.

41 And now, rise, O YHWH God, to Your rest, You and the Ark of Your strength; Your priests, O YHWH God, are clothed with salvation, and Your saints rejoice in the goodness.

Up! now, O Lord God, come back to your resting-place, you and the ark of your strength: let your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let your saints be glad in what is good.

42 O YHWH God, do not turn back the face of Your anointed, be mindful of the kind acts of Your servant David.”

O Lord God, let him whom you have taken for yourself never be given up by you: keep in mind your mercies to David your servant.