2 Chronicles 6

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

Then said Solomon, “The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

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

And I have indeed built a dwelling-house for thee, and have settled a place for thy abode for ever.”

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

And the king turned his face, and blessed the whole congregation of Israel, and all the congregation of Israel was standing.

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, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hands fulfilled it, when he said,

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;

Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt, I did not make choice of any city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, that my name might be therein; nor did I make choice of any man to be a ruler over my people of Israel;

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

But I have made choice of Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and I have made choice 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,

And it was in the heart of David my father to build 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 unto David my father, Whereas it was in thy heart to build a house unto my name, thou didst well in that it was in thy heart:

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.

Nevertheless thou shalt not thyself build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto 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 hath fulfilled his word that he hath spoken; and I am risen up in the stead of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord hath spoken, and I have built the house unto 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 I have placed there the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord which he hath made with the children of Israel.

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

And he now placed himself before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands;

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 laver of copper, and had placed it in the midst of the out-court, five cubits being its length, five cubits its breadth, and three cubits its height; and he placed himself upon it, and kneeled down upon his knees in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward 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 God of Israel, there is no god like thee in the heavens, or on the earth, thou who keepest the covenant, and the kindness for thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart;

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.

Who has kept for thy servant David my father that which thou hadst promised him; and thou spokest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thy hand, as it is 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.

And now, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for thy servant David my father that which thou hast spoken concerning him, saying, There shall never fail thee a man in my sight who sitteth on the throne of Israel, if thy children but take heed to their way to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me.

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

And now, O Lord, the God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant, unto 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?

For, in truth, will God then dwell with men on the earth? behold, the heavens and the heavens of heavens cannot contain thee: how much less then this house that I have built!

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,

Yet wilt thou turn thy regard unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to listen unto the entreaty and the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee:

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 thy eyes may be open toward this house day and night, toward the place of which thou hast said that thou wouldst put thy name there; that thou mayest listen unto the prayer which thy servant will pray at 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 listen thou to the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they will pray at this place: and oh, do thou hear from thy dwelling-place, from heaven; and hear, and forgive.

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 any man trespass against his neighbor, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thy altar 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 do thou hear from heaven, and act, and judge thy servants, by requiting the wicked, to bring his way upon his own head; and by justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

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 thy people Israel be struck down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and they return and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication before thee 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 do thou hear from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and cause them to return unto the land which thou hast given 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 the heavens be shut up, and there he no rain, because they have sinned against thee, and they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, because thou hast afflicted 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 do thou hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel; for thou wilt direct them unto the good way, wherein they should walk; and give then rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance.

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 be famine in the land, if there be pestilence, blasting, or mildew, if there be locusts, or caterpillars; if their enemies besiege them in their land, in their gates at whatsoever plague, and at whatsoever sickness;

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—

What prayer and what supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, when they shall be conscious every man of his plague and his pain, and he then spread forth his hands toward 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 do thou hear from heaven the place of thy dwelling, and forgive, and give to every man in accordance with all his ways, as thou mayest know his heart; for thou, thyself alone, knowest the heart 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.

In order that they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, all the days that they live on the face of the land which thou hast given unto 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—

But also to the stranger, who is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far-off country for the sake of thy great name, and of thy mighty hand, and of thy outstretched arm, — if they come and pray in 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.

Mayest thou likewise listen from heaven, from the place of thy dwelling, and do according to all that the stranger will call on thee for: in order that all people of the earth may know thy name, both to fear thee, as do thy people Israel, and to understand that this house, which I have built, is called by thy 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 thy people go out to battle against their enemies on the way on which thou mayest send them, and they do pray unto thee in the direction of this city which thou hast chosen, and of the house that I have built unto thy name:

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

Then hear thou from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and procure them justice.

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 sin against thee—for there is no man that may not sin, —and thou be angry with them, and give them up before the enemy, so that their captors carry them away captive unto 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 then take it to their heart in the land whither they have been carried captive, and repent and make supplication unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have committed iniquity, and have acted wickedly;

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—

And they return unto thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have been carried captive, and they pray in the direction of their land, which thou hast given unto their fathers, and of the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built unto thy 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 hear thou from heaven, from the place of thy dwelling, their prayer and their supplications, and procure them justice, and forgive thy people for what they have sinned against thee.

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

Now, my God, let I beseech thee, thy eyes be open, and thy ears be attentive unto the prayer on 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.

And now arise, O Lord God, unto thy resting-place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O Lord God, clothe themselves with salvation, and let thy pious servants rejoice in happiness.

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, turn not away the face of thy anointed: remember the pious deeds of David thy servant.