2 Chronicles 6

1 Then, said Solomon, —Yahweh, said, that he would make his habitation in thick gloom;

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

2 But, I, have built a house as a home for thee, —A settled place for thee to abide in, for ages.

But I have built a house to thy name, holy to thee, and prepared [for thee] to dwell in for ever.

3 And the king turned about his face, and blessed all the convocation of Israel, —while, all the convocation of Israel, was standing;

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

4 and he said, Blessed be Yahweh, God of Israel, who spake with his mouth, unto David my father, -and, with his hand, hath fulfilled, saying:

And he said, Blessed [be] the Lord God of Israel: he has even fulfilled with his hands as he spoke with his mouth to my father David, saying,

5 From the day I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt, I made choice of no city, out of all the tribes of Israel, for building a house, where my Name might be, —neither made I choice of any man, to be chief ruler over my people Israel:

From the day when I brought up my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city of all the tribes of Israel, to build a house that my name should be there; neither did I choose a man to be a leader over my people Israel.

6 nevertheless I have made choice of Jerusalem, that my Name might be there, —and I have made choice of David, that he might be over my people Israel.

But I chose Jerusalem that my name should be there; and I chose David to be over my people Israel.

7 And so it came to pass, that it was near the heart of David my father, —to build a house, to the Name of Yahweh, God of Israel.

And it came into the heart of David my father, to build a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.

8 Then said Yahweh unto David my father, Because it was near thy heart to build a house for my Name, thou didst well that it was near thy heart:

But the Lord said to my father David, Whereas it came into thy heart to build a house for my name, thou didst well that it came into thy heart.

9 Only, thou thyself, must not build the house, —but, thine own son, that proceedeth out of thy loins—he, shall build the house for my Name.

Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; for thy son who shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house for my name.

10 So then Yahweh hath established his word, which he spake, —and I have been raised up instead of David my father, and have taken my seat upon the throne of Israel, as spake Yahweh, and have built the house to the Name of Yahweh, God of Israel;

And the Lord has confirmed this word, which he spoke; and I am raised up in the room of my father David, and I sit upon the throne of Israel as the Lord said, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord God of Israel:

11 and have put there, the ark, —wherein is the covenant of Yahweh, —which he solemnised with the sons of Israel.

and I have set there the ark in which [is] the covenant of the Lord, which he made with Israel.

12 Then stood he before the altar of Yahweh, in the presence of all the convocation of Israel, —and spread forth his hands;

And he stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread out his hands.

13 for Solomon had made a platform of bronze, and had set it in the midst of the enclosure, five cubits, the length thereof, and, five cubits, the breadth thereof, and, three cubits, the height thereof, -and he stood thereon, and knelt upon his knees, in the presence of all the convocation of Israel, and spread forth his hands, heavenward;

For Solomon [had] made a brazen scaffold, and set it in the midst of the court of the sanctuary; the length of it [was] five cubits, and the breadth of it five cubits, and the height of it three cubits: and he stood upon it, and fell upon his knees before the whole congregation of Israel, and spread abroad his hands to heaven,

14 and said, O Yahweh! God of Israel, Not like unto thee, is there a god, in the heavens, or throughout the earth, —who keepest Covenant and Lovingkindness for thy servants who are walking before thee with all their heart:

and said, Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven, or on the earth; keeping covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with [their] whole heart.

15 who hast kept, for thy servant David my father, that which thou didst promise him, —in that thou didst promise with thy mouth, and, with thy hand, hast fulfilled, as [it is] this day.

Even as thou hast kept [them] with thy servant David my father, as thou hast spoken to him in words: —thou hast both spoken with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled [it] with thy hands, as it is this day.

16 Now, therefore, O Yahweh—God of Israel, keep thou, for thy servant David my father, that which thou didst promise him, saying, There shall not be cut off to thee a man, from before me, to sit upon the throne of Israel, if only, thy sons take heed to their way, to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me.

and now, Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father the things which thou spokest to him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man before me sitting on the throne of Israel, if only thy sons will take heed to their way to walk in my law, as thou didst walk before me.

17 Now, therefore, O Yahweh, God of Israel, -verified be thy promise, which thou didst make unto thy servant David.

And now, Lord God of Israel, let, I pray thee, thy word be confirmed, which thou hast spoken to thy servant David.

18 But, in very deed, will God dwell with man on the earth? Lo! the heavens, even the leaven of heavens, cannot contain thee, how much less this house which I have built!

For will God indeed dwell with men upon the earth? if the heaven and the heaven of heavens will not suffice thee, what then is this house which I have built?

19 Wilt thou then turn unto the prayer of thy servant and unto his supplication, O Yahweh my God, —to hearken unto the cry and unto the prayer, wherewith thy servant is praying before thee:

Yet thou shalt have respect to the prayer of thy servant, and to my petition, O Lord God, so as to hearken to the petition and the prayer which thy servant prays before thee this day:

20 that thine eyes may be open toward this house, day and night, toward the place of which thou hast said thou wouldst set thy Name there, —to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant may pray towards this place:

so that thine eyes should be open over this house by day and by night, towards this place, whereon thou saidst thy name should be called, so as to hear the prayer which thy servant prays towards this house.

21 wilt thou therefore hearken unto the supplications of thy servant, and thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place, —yea wilt, thou thyself, hear, out of thine own dwelling-place, out of the heavens, and, when thou hearest, then wilt thou forgive?

And thou shalt hear the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, whatsoever prayers they shall make towards this place: and thou shalt hearken in thy dwelling-place out of heaven, yea thou shalt hear, and be merciful.

22 If a man shall sin against his neighbour, and there shall be laid upon him an oath, to put him on oath, —and an oath shall come before thine altar in this house,

If a man sin against his neighbour, and he bring an oath upon him so as to make him swear, and he come and swear before the altar in this house;

23 then wilt, thou thyself, hear out of the heavens, and act, and judge thy servants, bringing back unto the lawless, to set his way upon his own head, —and justifying the righteous, by giving to him, according to his righteousness?

then shalt thou hearken out of heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, to recompense the transgressor, and to return his ways upon his head: and to justify the righteous, to recompense him according to his righteousness.

24 Or, if thy people Israel be smitten before an enemy, because they have been sinning against thee, —and they turn, and confess thy Name, and pray and make supplication before thee, in this house,

And if thy people Israel should be put to the worse before the enemy, if they should sin against thee, and [then] turn and confess to thy name, and pray and make supplication before thee in this house;

25 then wilt, thou thyself, hear out of the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, —and bring them back unto the soil, which thou didst give to them and to their fathers?

then shalt thou hearken out of heaven and shalt be merciful to the sins of thy people Israel, and thou shalt restore them to the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers.

26 When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain, because they have been sinning against thee, —and they shall pray towards this place, and shall confess thy Name, from their sin, shall return, because thou hast been afflicting them,

When heaven is restrained, and there is no rain, because they shall have sinned against thee, and [when] they shall pray towards this place, and praise thy name, and shall turn from their sins, because thou shalt afflict them;

27 then wilt, thou thyself, hear [out of] the heavens and forgive the sin of thy servants, and thy people Israel, that thou mayest direct them into the good way, wherein they should walk, —and give rain, upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy people, for an inheritance?

then shalt thou hearken from heaven, and thou shalt be merciful to the sins of thy servants, and of thy people Israel; for thou shalt shew them the good way in which they shall walk; and thou shalt send rain upon thy land, which thou gavest to thy people for an inheritance.

28 When there shall be, a famine, in the land, when there shall be, a pestilence, —when there shall be, blasting or mildew, locust or caterpillar, —when their enemy shall besiege them in the land at their own gates-whatsoever plague or whatsoever sickness; -

If there should be famine upon the land, if there should be death, a pestilent wind an blight; if there should be locust and caterpiller, and if the enemy should harass them before their cities: in whatever plague and whatever distress [they may be];

29 whatsoever prayer, whatsoever supplication, which any son of earth may have, or any of thy people Israel, —when any man shall come to know his plague, or his pain, and so he shall spread abroad his hands towards this house—

Then whatever prayer and whatever supplication shall be made by any man and all thy people Israel, if a man should know his own plague and his own sickness, and should spread forth his hands toward this house;

30 then wilt, thou thyself, hear out of the heavens, the settled place of thine abode, and forgive, and grant to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou wilt know, —for, thou thyself alone, knowest the heart of the sons of men:

then shalt thou hear from heaven, out of thy prepared dwelling-place, and shalt be merciful, and shalt recompense to the man according to his ways, as thou shalt know his heart [to be]; for thou alone knowest the heart of the children of men:

31 to the end they may revere thee, to walk in thy ways, all the days which they shall be living upon the face of the soil, —which thou gavest unto their fathers?

that they may reverence all thy ways all the days which they live upon the face of the land, which thou gavest to our fathers.

32 Moreover also, unto the stranger who is not, of thy people Israel, but he shall come in out of a far country—for the sake of thy great Name, and of thy strong hand, and of thine outstretched arm, —and so they shall come in and pray towards this house,

And every stranger who is not himself of thy people Israel, and who shall have come from a distant land because of thy great name, and thy mighty hand, and thy high arm; when they shall come and worship toward this place; —

33 then wilt, thou thyself, hear out of the heavens, out of the settled place of thine abode, and do according to all for which the stranger shall cry unto thee, —to the end that all the peoples of the earth may know thy Name, so as to revere thee like thy people Israel, and know that, thy Name, hath been given unto this house, which I have built?

then shalt thou hearken out of heaven, out of thy prepared dwelling-place, and shalt do according to all that the stranger shall call upon thee for; that all the nations of the earth may know thy name, and that they may fear thee, as thy people Israel [do], and that they may know that thy name is called upon this house which I have built.

34 When thy people shall go forth to war against their enemies, whithersoever thou mayest send them, —and shall pray unto thee in the direction of this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy Name,

And if thy people shall go forth to war against their enemies by the way by which thou shalt send them, and shall pray to thee toward this city which thou hast chosen, and [toward] the house which I have built to thy name;

35 then wilt thou hear, out of the heavens, their prayer and their supplication, —and maintain their right.

then shalt thou hear out of heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

36 When they sin against thee—for there is no son of earth who sinneth not—and thou shalt be angry with them, and deliver them up before an enemy, —who shall carry them away as their captives into a land—far away or near;

Whereas if they shall sin against thee, (for there is no man who will not sin, ) and thou shalt smite them, and deliver them up before their enemies, and they that take them captive shall carry them away into a land of enemies, to a land far off or near;

37 and they come back to their right mind, in the land whither they have been taken captive, —and so turn and make supplication unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done perversely, and been lawless; —

and [if] they shall repent in their land whither they were carried captive, and shall also turn and make supplication to thee in their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have transgressed, we have wrought unrighteously;

38 and so turn unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captive, —and shall pray in the direction of their own land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and the city which thou hast chosen, and unto the house which I have built for thy Name,

and [if] they shall turn to thee with all their heart and all their soul in the land of them that carried them captives, whither they carried them captives, and shall pray toward their land which thou gavest to their fathers, and the city which thou didst choose, and the house which I built to thy name: —

39 then wilt thou hear out of the heavens—out of the settled place of thine abode—their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, —and forgive thy people, that wherein they sinned against thee?

then shalt thou hear out of heaven, out of thy prepared dwelling-place, their prayer and their supplication, and thou shalt execute justice, and shalt be merciful to thy people that sin against thee.

40 Now, O my God, let—I beseech thee—thine eyes be open, and thine ears attent, —unto the prayer of this place.

And now, Lord, let, I pray thee, thine eyes be opened, and thine ears be attentive to the petition [made in] this place.

41 Now, therefore, arise! O Yahweh God, unto thy rest, thou, and the ark of thy strength: Thy priests, O Yahweh God, let them be clothed with salvation, and, thy men of lovingkindness, let them rejoice in prosperity.

And now, O Lord God, arise into thy resting-place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O Lord God, clothe themselves with salvation, and thy sons rejoice in prosperity.

42 O Yahweh God! do not turn away thy face from thine Anointed One, —oh remember lovingkindness unto David thy servant.

O Lord God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of thy servant David.