2 Chronicles 7
1 Now, when Solomon had made an end of praying, Fire, came down out of the heavens, and consumed the ascending-offering and the sacrifices, —and, the glory of Yahweh, filled the house;
When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from the sky and burned all the offerings and sacrifices [that were on the altar], and the glorious radiance of Yahweh filled the temple.
2 so that the priests could not enter into the house of Yahweh, —because the glory of Yahweh filled the house of Yahweh;
The radiance [was extremely bright], with the result that the priests could not enter the temple of Yahweh.
3 and, all the sons of Israel, seeing the descending of the fire and the glory of Yahweh upon the house, then knelt they down with their faces toward the ground, upon the pavement, and bowed themselves in prostration, and gave thanks unto Yahweh, For he is good, For, age-abiding, is his lovingkindness.
When all the Israeli people [who were there] saw the fire coming down and the glory of Yahweh above the temple, they prostrated themselves with their faces touching the ground. They worshiped and thanked Yahweh, singing, “Yahweh is always good to us; he faithfully loves us forever.”
4 And, the king and all the people, were offering sacrifice before Yahweh.
Then the king and all the people who were there dedicated the temple to Yahweh by offering more sacrifices to him. King Solomon gave 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats to be sacrificed.
5 And King Solomon offered a sacrifice—of oxen, twenty-two thousand, and of sheep, a hundred and twenty thousand, —and so the king and all the people, dedicated the house of God;
6 while, the priests, over their charges, were standing, the Levites also, with the instruments for the songs of Yahweh, which David the king had made, for giving thanks unto Yahweh, For, age-abiding, is his lovingkindness, when David offered praise by their means, —and, the priests, kept on blowing trumpets over against them, while, all Israel, were standing.
The priests stood in their positions, and the other descendants of Levi stood in their positions holding the musical instruments [to praise] Yahweh, instruments that King David had caused to be made for praising Yahweh and thanking him. [They sang], “He faithfully loves us forever.” Facing the other descendants of Levi the priests stood, blowing their trumpets, while all the Israeli people were standing [and listening].
7 And Solomon hallowed the middle of the court that was before the house of Yahweh, for he offered there the ascending-sacrifices, and the fat portions of the peace-offerings, —because, the altar of bronze which Solomon had made, was not able to receive the ascending-sacrifice and the meal-offering and the fat portions.
Solomon dedicated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple. Then he gave offerings to be completely burned there along with the fat of the animals to be sacrificed to maintain fellowship with Yahweh. The priests burned them there in the courtyard because in addition to those things there were offerings of grain, with the result that there was not enough space on the bronze altar to burn all those sacrifices.
8 And Solomon made a festival—at that time—for seven days, and all Israel with him, an exceeding great convocation, —from the entering in of Hamath, unto the ravine of Egypt.
Solomon [and the other people] celebrated the Festival of Living in Temporary Shelters for seven days. There was a huge group of people who celebrated with him. Some of them came from [as far away as] Lebo-Hamath [in the far north] and the border of Egypt [in the far south].
9 And they made, on the eighth day, a closing feast, —because, the dedication of the altar, they had kept seven days and a festival seven days.
On the eighth/next day they gathered again [to worship Yahweh]. They had celebrated the dedication of the altar for seven days and the Festival of Living in Temporary Shelters for seven days.
10 And, on the twenty-third of the seventh month, he sent the people away to their own homes, —rejoicing and glad in heart, over the goodness which Yahweh had performed unto David and unto Solomon, and unto Israel his people.
Then on the next day Solomon sent them to their homes. They were very joyful because of all the good things that Yahweh had done for David and Solomon and for all his Israeli people.
11 Thus Solomon finished the house of Yahweh, and the house of the king, —and, all that had come in upon the heart of Solomon, to do in the house of Yahweh and in his own house, he prosperously executed.
Solomon’s [workers] finished building the temple and Solomon’s palace. And Solomon finished doing everything else that he had planned to do.
12 Then appeared Yahweh unto Solomon by night, —and said to him, I have heard thy prayer, and have made choice of this place for myself, as a house of sacrifice: —
Then Yahweh appeared to him one night [in a dream] and said to him, “I have heard your prayer, and I have chosen this temple to be the place where my people will offer sacrifices to me.
13 If I shut up the heavens that there be no rain, or if I lay command on the locust, to devour the land, —or if I send pestilence, amongst my people:
“When I prevent any rain from falling, or when I command locusts to eat all the crops, or when I send a plague among my people,
14 if my people upon whom my Name is called shall humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will, I myself, hear out of the heavens, and forgive their sin, and heal their land.
if the people who belong to me humble themselves and pray, and request me to help them, and if they turn away from their sinful behavior, then I will hear from heaven. I will forgive them for having sinned and I will cause them to prosper again.
15 Now, mine eyes, shall be open, and, mine ears, attent, —to the prayer of this place.
I [SYN] will see them and I [SYN] will hear them when they pray to me in this place.
16 Now, therefore, have I chosen and hallowed this house, that my Name may be there, unto times age-abiding, —and mine eyes and my heart shall he there, all the days.
I have chosen and have (set apart/dedicated) this temple in order that people may worship [MTY] me there forever. I will always watch over [MTY] it and protect [IDM] it.
17 Thou, therefore, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, even to do according to all that I have commanded thee, —and, my statutes and regulations, thou wilt observe,
“And as for you, if you obey me as David your father did, and if you do all that I command you to do, and obey all my laws and decrees,
18 then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom, —according as I covenanted to David thy father, saying—There shall not fail thee a man, to rule over Israel.
I will make sure that your descendants will always be kings, which is what I promised to David your father, saying, ‘Some of your descendants will always be the kings of Israel.’
19 But, if, ye yourselves, shall turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, —and shall go and serve other gods, and bow down to them,
“But if you Israelis turn away from me and disobey the decrees and commands that I have given to you, and you start to worship other gods,
20 then will I root you out from off the soil, which I have given to you, and, this house, which I have hallowed for my Name, will I cast off from before my face, —and will appoint it for a by-word and a mockery, among all the peoples;
I will cause you to be expelled from this land that I have given to you, and I will abandon this temple that I have set apart to be the place where people should worship me. I will cause it to be despised and ridiculed by people of all nations.
21 and, this house which hath been renowned, all that pass by near it, shall be astonished, —and say, Wherefore hath Yahweh done, thus and thus, to this land, and to this house?
Although this temple is now greatly respected, when that happens, all the people who pass by will be appalled, and they will say, ‘Why has Yahweh done terrible things like this to this country and to this temple?’
22 And men shall say, Because they forsook Yahweh the God of their fathers, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold of other gods, and bowed down to them, and served them, for this cause, hath he brought upon them, all this calamity.
And others will reply, ‘It happened because they rejected Yahweh, the God to whom their ancestors belonged, the one who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and they have been worshiping other gods and trying to please them. And that is why Yahweh has caused them to experience all these disasters.’”
