2 Chronicles 6

1 Then Solomon said, “Yahweh, you said that you would live in a dark cloud.

Then Solomon said: The Lord promised that he would dwell in a cloud.

2 But now I have built a glorious temple for you to live in forever!”

But I have built a house to his name, that he might dwell there for ever.

3 Then while all the people stood there, Solomon turned toward the people and he [asked God to] bless them.

And the king turned his face, and blessed all the multitude of Israel (for all the multitude stood attentive) and he said:

4 He said to them, “Praise Yahweh, the God to whom we Israelis belong, who has caused to happen what he promised to my father David. What he said to David was this:

Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who hath accomplished in deed that which he spoke to David my father, saying:

5 ‘From the time that I brought my people out of Egypt, I have never chosen a city in Israel in which a temple should be built for people to [worship] me there. Nor did I choose anyone to be the leader of my Israeli people.

From the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel, for a house to be built in it to my name: neither chose I any other man, to be the ruler of my people Israel.

6 But now I have chosen Jerusalem to be the place for people to worship me, and I have chosen you to rule my Israeli people.’”

But I chose Jerusalem, that my name might be there: and I chose David to set him over my people Israel.

7 [Then Solomon said], “My father David wanted to build a temple for Yahweh, the God to whom we Israelis belong.

And whereas David my father had a mind to build a house to the name of the Lord the God of Israel,

8 But Yahweh said to him, ‘You have wanted to build a temple for me, and what you wanted to do was good.

The Lord said to him: Forasmuch as it was thy will to build a house to my name, thou hast done well indeed in having such a will:

9 However, you are not the one who I want to build the temple; it is one of your own sons who [I want to] build a temple for me.’

But thou shalt not build the house, but thy son, who shall come out of thy loins, he shall build a house to my name.

10 “And Yahweh has done what he promised to do. I have become the king of Israel to succeed my father, and I am ruling the people, like Yahweh promised, and I have arranged for this temple to be built for us to worship Yahweh, the God to whom we Israelis belong.

The Lord therefore hath accomplished his word which he spoke: and I am risen up in the place of David my father, and sit upon the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised: and have built a house to the name of the Lord God of Israel.

11 I have put the Sacred Chest in the temple, in which are the stone tablets [on which are engraved the Ten Commandments of] the agreement that Yahweh made with us Israeli people.”

And I have put in it the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with the children of Israel.

12 Then Solomon stood in front of the altar which was in front of the people of Israel who had gathered there.

And he stood before the altar of the I Lord, in presence of all the multitude of Israel, and stretched forth his hands.

13 His workers had built a bronze platform there [for him to stand on], which was 7-1/2 feet long and 7-1/2 feet wide and 4-1/2 feet high. They put it in the outer courtyard. Solomon stood on that platform and then knelt down in front of all the people of Israel who had gathered there, and he spread out his arms toward heaven,

For Solomon had made a brazen scaffold, and had set it in the midst of the temple, which was five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high: and he stood upon it: then kneeling down in the presence of all the multitude of Israel, and lifting up his hands towards heaven,

14 and he prayed, “Yahweh, the God to whom we Israeli people belong, there is no God like you in heaven or on the earth. You solemnly promised that you would faithfully love us, and that is what you have done for us who earnestly do what you want us to do.

He said: O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven nor in earth: who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts:

15 “You have done the things that you promised my father David, who served you [very well], that you would do. Truly, you promised to do those things for him, and today we see that by your power you have caused it all to happen.

Who hast performed to thy servant David my father all that thou hast promised him: and hast accomplished in fact, what thou hast spoken with thy mouth, as also the present time proveth.

16 “So now, Yahweh, the God we Israelis belong to, please do the things that you promised to my father David that you would do. You said that there would always be some of his descendants to rule Israel, if they faithfully conduct their lives as he did.

Now then, O Lord God of Israel, fulfill to thy servant David my father, whatsoever thou hast promised him, saying: There shall not fail thee a man in my sight, to sit upon the throne of Israel: yet so that thy children take heed to their ways, and walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me.

17 So now, God of us Israeli people, cause what you promised David, who served you [well], to happen.

And now, Lord God of Israel, let thy word be established which thou hast spoken to thy servant David.

18 “But, my God, will you really live on earth among people? There is surely not enough space for you in the sky, or even in the heaven! So there is surely not enough space for you to live in this temple that my workers have built.

Is it credible then that God should dwell with men on the earth? If heaven and the heavens of heavens do not contain thee, how much less this house, which I have built?

19 But Yahweh, my God, please listen to my prayer, while I am pleading with you this day and do what I am requesting.

But to this end only it is made, that thou mayest regard the prayer of thy servant and his supplication, O Lord my God: and mayest hear the prayers which thy servant poureth out before thee.

20 Please protect this temple day and night. This is the place about which you have said, ‘I will always be there.’ Please listen to my prayer about this place.

That thou mayest open thy eyes upon this house day and night, upon the place wherein thou hast promised that thy name should be called upon,

21 Listen to me when I pray, and listen to your Israeli people when they pray. Listen from heaven, where you live; and when you hear us pray, forgive us.

And that thou wouldst hear the prayer which thy servant prayeth in it: hearken then to the prayers of thy servant, and of thy people Israel. Whosoever shall pray in this place, hear thou from thy dwelling place, that is, from heaven, and shew mercy.

22 “If someone is accused of doing something wrong to another person, and they bring him to testify in front of your altar outside this holy temple, and if he says, ‘I did not do that; may God punish me if I am not telling the truth,’

If any man sin against his neighbour, and come to swear against him, and bind himself with a curse before the altar in this house:

23 then you listen from heaven, and you decide who is telling the truth. Then punish the person who is guilty as he deserves to be punished, and declare that the other person is innocent.

Then hear thou from heaven, and do justice to thy servants, so as to requite the wicked by making his wickedness fall upon his own head, and to revenge the just, rewarding him according to his justice.

24 “And when your Israeli people are defeated by their enemies because they sinned against you, [and forced to go to some distant country, ] if they turn away from their sinful behavior and turn toward this temple and admit [that] you [have justly punished them], and plead [that you will forgive them],

If thy people Israel be overcome by their enemies, (for they will sin against thee, ) and being converted shall do penance, and call upon thy name, and pray to thee in this place,

25 listen to them from heaven and forgive your Israeli people for the sins that they [have committed], and bring them back to this land that you gave to our ancestors.

Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them back into the land, which thou gavest to them, and their fathers.

26 “When you do not allow any rain to fall because your people have sinned against you, if they turn toward this temple and admit [that] you [have justly punished them], and turn away from their sinful behavior and humbly pray to you,

If the heavens be shut up, and there fall no rain by reason of the sins of the people, and they shall pray to thee in this place, and confess to thy name, and be converted from their sins, when thou dost afflict them,

27 hear from heaven and forgive the sins of your Israeli people. Teach them the right way to conduct their lives. Then cause it to rain here on the land that you gave to your people to belong to them [permanently].

Then hear thou from heaven, O Lord, and forgive the sins of thy servants and of thy people Israel, and teach them the good way, in which they may walk: and give rain to thy land which thou hast given to thy people to possess.

28 “And when the people of this land experience famines or if there is a plague, or when their crops are destroyed by very hot winds or by mildew or by locusts or grasshoppers, or when their enemies surround any of their cities [in order to attack them], if any of those bad things happen to them,

If a famine arise in the land, or a pestilence or blasting, or mildew, or locusts, or caterpillars: or if their enemies waste the country, and besiege the cities, whatsoever scourge or infirmity shall be upon them:

29 when your Israeli people earnestly plead with you, knowing in their inner beings that they are suffering [because they have sinned], if they stretch out their hands toward this temple and pray,

Then if any of thy people Israel, knowing his own scourge and infirmity shall pray, and shall spread forth his hands in this house,

30 hear from your home in heaven, and forgive them. You alone know what each person is thinking, so reward each person according to everything that he does,

Hear thou from heaven, from thy high dwelling place, and forgive, and render to every one according to his ways, which thou knowest him to have in his heart: (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men: )

31 in order that they will revere you and conduct their lives as you want them to, all the time that they live in this land that you gave to our ancestors.

That they may fear thee, and walk in thy ways all the days that they live upon the face of the land, which thou hast given to our fathers.

32 “There will be some foreigners who do not belong to your Israeli people who have come here from countries far away because they have heard that you are very great and that you perform great miracles. If they turn toward this temple and pray,

If the stranger also, who is not of thy people Israel, come from a far country, for the sake of thy great name, and thy strong hand, and thy stretched out arm, and adore in this place:

33 from your home in heaven listen to their prayer, and do for them what they request you to do. Do that in order that all the people-groups in the world will know about you and revere you, like we, your own Israeli people do. And then they will know that this is the temple that I have caused to be built for you.

Hear thou from heaven thy firm dwelling place, and do all that which that stranger shall call upon thee for: that all the people of the earth may know thy name, and may fear thee, as thy people Israel, and may know, that thy name is invoked upon this house, which I have built.

34 “When you send your people to go to places to attack their enemies, if they pray to you, wherever they are, if they turn toward this city that you have chosen and toward this temple that I have caused to be built to honor you,

If thy people go out to war against their enemies, by the way that thou shalt send them, and adore thee towards the way of this city, which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built to thy name:

35 listen in heaven to their prayers; listen to what they plead for you [to do], and assist them.

Then hear thou from heaven their prayers, and their supplications, and revenge them.

36 [“It is true that] everyone sins. So, when your people sin against you, and you become angry with them, you may allow their enemies to capture them and take them to their countries, even to countries that are far away.

And if they sin against thee (for there is no man that sinneth not) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them up to their enemies, and they lead them away captive to a land either afar off, or near at hand,

37 When that happens, while they are in the countries to which they were forced to go, if they are sorry for having sinned, if they say, ‘We have sinned; we have done things that are wrong and have done things that are very wicked,’

And if they be converted in their heart in the land to which they were led captive, and do penance, and pray to thee in the land of their captivity, saying: We have sinned, we have done wickedly, we have dealt unjustly:

38 if they repent very sincerely, and if they turn toward this land that you gave to our ancestors, and toward this city that you have chosen [to be the place where we should worship you], and toward this temple that I have caused to be built for you and pray,

And return to thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their captivity, to which they were led away, and adore thee towards the way of their own land which thou gavest their fathers, and of the city, which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built to thy name:

39 then from your home in heaven hear their prayer, and listen to them while they plead [for your help], and do what they ask you to do, and forgive your people who have sinned against you.

Then hear thou from heaven, that is, from thy firm dwelling place, their prayers, and do judgment, and forgive thy people, although they have sinned:

40 “Now, my God, look at us and listen to us as we pray to you in this place.

For thou art my God: let thy eyes, I beseech thee, be open, and let thy ears be attentive to the prayer, that is made in this place.

41 Yahweh our God, come and stay in this place with the Sacred Chest, the chest that shows that you are powerful. Yahweh God, cause your priests to know clearly that you have blessed them. Cause us your people to rejoice because of all the good things [that you do for us].

Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place, thou and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O Lord God, put on salvation, and thy saints rejoice in good things.

42 Yahweh God, do not reject me [the king] whom you have appointed [to be the king of Israel]; do not forget that you greatly loved David, who served you [very well].”

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