2 Chronicles 6

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

Then spoke Solomon: The LORD hath said that He would dwell in the thick darkness.

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

But I have built Thee a house of habitation, and a place for Thee to dwell in 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 congregation of Israel; and all the congregation of Israel stood.

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:

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, 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.

Since the day that I brought forth My people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house in, that My name might be there; neither chose I any man to be prince over 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 have chosen Jerusalem, that My name might be there; and have chosen David to be 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.

Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for 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.

But the LORD said unto David my father: Whereas it was in thy heart to build a house for My name, thou didst well that it was in thy heart;

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.’

nevertheless thou shalt not build the house, but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house for 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.

And the LORD hath established His word that He spoke; for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD, the 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 there have I set 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 LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread 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, of five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court; and upon it he stood, and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward 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.

and he said: 'O LORD, the God of Israel, there is no God like Thee, in the heaven, or in the earth; who keepest covenant and mercy with Thy servants, that walk before Thee with all their heart;

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 kept with Thy servant David my father that which Thou didst promise him; yea, Thou spokest with Thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with Thy hand, as it is this day.

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 therefore, O LORD, the God of Israel, keep with Thy servant David my father that which Thou hast promised him, saying: There shall not fail thee a man in My sight to sit on the throne of Israel; if only thy children take heed to their way, to 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.

Now therefore, O LORD, the God of Israel, let Thy word be verified, which Thou spokest unto 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.

But will God in very truth dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee; how much less this house which I have builded!

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

Yet have Thou respect unto the prayer of Thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer which Thy servant prayeth 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 Thine eyes may be open toward this house day and night, even toward the place whereof Thou hast said that thou wouldest put Thy name there; to hearken unto the prayer which Thy servant shall pray toward this place.

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 hearken Thou to the supplications of Thy servant, and of Thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place; yea, hear Thou from Thy dwelling-place, even from heaven; and when Thou hearest, forgive.

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 a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be exacted of him to cause him to swear, and he come and swear before Thine 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, and judge Thy servants, requiting the wicked, to bring his way upon his own head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

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],

And if Thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, when they sin against Thee, and shall turn again and confess Thy name, and pray and make supplication before Thee in this house;

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 unto the land which Thou gavest to them and to 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,

When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, when they sin against Thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess Thy name, turning from their sin, 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 in heaven, and forgive the sin of Thy servants, and of Thy people Israel, when Thou dost direct them on the good way wherein they should walk; and send rain upon Thy land, which Thou hast given to Thy people for an inheritance.

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 there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting or mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague or whatsoever sickness there be;

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,

what prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all Thy people Israel, who shall know every man his own plague and his own pain, and shall spread forth his hands toward 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,

then hear Thou from heaven Thy dwelling-place, and forgive, and render unto every man according to all his ways, whose heart Thou knowest — for Thou, even 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, to walk in Thy ways, all the days that they live in the land which Thou gavest unto 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,

Moreover concerning the stranger, that is not of Thy people Israel, when be shall come out of a far country for Thy great name's sake, and Thy mighty hand, and Thine outstretched arm; when they shall come and pray toward this house;

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.

then hear Thou from heaven, even from Thy dwelling-place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to Thee for; that all the peoples of the earth may know Thy name, and fear Thee, as doth Thy people Israel, and that they may know that Thy name is called 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 battle against their enemies, by whatsoever way Thou shalt send them, and they pray unto Thee toward this city which Thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for 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 prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

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.

If they sin against Thee — for there is no man that sinneth not — and Thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive unto a land far off or near;

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,’

yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn, and make supplication unto Thee in the land of their captivity, saying: We have sinned, we have done iniquitously, and have dealt wickedly;

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,

if they return unto Thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captive, and pray toward their land, which Thou gavest unto their fathers, and the city which Thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for 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, even from Thy dwelling-place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause; and forgive Thy people who have sinned against Thee.

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

Now, O my God, let, I beseech Thee, Thine eyes be open, and let Thine ears be attent, unto 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, be clothed with salvation, and let Thy saints rejoice in good.

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 Thine anointed; remember the good deeds of David Thy servant.'