2 Chronicles 7
1 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.
When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.
2 The radiance [was extremely bright], with the result that the priests could not enter the temple of Yahweh.
The priests were unable to enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled it.
3 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.”
When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the LORD above the temple, they bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD: “For He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.”
4 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.
Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the LORD.
And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.
6 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].
The priests stood at their posts, as did the Levites with the musical instruments of the LORD, which King David had made for giving thanks to the LORD and with which David had offered praise, saying, “For His loving devotion endures forever.” Across from the Levites, the priests sounded trumpets, and all the Israelites were standing.
7 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.
Then Solomon consecrated the middle of the courtyard in front of the house of the LORD, and there he offered the burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings, since the bronze altar he had made could not contain all these offerings.
8 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].
So at that time Solomon and all Israel with him—a very great assembly of people from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt—kept the feast for seven days.
9 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.
On the eighth day they held a solemn assembly, for the dedication of the altar had lasted seven days, and the feast seven days more.
10 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.
On the twenty-third day of the seventh month, Solomon sent the people away to their homes, joyful and glad of heart for the good things that the LORD had done for David, for Solomon, and for His people Israel.
11 Solomon’s [workers] finished building the temple and Solomon’s palace. And Solomon finished doing everything else that he had planned to do.
When Solomon had finished the house of the LORD and the royal palace, successfully carrying out all that was in his heart to do for the house of the LORD and for his own palace,
12 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.
the LORD appeared to him at night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice.
13 “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,
If I close the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send a plague among My people,
14 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.
and if My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.
15 I [SYN] will see them and I [SYN] will hear them when they pray to me in this place.
Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.
16 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.
For I have now chosen and consecrated this temple so that My Name may be there forever. My eyes and My heart will be there for all time.
17 “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,
And as for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, doing all I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and ordinances,
18 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.’
then I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with your father David when I said, ‘You will never fail to have a man to rule over Israel.’
19 “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,
But if you turn away and forsake the statutes and commandments I have set before you, and if you go off to serve and worship other gods,
20 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.
then I will uproot Israel from the soil I have given them, and I will banish from My presence this temple I have sanctified for My Name. I will make it an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples.
21 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?’
And when this temple has become a heap of rubble, all who pass by it will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’
22 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.’”
And others will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—because of this, He has brought all this disaster upon them.’”
