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.
And when Solomon had finished praying, then the fire came down from heaven, and devoured the whole burnt offerings and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the house.
2 The radiance [was extremely bright], with the result that the priests could not enter the temple of Yahweh.
And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord at that time, for the glory of the Lord filled the house.
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.”
And all the children of Israel saw the fire descending, and the glory of the Lord was upon the house: and they fell upon their face to the ground on the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the Lord; for [it is] good [to do so], because his mercy [endures] for ever.
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.
And the king and all the people [were] offering sacrifices before the Lord.
And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of calves twenty and two thousand, of sheep a hundred and twenty thousand: 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].
And the priests were standing at their watches, and the Levites with instruments of music of the Lord, belonging to king David, to give thanks before the Lord, for his mercy [endures] for ever, with the hymns of David, by their ministry: and the priests were blowing the trumpets before them, and all Israel 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.
And Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was in the house of the Lord: for he offered there the whole burnt offerings and the fat of the peace-offerings, for the brazen altar which Solomon had made was not sufficient to receive the whole burnt offerings, and the meat-offerings, and the fat.
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].
And Solomon kept the feast at that time seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly, from the entering in of Aemath, and as far as the river of Egypt.
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.
And on the eighth day he kept a solemn assembly: for he kept a feast of seven days as the dedication of the altar.
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.
And on the twenty-third day of the seventh month he dismissed the people to their tents, rejoicing, and with a glad heart because of the good deeds which the Lord had done to David, and to Solomon, and to Israel his people.
11 Solomon’s [workers] finished building the temple and Solomon’s palace. And Solomon finished doing everything else that he had planned to do.
So Solomon finished the house of the Lord, and the king's house: and in whatever Solomon wished in his heart to do in the house of the Lord and in his own house, he prospered.
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.
And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him, I have heard your prayer, and I have chosen this place to myself for 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 should restrain the heaven and there should be no rain, and if I should command the locust to devour the trees, and if I should send pestilence upon 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.
then if my people, on whom my name is called, should repent, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, I also will hear from heaven, and I will be merciful to their sins, and I will heal their land.
15 I [SYN] will see them and I [SYN] will hear them when they pray to me in this place.
And now my eyes shall be open, and my ears attentive to the prayer of 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.
And now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that my name should be there for ever: and my eyes and my heart shall be there always.
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 if you will walk before me as David your father [did], and will do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep my ordinances and my judgments;
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 will I establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, There shall not fail you a man ruling in 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 should turn away, and forsake my ordinances and my commandments, which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them;
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 will I remove you from the land which I gave them; and this house which I have consecrated to my name I will remove out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all nations.
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 [as for] this lofty house, every one that passes by it shall be amazed, and shall say, Therefore has the Lord done [thus] to this land, and to this house?
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 [men] shall say, Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they attached themselves to other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: and therefore he has brought upon them all this evil.
