2 Chronicles 6

1 Then Solomon said, “Yahweh has said that he would live in thick darkness,

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

2 but I have built you a lofty residence, a place for you to live in forever.”

But I have built a house to his name, so that he may dwell there forever.”

3 Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing.

And the king turned his face, and he blessed the entire multitude of Israel, (for the whole crowd was standing and attentive) and he said:

4 He said, “May Yahweh, the God of Israel, be praised, who spoke to David my father, and has fulfilled it with his own hands, saying,

“Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, who has completed the work that he spoke to David my father, saying:

5 'Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, in order for my name to be there. Neither did I choose any man to be prince over my people Israel.

‘From the day when I led my people away from the land of Egypt, I did not choose a city from all the tribes of Israel, so that a house would be built in it to my name. And I did not choose any other man, so that he would be the ruler of my people Israel.

6 However, I have chosen Jerusalem, so that my name might be there, and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.'

But I chose Jerusalem, so that my name would be in it. And I chose David, so that I might appoint him over my people Israel.’

7 Now it was in the heart of David my father, to build a house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

And though David, my father, had decided that he would build a house to the name of the Lord God of Israel,

8 But Yahweh said to David my father, 'In that it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well for it to be in your heart.

the Lord said to him: ‘In so far as it was your will that you build a house to my name, certainly you have done well in having such a will.

9 Nevertheless, you must not build the house; instead, your son, one who will come from your loins, will build the house for my name.'

But you shall not build the house. Truly, your son, who will go forth from your loins, shall build a house to my name.’

10 Yahweh has carried out the word that he had said, for I have arisen in the place of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as Yahweh promised. I have built the house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

Therefore, the Lord has accomplished his word, which he had spoken. And I have risen up in place of my father David, and I sit upon the throne of Israel, just as the Lord spoke. And I have built a house to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

11 I have placed the ark there, in which is Yahweh's covenant, which he made with the people of Israel.”

And I have placed in it the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he formed with the sons of Israel.”

12 Solomon stood before the altar of Yahweh in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands.

Then he stood before the altar of the Lord, facing the entire multitude of Israel, and he extended his hands.

13 For he had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high. He had placed it in the middle of the courtyard. He stood on it and knelt down before all the assembly of Israel, and then he spread out his hands toward the heavens.

For indeed, Solomon had made a bronze base, and he had positioned it in the midst of the hall; it held five cubits in length, and five cubits in width, and three cubits in height. And he stood upon it. And next, kneeling down while facing the entire multitude of Israel, and lifting up his palms towards heaven,

14 He said, “Yahweh, God of Israel, there is no God like you in the heavens or on the earth, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with your servants who walk before you with all their heart;

he said: “O Lord God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven or on earth. You preserve covenant and mercy with your servants, who walk before you with all their hearts.

15 you who have kept with your servant David my father, what you promised him. Yes, you spoke with your mouth and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is today.

You fulfilled for your servant David, my father, whatsoever you had said to him. And you carried out the deed that you promised with your mouth, just as the present time proves.

16 Now then, Yahweh, God of Israel, carry out what you have promised to your servant David my father, when you said, 'You will not fail to have a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful to walk in my law, as you have walked before me.'

Now then, O Lord God of Israel, fulfill for your servant David, my father, whatsoever you said to him, saying: ‘There shall not fail to be a man from you before me, who will sit upon the throne of Israel, yet only if your sons will guard their ways, and will walk in my law, just as you also have walked before me.’

17 Now then, Yahweh, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David.

And now, O Lord God of Israel, let your word be confirmed that you spoke to your servant David.

18 But will God actually live with mankind on the earth? Look, the entire universe and heaven itself cannot contain you—how much less can this temple that I have built!

How then is it to be believed that God would dwell with men upon the earth? If heaven and the heavens of the heavens do not contain you, how much less this house that I have built?

19 Yet please respect this prayer of your servant and his request, Yahweh my God; listen to the cry and prayer that your servant prays before you.

But it has been done for this only, so that you may look with favor upon the prayer of your servant, and on his supplication, O Lord my God, and so that you may hear the prayers which your servant pours out before you,

20 May your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, the place where you promised to put your name. May you listen to the prayer your servant prays toward this place.

and so that you may open your eyes over this house, day and night, over the place where you promised that your name would be invoked,

21 So listen to the requests of your servant and of your people Israel when we pray toward this place. Yes, listen from the place where you live, from the heavens; and when you listen, forgive.

and so that you may heed the prayer which your servant is praying within it, and so that you may heed the prayers of your servant and of your people Israel. Whoever will pray in this place, listen from your habitation, that is, from heaven, and forgive.

22 If a man sins against his neighbor and is required to swear an oath, and if he comes and swears an oath before your altar in this house,

If anyone will have sinned against his neighbor, and he arrives to swear against him, and to bind himself with a curse before the altar in this house,

23 listen from the heavens and act. Judge your servants, condemning the guilty and bringing what he has done upon his own head. Declare the innocent not guilty and give to him according to his righteousness.

you will hear him from heaven, and you will execute justice for your servants, so that you return, to the iniquitous man, his own way upon his own head, and so that you vindicate the just man, repaying him according to his own justice.

24 When your people Israel are defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, if they turn back to you, confess your name, pray, and request forgiveness before you in this temple—

If your people Israel will have been overwhelmed by their enemies, (for they will sin against you) and having been converted will do penance, and if they will have beseeched your name, and will have prayed in this place,

25 then please listen from the heavens and forgive the sin of your people Israel; bring them back to the land that you gave to them and to their ancestors.

you will heed them from heaven, and you will forgive the sin of your people Israel, and you will lead them back into the land that you gave to them and to their fathers.

26 When the skies are shut up and there is no rain because the people have sinned against you—if they pray toward this place, confess your name, and turn from their sin when you have afflicted them—

If the heavens have been closed, so that rain does not fall, because of the sin of the people, and if they will petition you in this place, and confess to your name, and be converted from their sins when you will afflict them,

27 then listen in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Israel, when you direct them to the good way in which they should walk. Send rain on your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.

heed them from heaven, O Lord, and forgive the sins of your servants and of your people Israel, and teach them the good way, by which they may advance, and give rain to the land that you gave to your people as a possession.

28 Suppose there is famine in the land, or suppose that there is disease, blight or mildew, locusts or caterpillars; or suppose that its enemies attack the city gates in their land, or that there is any plague or sickness—

If a famine will have risen up in the land, or pestilence, or fungus, or mildew, or locusts, or beetles, or if enemies will have laid waste to the countryside and will have besieged the gates of the cities, or whatever scourge or infirmity will have pressed upon them,

29 and suppose then that prayers and requests are made by a person or by all your people Israel—each knowing the plague and sorrow in his own heart as he spreads out his hands toward this temple.

if anyone from your people Israel, knowing his own scourge and infirmity, will have made supplication and will have extended his hands in this house,

30 Then listen from heaven, the place where you live; forgive, and reward every person for all his ways; you know his heart, because you and you only know the hearts of human beings.

you will heed him from heaven, indeed from your sublime habitation, and you will forgive, and you will repay each one according to his ways, which you know him to hold in his heart. For you alone know the hearts of the sons of men.

31 Do this so that they may fear you, so that they may walk in your ways all the days that they live on the land that you gave to our ancestors.

So may they fear you, and so may they walk in your ways, during all the days that they live upon the face of the land, which you gave to our fathers.

32 As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel, but who—because of your great name, your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm—comes and prays toward this house,

Also, if the outsider, who is not from your people Israel, will have arrived from a far away land, because of your great name, and because of your robust hand and your outstretched arm, and if he will adore in this place,

33 then please listen from heaven, the place where you live, and do all that the foreigner asks of you, so that all the people of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and that they might know that this house I have built is called by your name.

you will heed him from heaven, your most firm habitation, and you will accomplish all the things about which this sojourner will have called out to you, so that all the people of the earth may know your name, and may fear you, just as your people Israel do, and so that they may know that your name is invoked over this house, which I have built.

34 Suppose that your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way you may send them, and suppose that they pray to you toward this city that you have chosen, and toward the house that I have built for your name.

If, having gone out to war against their adversaries along the way that you will send them, your people adore you facing in the direction of this city, which you have chosen, and of this house, which I have built to your name,

35 Then listen from the heavens to their prayer, their request, and help their cause.

you will heed their prayers from heaven, and their supplications, and you will vindicate them.

36 Suppose they sin against you—since there is no one who does not sin—and suppose that you are angry with them and hand them over to the enemy, so that the enemy carries them away and takes them as captives to their land, whether distant or near.

But if they will have sinned against you (for there is no man who does not sin) and you will have become angry against them, and if you will have delivered them to their enemies, and so they lead them away as captives to a far away land, or even to one that is near,

37 Then suppose they realize they are in the land where they have been exiled, and suppose that they repent and seek favor from you in the land of their captivity. Suppose that they say, 'We have acted perversely and sinned. We have behaved wickedly.'

and if, having been converted in their heart in the land to which they had been led as captives, they will do penance, and beseech you in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have acted unjustly,’

38 Suppose that they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they took them as captives, and suppose that they pray toward their land, which you gave to their ancestors, and toward the city that you chose, and toward the house that I have built for your name.

and if they will have returned to you, with their whole heart and with their whole soul, in the land of their captivity to which they were led away, and if they will adore you in the direction of their own land, which you gave to their fathers, and of the city, which you have chosen, and of the house, which I have built to your name,

39 Then listen from the heavens, the place where you live, to their prayer and to their requests, and help their cause. Forgive your people, who have sinned against you.

from heaven, that is, from your firm habitation, you will heed their prayers, and you will accomplish judgment, and you will forgive your people, even though they are sinners.

40 Now, my God, I beg you, let your eyes be open, and let your ears be attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.

For you are my God. Let your eyes be open, I beg you, and let your ears be attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.

41 Now then arise, Yahweh God, to your resting place, you and the ark of your strength. Let your priests, Yahweh God, be clothed with salvation, and let your saints rejoice in your goodness.

Now therefore, rise up, O Lord God, to your resting place, you and the ark of your strength. Let your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let your holy ones rejoice in what is good.

42 Yahweh God, do not turn the face of your anointed away from you. Keep in mind your acts of covenant loyalty for David, your servant.”

O Lord God, may you not turn away from the face of your Christ. Remember the mercies of your servant, David.”