2 Chronicles 6

1 Then said Solomon, The LORD hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

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

2 But I have built an house of habitation for thee, and a place for thy dwelling for ever.

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

3 And the king turned his face, and blessed the whole congregation of Israel: and all the congregation of Israel stood.

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

4 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who hath with his hands fulfilled that which he spoke with his mouth to my father David, saying,

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:

5 Since the day that I brought forth my people from the land of Egypt I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build an house in, that my name might be there; neither chose I any man to be a ruler over my people Israel:

‘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.

6 But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel.

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.’”

7 Now it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

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

8 But the LORD said to David my father, Forasmuch as it was in thy heart to build an house for my name, thou didst well in that it was in thy heart:

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

9 However thou shalt not build the house; but thy son who shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house for my name.

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.’

10 The LORD therefore hath performed his word that he hath spoken: for I am raised up in the stead of David my father, and am seated on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

“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.

11 And in it have I put the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD, that he made with the children of Israel.

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.”

12 And he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands:

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

13 For Solomon had made a brasen 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 upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven,

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,

14 And said, O LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee in the heaven, nor on the earth; who keepest covenant, and showest mercy to thy servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts:

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.

15 Thou who hast kept with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him; and hast spoken with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thy hand, as it is this day.

“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.

16 Now therefore, O LORD 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 upon the throne of Israel; provided thy children take heed to their way to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me.

“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.

17 Now then, O LORD God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken to thy servant David.

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

18 But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built!

“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.

19 Have respect therefore to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken to the cry and the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee:

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

20 That thy eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place of which thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy name there; to hearken to the prayer which thy servant prayeth toward this place.

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.

21 Hearken therefore to the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall make toward this place: hear thou from thy dwelling place, even from heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive.

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.

22 If a man shall sin against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to make him swear, and the oath shall come before thy altar in this house;

“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,’

23 Then hear thou from heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, by punishing the wicked, by recompensing his way upon his own head; and by justifying the righteous, by giving him according to his righteousness.

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.

24 And if thy people Israel are defeated by the enemy, because they have sinned against thee; and shall return and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication before thee in this house;

“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],

25 Then hear thou from the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again to the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers.

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.

26 When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; yet if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them;

“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,

27 Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them the good way, in which they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.

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].

28 If there shall be famine in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blighting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillers; if their enemies shall besiege them in the cities of their land; whatever calamity or whatever sickness there be:

“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,

29 Then whatever prayer or whatever supplication shall be made by any man, or by all the people of Israel, when every one shall know his own calamity and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house:

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,

30 Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render to every man according to all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men: )

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,

31 That they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as they live in the land which thou gavest to our fathers.

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.

32 Moreover concerning the stranger, who is not of thy people Israel, but hath come from a distant country for thy great name’s sake, and thy mighty hand, and thy outstretched arm; if they come and pray in this house;

“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,

33 Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all people of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as do thy people Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.

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.

34 If thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that thou shalt send them, and they pray to thee toward this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name;

“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,

35 Then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

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

36 If they sin against thee, (for there is no man who sinneth not, ) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives to a land far off or near;

[“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.

37 Yet if they take it to their hearts in the land where they are carried captive, and turn and pray to thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly;

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,’

38 If they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have carried them captives, and pray toward their land, which thou gavest to their fathers, and toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name:

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,

39 Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people who have sinned against thee.

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.

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

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

41 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 goodness.

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].

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

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].”