2 Chronicles 6

1 Then said Solomon, 'Jehovah said — to dwell in thick darkness,

Then said Solomon, The Lord said that he would dwell in thick darkness.

2 and I — I have built a house of habitation for Thee, and a fixed place for Thy dwelling to the ages.'

But I have built a house to thy name, holy to thee, and prepared [for thee] to dwell in for ever.

3 And the king turneth round his face, and blesseth the whole assembly of Israel, and the whole assembly of Israel is standing,

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

4 and he saith, 'Blessed [is] Jehovah, God of Israel, who hath spoken with His mouth with David my father, and with His hands hath fulfilled [it], saying:

And he said, Blessed [be] the Lord God of Israel: he has even fulfilled with his hands as he spoke with his mouth to my father David, saying,

5 'From the day that I brought out My people from the land of Egypt, I have not fixed on a city out of any of the tribes of Israel to build a house for my name being there, and I have not fixed on a man to be leader over My people Israel;

From the day when I brought up my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city of all the tribes of Israel, to build a house that my name should be there; neither did I choose a man to be a leader over my people Israel.

6 and I fix on Jerusalem for My name being there, and I fix on David to be over My people Israel.

But I chose Jerusalem that my name should be there; and I chose David to be over my people Israel.

7 'And it is with the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of Jehovah God of Israel,

And it came into the heart of David my father, to build a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.

8 and Jehovah saith unto David my father, Because that it hath been with thy heart to build a house for My name, thou hast done well that it hath been with thy heart,

But the Lord said to my father David, Whereas it came into thy heart to build a house for my name, thou didst well that it came into thy heart.

9 but thou dost not build the house, for thy son who cometh forth out from thy loins, he doth build the house for My name.

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

10 'And Jehovah doth establish His word that He spake, and I rise up in the stead of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as Jehovah spake, and I build the house for the name of Jehovah, God of Israel,

And the Lord has confirmed this word, which he spoke; and I am raised up in the room of my father David, and I sit upon the throne of Israel as the Lord said, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord God of Israel:

11 and I place there the ark, where [is] the covenant of Jehovah that He made with the sons of Israel.'

and I have set there the ark in which [is] the covenant of the Lord, which he made with Israel.

12 And he standeth before the altar of Jehovah, over-against all the assembly of Israel, and spreadeth out his hand, —

And he stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread out his hands.

13 for Solomon hath made a scaffold of brass, and putteth it in the midst of the court, five cubits its length, and five cubits its breadth, and three cubits its height, and he standeth upon it, and kneeleth on his knees over-against all the assembly of Israel, and spreadeth forth his hands towards the heavens —

For Solomon [had] made a brazen scaffold, and set it in the midst of the court of the sanctuary; the length of it [was] five cubits, and the breadth of it five cubits, and the height of it three cubits: and he stood upon it, and fell upon his knees before the whole congregation of Israel, and spread abroad his hands to heaven,

14 and saith, 'O Jehovah God of Israel, there is not like Thee a god in the heavens and in the earth, keeping the covenant and the kindness for Thy servants who are walking before Thee with all their heart;

and said, Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven, or on the earth; keeping covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with [their] whole heart.

15 who hast kept for Thy servant David my father that which Thou didst speak to him; yea, Thou dost speak with Thy mouth, and with Thy hand hast fulfilled [it], as at this day.

Even as thou hast kept [them] with thy servant David my father, as thou hast spoken to him in words: —thou hast both spoken with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled [it] with thy hands, as it is this day.

16 'And now, O Jehovah, God of Israel, keep for Thy servant David my father that which Thou didst speak to him, saying, There is not cut off to thee a man from before Me, sitting on the throne of Israel, only, if thy sons watch their way to walk in My law, as thou hast walked before Me.

and now, Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father the things which thou spokest to him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man before me sitting on the throne of Israel, if only thy sons will take heed to their way to walk in my law, as thou didst walk before me.

17 'And now, O Jehovah, God of Israel, is Thy word stedfast that Thou hast spoken to Thy servant, to David,

And now, Lord God of Israel, let, I pray thee, thy word be confirmed, which thou hast spoken to thy servant David.

18 (for is it true? — God dwelleth with man on the earth! Lo, the heavens, and the heavens of the heavens, do not contain Thee, how much less this house that I have built?)

For will God indeed dwell with men upon the earth? if the heaven and the heaven of heavens will not suffice thee, what then is this house which I have built?

19 'And Thou hast turned unto the prayer of Thy servant, and unto his supplication, O Jehovah my God, to hearken unto the cry and unto the prayer that Thy servant is praying before Thee,

Yet thou shalt have respect to the prayer of thy servant, and to my petition, O Lord God, so as to hearken to the petition and the prayer which thy servant prays before thee this day:

20 for Thine eyes being open towards this house by day and by night, towards the place that Thou hast said to put Thy name there, to hearken unto the prayer that Thy servant prayeth towards this place.

so that thine eyes should be open over this house by day and by night, towards this place, whereon thou saidst thy name should be called, so as to hear the prayer which thy servant prays towards this house.

21 'And Thou hast hearkened unto the supplications of Thy servant, and of Thy people Israel, that they pray towards this place, and Thou dost hear from the place of Thy dwelling, from the heavens, and hast hearkened, and forgiven.

And thou shalt hear the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, whatsoever prayers they shall make towards this place: and thou shalt hearken in thy dwelling-place out of heaven, yea thou shalt hear, and be merciful.

22 'If a man doth sin against his neighbour, and he hath lifted up on him an oath to cause him to swear, and the oath hath come in before Thine altar in this house —

If a man sin against his neighbour, and he bring an oath upon him so as to make him swear, and he come and swear before the altar in this house;

23 then Thou dost hear from the heavens, and hast done, and hast judged Thy servants, to give back to the wicked, to put his way on his head, and to declare righteous the righteous, to give to him according to his righteousness.

then shalt thou hearken out of heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, to recompense the transgressor, and to return his ways upon his head: and to justify the righteous, to recompense him according to his righteousness.

24 'And if Thy people Israel is smitten before an enemy, because they sin against Thee, and they have turned back and confessed Thy name, and prayed and made supplication before Thee in this house —

And if thy people Israel should be put to the worse before the enemy, if they should sin against thee, and [then] turn and confess to thy name, and pray and make supplication before thee in this house;

25 then Thou dost hear from the heavens, and hast forgiven the sin of Thy people Israel, and caused them to turn back unto the ground that Thou hast given to them, and to their fathers.

then shalt thou hearken out of heaven and shalt be merciful to the sins of thy people Israel, and thou shalt restore them to the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers.

26 'In the heavens being restrained, and there is no rain, because they sin against Thee, and they have prayed towards this place, and confessed Thy name — from their sin they turn back because Thou dost afflict them —

When heaven is restrained, and there is no rain, because they shall have sinned against thee, and [when] they shall pray towards this place, and praise thy name, and shall turn from their sins, because thou shalt afflict them;

27 then Thou dost hear in the heavens, and hast forgiven the sin of Thy servants, and of Thy people Israel, because Thou directest them unto the good way in which they walk, and hast given rain on Thy land that Thou hast given to Thy people for an inheritance.

then shalt thou hearken from heaven, and thou shalt be merciful to the sins of thy servants, and of thy people Israel; for thou shalt shew them the good way in which they shall walk; and thou shalt send rain upon thy land, which thou gavest to thy people for an inheritance.

28 'Famine, when it is in the land, pestilence, when it is, blasting, and mildew, locust, and caterpillar, when they are, when its enemies have distressed it in the land — its gates, any plague and any sickness;

If there should be famine upon the land, if there should be death, a pestilent wind an blight; if there should be locust and caterpiller, and if the enemy should harass them before their cities: in whatever plague and whatever distress [they may be];

29 any prayer, any supplication that is for any man, and for all Thy people Israel, when they know each his own plague, and his own pain, and he hath spread out his hands towards this house:

Then whatever prayer and whatever supplication shall be made by any man and all thy people Israel, if a man should know his own plague and his own sickness, and should spread forth his hands toward this house;

30 then Thou dost hear from the heavens, the settled place of Thy dwelling, and hast forgiven, and hast given to each according to all his ways (because Thou knowest his heart, for Thou — Thou only — hast known the heart of the sons of men),

then shalt thou hear from heaven, out of thy prepared dwelling-place, and shalt be merciful, and shalt recompense to the man according to his ways, as thou shalt know his heart [to be]; for thou alone knowest the heart of the children of men:

31 so that they fear Thee, to walk in Thy ways, all the days that they are living on the face of the ground that Thou hast given to our fathers.

that they may reverence all thy ways all the days which they live upon the face of the land, which thou gavest to our fathers.

32 'And also, unto the stranger who is not of Thy people Israel, and he hath come from a land afar off for the sake of Thy great name, and Thy strong hand, and Thy stretched-out arm, and they have come in and prayed towards this house:

And every stranger who is not himself of thy people Israel, and who shall have come from a distant land because of thy great name, and thy mighty hand, and thy high arm; when they shall come and worship toward this place; —

33 then Thou dost hear from the heavens, from the settled place of Thy dwelling, and hast done according to all that the stranger calleth unto Thee for: so that all the peoples of the earth do know Thy name, so as to fear Thee, as Thy people Israel, and to know that Thy name is called on this house that I have built.

then shalt thou hearken out of heaven, out of thy prepared dwelling-place, and shalt do according to all that the stranger shall call upon thee for; that all the nations of the earth may know thy name, and that they may fear thee, as thy people Israel [do], and that they may know that thy name is called upon this house which I have built.

34 'When Thy people doth go out to battle against its enemies in the way that Thou dost send them, and they have prayed unto Thee the way of this city that Thou hast fixed on, and the house that I have built for Thy name:

And if thy people shall go forth to war against their enemies by the way by which thou shalt send them, and shall pray to thee toward this city which thou hast chosen, and [toward] the house which I have built to thy name;

35 then Thou hast heard from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and hast maintained their cause.

then shalt thou hear out of heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

36 'When they sin against Thee — for there is not a man who sinneth not — and Thou hast been angry with them, and hast given them before an enemy, and taken them captive have their captors, unto a land far off or near;

Whereas if they shall sin against thee, (for there is no man who will not sin, ) and thou shalt smite them, and deliver them up before their enemies, and they that take them captive shall carry them away into a land of enemies, to a land far off or near;

37 and they have turned [it] back unto their heart in the land whither they have been taken captive, and have turned back, and made supplication unto Thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done perversely, and have done wickedly;

and [if] they shall repent in their land whither they were carried captive, and shall also turn and make supplication to thee in their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have transgressed, we have wrought unrighteously;

38 yea, they have turned back unto Thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their captivity, whither they have taken them captive, and they have prayed the way of their land that Thou hast given to their fathers, and of the city that Thou hast chosen, and of the house that I have built for Thy name:

and [if] they shall turn to thee with all their heart and all their soul in the land of them that carried them captives, whither they carried them captives, and shall pray toward their land which thou gavest to their fathers, and the city which thou didst choose, and the house which I built to thy name: —

39 then Thou hast heard from the heavens, from the settled place of Thy dwelling, their prayer and their supplications, and hast maintained their cause, and forgiven Thy people who have sinned against Thee.

then shalt thou hear out of heaven, out of thy prepared dwelling-place, their prayer and their supplication, and thou shalt execute justice, and shalt be merciful to thy people that sin against thee.

40 'Now, my God, let, I beseech Thee, Thine eyes be open, and Thine ears attentive, to the prayer of this place:

And now, Lord, let, I pray thee, thine eyes be opened, and thine ears be attentive to the petition [made in] this place.

41 and now, rise, O Jehovah God, to Thy rest, Thou, and the ark of Thy strength; Thy priests, O Jehovah God, are clothed with salvation, and Thy saints rejoice in the goodness,

And now, O Lord God, arise into thy resting-place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O Lord God, clothe themselves with salvation, and thy sons rejoice in prosperity.

42 O Jehovah God, turn not back the face of Thine anointed, be mindful of the kind acts of David Thy servant.'

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