2 Chronicles 6

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

Then Solomon said, “Yahweh has said that he would live 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 you a lofty residence, a place for you to live in forever.”

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

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

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:

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,

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;

'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.

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

However, I have chosen Jerusalem, so that my name might be there, and I have chosen 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,

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

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, you must not build the house; instead, your son, one who will come from your loins, will 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,

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.

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

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

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

Solomon stood before the altar of Yahweh in the presence of all the assembly 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 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.

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;

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;

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.

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.

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.

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.'

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

Now then, Yahweh, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your 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?)

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!

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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,

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.

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.

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 —

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—

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 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.

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 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—

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 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.

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;

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—

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:

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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:

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,

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 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.

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:

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.

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

Then listen from the heavens to their prayer, their request, and help 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;

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.

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;

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.'

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:

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.

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 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.

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

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.

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,

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.

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

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.”