2 Chronicles 7

1 And at Solomon's finishing to pray, then the fire hath come down from the heavens, and consumeth the burnt-offering and the sacrifices, and the honour of Jehovah hath filled the house,

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.

2 and the priests have not been able to go in unto the house of Jehovah, because the honour of Jehovah hath filled the house of Jehovah.

The radiance [was extremely bright], with the result that the priests could not enter the temple of Yahweh.

3 And all the sons of Israel are looking on the descending of the fire, and the honour of Jehovah on the house, and they bow — faces to the earth — on the pavement, and do obeisance, and give thanks to Jehovah, for good, for to the age [is] His kindness.

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.”

4 And the king and all the people are sacrificing a sacrifice before Jehovah,

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.

5 and king Solomon sacrificeth the sacrifice of the herd, twenty and two thousand, and of the flock, a hundred and twenty thousand, and the king and all the people dedicate the house of God.

6 And the priests over their charges are standing, and the Levites with instruments of the song of Jehovah — that David the king made, to give thanks to Jehovah, for to the age [is] His kindness, in David's praising by their hand — and the priests are blowing trumpets over-against them, and all Israel are standing.

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].

7 And Solomon sanctifieth the middle of the court that [is] before the house of Jehovah, for he hath made there the burnt-offerings, and the fat of the peace-offerings: for the altar of brass that Solomon made hath not been able to contain the burnt-offering, and the present, and the fat.

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.

8 And solomon maketh the feast at that time seven days, and all Israel with him — a very great assembly — from the entering in of Hamath unto the brook of Egypt.

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].

9 And they make on the eighth day a restraint, because the dedication of the altar they have made seven days, and the feast seven days.

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.

10 And on the twenty and third day of the seventh month he hath sent the people to their tents, rejoicing, and glad in heart, for the goodness that Jehovah hath done to David, and to Solomon, and to Israel His people.

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.

11 And Solomon finisheth the house of Jehovah, and the house of the king; and all that hath come on the heart of Solomon to do in the house of Jehovah, and in his own house, he hath caused to prosper.

Solomon’s [workers] finished building the temple and Solomon’s palace. And Solomon finished doing everything else that he had planned to do.

12 And Jehovah appeareth unto Solomon by night, and saith to him, 'I have heard thy prayer, and have fixed on this place to Me for a house of sacrifice.

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.

13 If I restrain the heavens and there is no rain, and if I lay charge on the locust to consume the land, and if I send pestilence among My people —

“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,

14 and My people on whom My name is called be humbled, and pray, and seek My face, and turn back from their evil ways, then I — I hear from the heavens, and forgive their sin, and heal their land.

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.

15 'Now, Mine eyes are open, and Mine ears attentive, to the prayer of this place;

I [SYN] will see them and I [SYN] will hear them when they pray to me in this place.

16 and now, I have chosen and sanctified this house for My name being there unto the age; yea, Mine eyes and My heart have been there all the days.

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.

17 'And thou, if thou dost walk before Me as David thy father walked, even to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and My statutes and My judgments dost keep —

“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,

18 then I have established the throne of thy kingdom, as I covenanted with David thy father, saying, There is not cut off a man to thee — a ruler in Israel;

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.’

19 and if ye turn back — ye — and have forsaken My statutes, and My commands, that I have placed before you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them — then I have plucked them from off My ground that I have given to them,

“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,

20 and this house that I have sanctified for My name, I cast from before My face, and make it for a proverb, and for a byword, among all the peoples.

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.

21 'And this house that hath been high, to every one passing by it, is an astonishment, and he hath said, Wherefore hath Jehovah done thus to this land, and to this house?

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?’

22 and they have said, Because that they have forsaken Jehovah, God of their fathers, who brought them out from the land of Egypt, and lay hold on other gods, and bow themselves to them, and serve them, therefore He hath brought upon them all this evil.'

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.’”