2 Chronicles 6
1 Then Solomon said, “Yahweh has said that he would live in thick darkness,
Then said Solomon, The Lord said that he would dwell in thick darkness.
2 but I have built you a lofty residence, a place for you to live in forever.”
But I have built a house to your name, holy to you, and prepared [for you] to dwell in for ever.
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 blessed all the congregation of Israel: and all the congregation of Israel stood by.
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,
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 '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 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 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 that my name should be there; and I chose David to be 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 it came into the heart of David my father, to build a house for 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.
But the Lord said to my father David, Whereas it came into your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it came into your heart.
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.'
Nevertheless you shall not build the house; for your son who shall come forth out of your loins, he shall build the house for 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.
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 I have placed the ark there, in which is Yahweh's covenant, which he made with the people of Israel.”
and I have set there the ark in which [is] the covenant of the Lord, which he made with Israel.
12 Solomon stood before the altar of Yahweh in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands.
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 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 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 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;
and said, Lord God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven, or on the earth; keeping covenant and mercy with your servants that walk before you with [their] whole heart.
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.
Even as you have kept [them] with your servant David my father, as you have spoken to him in words: —you have both spoken with your mouth, and have fulfilled [it] with your hands, as it is this day.
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.'
and now, Lord God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father the things which you spoke to him, saying, There shall not fail you a man before me sitting on the throne of Israel, if only your sons will take heed to their way to walk in my law, as you did walk before me.
17 Now then, Yahweh, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David.
And now, Lord God of Israel, let, I pray you, your word be confirmed, which you have spoken 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!
For will God indeed dwell with men upon the earth? if the heaven and the heaven of heavens will not suffice you, what then is this house which 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.
Yet you shall have respect to the prayer of your servant, and to my petition, O Lord God, so as to listen to the petition and the prayer which your servant prays before you this day:
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.
so that your eyes should be open over this house by day and by night, towards this place, whereon you said your name should be called, so as to hear the prayer which your servant prays towards this house.
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 you shall hear the supplication of your servant, and of your people Israel, whatever prayers they shall make towards this place: and you shall listen in your dwelling-place out of heaven, yes you shall hear, and be merciful.
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 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 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.
then shall you listen out of heaven, and do, and judge your 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 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—
And if your people Israel should be put to the worse before the enemy, if they should sin against you, and [then] turn and confess to your name, and pray and make supplication before you in this house;
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.
then shall you listen out of heaven and shall be merciful to the sins of your people Israel, and you shall restore them to the land which 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—
When heaven is restrained, and there is no rain, because they shall have sinned against you, and [when] they shall pray towards this place, and praise your name, and shall turn from their sins, because you shall 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.
then shall you listen from heaven, and you shall be merciful to the sins of your servants, and of your people Israel; for you shall show them the good way in which they shall walk; and you shall send rain upon your land, which you gave to your people for an inheritance.
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 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 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.
Then whatever prayer and whatever supplication shall be made by any man and all your people Israel, if a man should know his own plague and his own sickness, and should spread forth his hands towards 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.
then shall you hear from heaven, out of your prepared dwelling-place, and shall be merciful, and shall recompense to the man according to his ways, as you shall know his heart [to be]; for you alone know the heart of the children 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.
that they may reverence all your ways all the days which 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,
And every stranger who is not himself of your people Israel, and who shall have come from a distant land because of your great name, and your mighty hand, and your high arm; when they shall come and worship towards 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.
then shall you listen out of heaven, out of your prepared dwelling-place, and shall do according to all that the stranger shall call upon you for; that all the nations of the earth may know your name, and that they may fear you, as your people Israel [do], and that they may know that your name is called upon 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.
And if your people shall go forth to war against their enemies by the way by which you shall send them, and shall pray to you towards this city which you have chosen, and [towards] the house which I have built to your name;
35 Then listen from the heavens to their prayer, their request, and help their cause.
then shall you hear out of heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
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.
Whereas if they shall sin against you, (for there is no man who will not sin, ) and you shall strike 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 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] they shall repent in their land whither they were carried captive, and shall also turn and make supplication to you in their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have transgressed, we have wrought unrighteously;
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 shall turn to you 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 towards their land which you gave to their fathers, and the city which you did choose, and the house which I 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.
then shall you hear out of heaven, out of your prepared dwelling-place, their prayer and their supplication, and you shall execute justice, and shall be merciful to your people that sin against you.
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.
And now, Lord, let, I pray you, your eyes be opened, and your ears be attentive to the petition [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.
And now, O Lord God, arise into your resting-place, you, and the ark of your strength: let your priests, O Lord God, clothe themselves with salvation, and your sons rejoice in prosperity.
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, turn not away the face of your anointed: remember the mercies of your servant David.
