2 Chronicles 6

1 Then Solomon said, “Yahweh has 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 you a house and home, a place for you to dwell in forever.”

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

3 The king turned his face, and blessed all the assembly of Israel; and all the assembly of Israel stood.

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

4 He said, “Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David my father, and has with his hands fulfilled it, 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 my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house in, that my name might be there, and I chose no man to be prince 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 now I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and I 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 a house for the name of Yahweh, the 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 Yahweh said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart;

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

9 nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who will come out of your body, 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 “Yahweh has performed his word that he spoke; for I have risen up in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as Yahweh promised, and have built the house for the name of Yahweh, the 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 There I have set the ark, in which is Yahweh’s covenant, which 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 He stood before Yahweh’s altar in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out 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 bronze platform, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the middle of the court; and he stood on it, and knelt down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel, and spread out 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 Then he said, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth—you who keep covenant and loving kindness with your servants who walk before you with all their heart;

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 who have kept with your servant David my father that which you promised him. Yes, you spoke with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is today.

“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, Yahweh, the God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father that which you have promised him, saying, ‘There shall not fail you a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children take heed to their way, to walk in my law as you have 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 therefore, Yahweh, the God of Israel, let your word be verified, which you spoke to your 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 can’t contain you; 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 Yet have respect for the prayer of your servant and to his supplication, Yahweh my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which your servant prays before you;

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 your eyes may be open toward this house day and night, even toward the place where you have said that you would put your name, to listen to the prayer which your servant will pray 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 Listen to the petitions of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Yes, hear from your dwelling place, even from heaven; and when you hear, 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 sins against his neighbor, and an oath is laid on him to cause him to swear, and he comes and swears before your 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 from heaven, act, and judge your servants, bringing retribution to the wicked, to bring his way on his own head; and justifying the righteous, to give 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 “If your people Israel are struck down before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and they turn again and confess your name, and pray and make supplication before you 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 from heaven, and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them again to the land which you gave 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 sky is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and confess your name, and turn from their sin when you 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 in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk, and send rain on your land, which you have given to your 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 is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight or mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is—

“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 whatever prayer and supplication is made by any man, or by all your people Israel, who will each know his own plague and his own sorrow, and shall spread out his hands toward 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 from heaven your dwelling place and forgive, and render to every man according to all his ways, whose heart you know (for you, even you only, know 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 you, to walk in your ways as long as they live in the land which you gave 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 foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, when he comes from a far country for your great name’s sake and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, when they come and pray toward 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 from heaven, even from your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you for; that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by your 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 your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way you send them, and they pray to you toward this city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your 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 from heaven 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 you (for there is no man who doesn’t sin), and you are angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive 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 come to their senses in the land where they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication to you in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, we have done perversely, 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 you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been taken captive, and pray toward their land which you gave to their fathers, and the city which you have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for your 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 from heaven, even from your dwelling place, their prayer and their petitions, and maintain their cause, and forgive your people who have sinned against you.

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 beg you, your eyes be open, and let your 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, Yahweh God, into 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 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 “Yahweh God, don’t turn away the face of your anointed. Remember your loving kindnesses to David your 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].”