2 Chronicles 6

1 Then Solomon spoke, “The Lord said that he lives in deep darkness.

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

2 However, I have built you a magnificent Temple, a place for you to live forever.”

And I have indeed built a dwelling-house for thee, and have settled a place for thy abode for ever.”

3 Then the king turned and blessed the whole assembly of Israel, as they all stood.

And the king turned his face, and blessed the whole congregation of Israel, and all the congregation of Israel was standing.

4 He said, “Praise the Lord God of Israel, who has kept the promise he made to my father David when he said,

And he said, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hands fulfilled it, when he said,

5 ‘Ever since the day I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I have not chosen a town from any tribe of Israel where a Temple could be built to honor me, and I have not chosen anyone to be ruler over my people Israel.

Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt, I did not make choice of any city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, that my name might be therein; nor did I make choice of any man to be a ruler over my people of Israel;

6 But now I have chosen Jerusalem so that I will be honored there, and I have chosen David to rule over my people Israel.’

But I have made choice of Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and I have made choice of David to be over my people Israel,

7 My father David really wanted to build this Temple to honor the Lord, the God of Israel.

And it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord the God of Israel.

8 But the Lord told my father David, ‘You really wanted to build me a Temple to honor me—and it was good for you to want to do this.

But the Lord said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thy heart to build a house unto my name, thou didst well in that it was in thy heart:

9 But you are not going to build the Temple. Your son, one of your children, will build the Temple to honor me.’

Nevertheless thou shalt not thyself build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name.

10 Now the Lord has kept the promise he made. For I have taken the place of my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel as the Lord said, and I have built the Temple to honor the Lord God of Israel.

And the Lord hath fulfilled his word that he hath spoken; and I am risen up in the stead of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord hath spoken, and I have built the house unto the name of the Lord the God of Israel.

11 I have placed the Ark there, which has inside it the agreement the Lord made with the sons of Israel.”

And I have placed there the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord which he hath made with the children of Israel.

12 Then Solomon stood in front of the altar of the Lord before the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands in prayer.

And he now placed himself before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands;

13 Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high. He had set it in the middle of the courtyard, and he was standing on it. Then he knelt down before the whole assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven.

For Solomon had made a laver of copper, and had placed it in the midst of the out-court, five cubits being its length, five cubits its breadth, and three cubits its height; and he placed himself upon it, and kneeled down upon his knees in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven;

14 He said, “Lord God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven or on earth, keeping your agreement of trustworthy love with your servants who follow you with complete devotion.

And he said, O Lord God of Israel, there is no god like thee in the heavens, or on the earth, thou who keepest the covenant, and the kindness for thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart;

15 You have kept the promise you made to your servant, my father David. With your own mouth you made that promise, and with your own hands you have fulfilled it today.

Who has kept for thy servant David my father that which thou hadst promised him; and thou spokest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thy hand, as it is this day.

16 So now, Lord God of Israel, please keep the promise you made to your servant David, my father, when you told him, ‘If your descendants pay close attention to follow my way, and to keep my law as you have done, you will never fail to have one of them to sit on the throne of Israel.’

And now, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for thy servant David my father that which thou hast spoken concerning him, saying, There shall never fail thee a man in my sight who sitteth on the throne of Israel, if thy children but take heed to their way to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me.

17 Now, Lord God of Israel, please fulfill this promise you made to your servant David.

And now, O Lord, the God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant, unto David.

18 But will God really live here on earth among people? The heavens, even highest heaven, cannot contain you, much less this Temple I have built!

For, in truth, will God then dwell with men on the earth? behold, the heavens and the heavens of heavens cannot contain thee: how much less then this house that I have built!

19 Please listen to the prayer of your servant and his request, Lord my God. Please hear the appeals and the prayers that your servant is presenting before you.

Yet wilt thou turn thy regard unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to listen unto the entreaty and the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee:

20 May you watch over this Temple day and night, caring for the place where you said you would be honored. May you hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place,

That thy eyes may be open toward this house day and night, toward the place of which thou hast said that thou wouldst put thy name there; that thou mayest listen unto the prayer which thy servant will pray at this place.

21 and hear the request of your servant and your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Please hear from heaven where you live. May you hear and forgive.

And listen thou to the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they will pray at this place: and oh, do thou hear from thy dwelling-place, from heaven; and hear, and forgive.

22 When someone sins against another and is required to take an oath declaring the truth before your altar in this Temple,

If any man trespass against his neighbor, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thy altar in this house:

23 listen from heaven, act and judge your servants. Pay back the guilty; vindicate and reward those who do right.

Then do thou hear from heaven, and act, and judge thy servants, by requiting the wicked, to bring his way upon his own head; and by justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

24 When your people Israel are defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, and if they come back in repentance to you, praying for forgiveness in this Temple,

And if thy people Israel be struck down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and they return and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication before thee in this house:

25 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave them and their forefathers.

Then do thou hear from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and cause them to return unto the land which thou hast given to them and to their fathers.

26 If the skies are closed shut and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and if they come back in repentance to you, turning away from their sin because you have punished them,

When the heavens be shut up, and there he no rain, because they have sinned against thee, and they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, because thou hast afflicted them:

27 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the good way so that they can walk on it, and send rain on the earth that you have given to your people as their possession.

Then do thou hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel; for thou wilt direct them unto the good way, wherein they should walk; and give then rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance.

28 If there is famine in the land, or disease, or blight or mildew on the crops, or if there are locusts or caterpillars, or if an enemy comes to lay siege to the towns in the land—it can be whatever kind of plague or whatever kind of disease—

If there be famine in the land, if there be pestilence, blasting, or mildew, if there be locusts, or caterpillars; if their enemies besiege them in their land, in their gates at whatsoever plague, and at whatsoever sickness;

29 then whatever kind of prayer or whatever kind of appeal is made by anyone or all your people Israel, in fact anyone who, knowing their problems and pains, prays toward this Temple,

What prayer and what supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, when they shall be conscious every man of his plague and his pain, and he then spread forth his hands toward this house:

30 then hear from heaven, the place where you live, and forgive. Give according to the way they live their lives, for you know what people are really like inside, and you alone know the true character of people.

Then do thou hear from heaven the place of thy dwelling, and forgive, and give to every man in accordance with all his ways, as thou mayest know his heart; for thou, thyself alone, knowest the heart of the children of men;

31 Then they will respect you and follow your ways all the time they live in the land you gave to our forefathers.

In order that they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, all the days that they live on the face of the land which thou hast given unto our fathers.

32 As for the foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel but who come from a distant land, having heard of your great nature and power and ability to help, when they come and pray toward this Temple,

But also to the stranger, who is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far-off country for the sake of thy great name, and of thy mighty hand, and of thy outstretched arm, — if they come and pray in this house, —

33 then hear from heaven, the place where you live, and give them what they're asking. That way, everyone on earth will come to know and respect you, just as your own people Israel do. They will also know that this Temple I have built honors you.

Mayest thou likewise listen from heaven, from the place of thy dwelling, and do according to all that the stranger will call on thee for: in order that all people of the earth may know thy name, both to fear thee, as do thy people Israel, and to understand that this house, which I have built, is called by thy name.

34 When your people go to fight against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to you towards the city you have chosen and the house I have built to honor you,

If thy people go out to battle against their enemies on the way on which thou mayest send them, and they do pray unto thee in the direction of this city which thou hast chosen, and of the house that I have built unto thy name:

35 then hear from heaven what they are praying and asking for, and support their cause.

Then hear thou from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and procure them justice.

36 If they sin against you—and there is nobody who does not sin—you may become angry with them and hand them over to an enemy who takes them away as prisoners to a foreign land, near or far.

If they sin against thee—for there is no man that may not sin, —and thou be angry with them, and give them up before the enemy, so that their captors carry them away captive unto a land far off or near;

37 But if they think again in their land of captivity and repent and plead for mercy from you, saying, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly,’

And if they then take it to their heart in the land whither they have been carried captive, and repent and make supplication unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have committed iniquity, and have acted wickedly;

38 and they come back to you with complete sincerity in their thoughts and attitudes there in their land of captivity; and they pray towards the land you gave their forefathers and the city you chose and the Temple I have built to honor you,

And they return unto thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have been carried captive, and they pray in the direction of their land, which thou hast given unto their fathers, and of the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built unto thy name:

39 then hear from heaven, the place where you live, respond and support their cause. Forgive your people who have sinned against you.

Then hear thou from heaven, from the place of thy dwelling, their prayer and their supplications, and procure them justice, and forgive thy people for what they have sinned against thee.

40 Now my God, please open your eyes, and may your ears pay attention to the prayers offered in this place.

Now, my God, let I beseech thee, thy eyes be open, and thy ears be attentive unto the prayer on this place.

41 ‘Come, Lord, and enter your home, together with your Ark of power. May your priests wear salvation like clothing; may your faithful people shout for joy in your goodness.

And now arise, O Lord God, unto thy resting-place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O Lord God, clothe themselves with salvation, and let thy pious servants rejoice in happiness.

42 Lord God, don't reject the king you have chosen. Remember your trustworthy love for your servant David.’”

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