2 Chronicles 6
1 Then Solomon said, “Yahweh, you said that you would live in a dark cloud.
Then Solomon said: “The Lord has promised that he would dwell in a cloud.
2 But now I have built a glorious temple for you to live in forever!”
But I have built a house to his name, so that he may dwell there forever.”
3 Then while all the people stood there, Solomon turned toward the people and he [asked God to] bless them.
And the king turned his face, and he blessed the entire multitude of Israel, (for the whole crowd was standing and attentive) and he said:
4 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:
“Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, who has completed the work that he spoke to David my father, saying:
5 ‘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.
‘From the day when I led my people away from the land of Egypt, I did not choose a city from all the tribes of Israel, so that a house would be built in it to my name. And I did not choose any other man, so that he would be the ruler of my people Israel.
6 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.’”
But I chose Jerusalem, so that my name would be in it. And I chose David, so that I might appoint him over my people Israel.’
7 [Then Solomon said], “My father David wanted to build a temple for Yahweh, the God to whom we Israelis belong.
And though David, my father, had decided that he would build a house to the name of the Lord God of Israel,
8 But Yahweh said to him, ‘You have wanted to build a temple for me, and what you wanted to do was good.
the Lord said to him: ‘In so far as it was your will that you build a house to my name, certainly you have done well in having such a will.
9 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.’
But you shall not build the house. Truly, your son, who will go forth from your loins, shall build a house to my name.’
10 “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.
Therefore, the Lord has accomplished his word, which he had spoken. And I have risen up in place of my father David, and I sit upon the throne of Israel, just as the Lord spoke. And I have built a house to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
11 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.”
And I have placed in it the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he formed with the sons of Israel.”
12 Then Solomon stood in front of the altar which was in front of the people of Israel who had gathered there.
Then he stood before the altar of the Lord, facing the entire multitude of Israel, and he extended his hands.
13 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,
For indeed, Solomon had made a bronze base, and he had positioned it in the midst of the hall; it held five cubits in length, and five cubits in width, and three cubits in height. And he stood upon it. And next, kneeling down while facing the entire multitude of Israel, and lifting up his palms towards heaven,
14 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.
he said: “O Lord God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven or on earth. You preserve covenant and mercy with your servants, who walk before you with all their hearts.
15 “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.
You fulfilled for your servant David, my father, whatsoever you had said to him. And you carried out the deed that you promised with your mouth, just as the present time proves.
16 “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.
Now then, O Lord God of Israel, fulfill for your servant David, my father, whatsoever you said to him, saying: ‘There shall not fail to be a man from you before me, who will sit upon the throne of Israel, yet only if your sons will guard their ways, and will walk in my law, just as you also have walked before me.’
17 So now, God of us Israeli people, cause what you promised David, who served you [well], to happen.
And now, O Lord God of Israel, let your word be confirmed that you spoke to your servant David.
18 “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.
How then is it to be believed that God would dwell with men upon the earth? If heaven and the heavens of the heavens do not contain you, how much less this house that I have built?
19 But Yahweh, my God, please listen to my prayer, while I am pleading with you this day and do what I am requesting.
But it has been done for this only, so that you may look with favor upon the prayer of your servant, and on his supplication, O Lord my God, and so that you may hear the prayers which your servant pours out before you,
20 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.
and so that you may open your eyes over this house, day and night, over the place where you promised that your name would be invoked,
21 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.
and so that you may heed the prayer which your servant is praying within it, and so that you may heed the prayers of your servant and of your people Israel. Whoever will pray in this place, listen from your habitation, that is, from heaven, and forgive.
22 “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,’
If anyone will have sinned against his neighbor, and he arrives to swear against him, and to bind himself with a curse before the altar in this house,
23 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.
you will hear him from heaven, and you will execute justice for your servants, so that you return, to the iniquitous man, his own way upon his own head, and so that you vindicate the just man, repaying him according to his own justice.
24 “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],
If your people Israel will have been overwhelmed by their enemies, (for they will sin against you) and having been converted will do penance, and if they will have beseeched your name, and will have prayed in this place,
25 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.
you will heed them from heaven, and you will forgive the sin of your people Israel, and you will lead them back into the land that you gave to them and to their fathers.
26 “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,
If the heavens have been closed, so that rain does not fall, because of the sin of the people, and if they will petition you in this place, and confess to your name, and be converted from their sins when you will afflict them,
27 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].
heed them from heaven, O Lord, and forgive the sins of your servants and of your people Israel, and teach them the good way, by which they may advance, and give rain to the land that you gave to your people as a possession.
28 “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,
If a famine will have risen up in the land, or pestilence, or fungus, or mildew, or locusts, or beetles, or if enemies will have laid waste to the countryside and will have besieged the gates of the cities, or whatever scourge or infirmity will have pressed upon them,
29 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,
if anyone from your people Israel, knowing his own scourge and infirmity, will have made supplication and will have extended his hands in this house,
30 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,
you will heed him from heaven, indeed from your sublime habitation, and you will forgive, and you will repay each one according to his ways, which you know him to hold in his heart. For you alone know the hearts of the sons of men.
31 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.
So may they fear you, and so may they walk in your ways, during all the days that they live upon the face of the land, which you gave to our fathers.
32 “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,
Also, if the outsider, who is not from your people Israel, will have arrived from a far away land, because of your great name, and because of your robust hand and your outstretched arm, and if he will adore in this place,
33 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.
you will heed him from heaven, your most firm habitation, and you will accomplish all the things about which this sojourner will have called out to you, so that all the people of the earth may know your name, and may fear you, just as your people Israel do, and so that they may know that your name is invoked over this house, which I have built.
34 “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,
If, having gone out to war against their adversaries along the way that you will send them, your people adore you facing in the direction of this city, which you have chosen, and of this house, which I have built to your name,
35 listen in heaven to their prayers; listen to what they plead for you [to do], and assist them.
you will heed their prayers from heaven, and their supplications, and you will vindicate them.
36 [“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.
But if they will have sinned against you (for there is no man who does not sin) and you will have become angry against them, and if you will have delivered them to their enemies, and so they lead them away as captives to a far away land, or even to one that is near,
37 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,’
and if, having been converted in their heart in the land to which they had been led as captives, they will do penance, and beseech you in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have acted unjustly,’
38 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,
and if they will have returned to you, with their whole heart and with their whole soul, in the land of their captivity to which they were led away, and if they will adore you in the direction of their own land, which you gave to their fathers, and of the city, which you have chosen, and of the house, which I have built to your name,
39 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.
from heaven, that is, from your firm habitation, you will heed their prayers, and you will accomplish judgment, and you will forgive your people, even though they are sinners.
40 “Now, my God, look at us and listen to us as we pray to you in this place.
For you are my God. Let your eyes be open, I beg you, and let your ears be attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.
41 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].
Now therefore, rise up, O Lord God, to your resting place, you and the ark of your strength. Let your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let your holy ones rejoice in what is good.
42 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].”
O Lord God, may you not turn away from the face of your Christ. Remember the mercies of your servant, David.”
