2 Chronicles
6
- Then Solomon said, "The LORD has said
that he would dwell in a dark cloud;
- I have built a magnificent temple for you,
a place for you to dwell forever."
- While the whole assembly of Israel was standing
there, the king turned around and blessed them.
- Then he said: "Praise be to the LORD,
the God of Israel, who with his hands has fulfilled what he promised with
his mouth to my father David. For he said,
- 'Since the day I brought my people out of
Egypt, I have not chosen a city in any tribe of Israel to have a temple built
for my Name to be there, nor have I chosen anyone to be the leader over my
people Israel.
- But now I have chosen Jerusalem for my Name
to be there, and I have chosen David to rule my people Israel.'
- "My father David had it in his heart
to build a temple for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel.
- But the LORD said to my father David, 'Because
it was in your heart to build a temple for my Name, you did well to have this
in your heart.
- Nevertheless, you are not the one to build
the temple, but your son, who is your own flesh and blood -- he is the one
who will build the temple for my Name.'
- "The LORD has kept the promise he made.
I have succeeded David my father and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just
as the LORD promised, and I have built the temple for the Name of the LORD,
the God of Israel.
- There I have placed the ark, in which is
the covenant of the LORD that he made with the people of Israel."
- Then Solomon stood before the altar of the
LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands.
- Now he had made a bronze platform, five
cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high, and had placed it in
the center of the outer court. He stood on the platform and then knelt down
before the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.
- He said: "O LORD, God of Israel, there
is no God like you in heaven or on earth -- you who keep your covenant of
love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way.
- You have kept your promise to your servant
David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you
have fulfilled it -- as it is today.
- "Now LORD, God of Israel, keep for
your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, 'You
shall never fail to have a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if
only your sons are careful in all they do to walk before me according to my
law, as you have done.'
- And now, O LORD, God of Israel, let your
word that you promised your servant David come true.
- "But will God really dwell on earth
with men? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much
less this temple I have built !
- Yet give attention to your servant's prayer
and his plea for mercy, O LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your
servant is praying in your presence.
- May your eyes be open toward this temple
day and night, this place of which you said you would put your Name there.
May you hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place.
- Hear the supplications of your servant and
of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven,
your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive.
- "When a man wrongs his neighbor and
is required to take an oath and he comes and swears the oath before your altar
in this temple,
- then hear from heaven and act. Judge between
your servants, repaying the guilty by bringing down on his own head what he
has done. Declare the innocent not guilty and so establish his innocence.
- "When your people Israel have been
defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you and when they turn
back and confess your name, praying and making supplication before you in
this temple,
- then hear from heaven and forgive the sin
of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to them and
their fathers.
- "When the heavens are shut up and there
is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray
toward this place and confess your name and turn from their sin because you
have afflicted them,
- then hear from heaven and forgive the sin
of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and
send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.
- "When famine or plague comes to the
land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when enemies besiege
them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come,
- and when a prayer or plea is made by any
of your people Israel -- each one aware of his afflictions and pains, and
spreading out his hands toward this temple --
- then hear from heaven, your dwelling place.
Forgive, and deal with each man according to all he does, since you know his
heart (for you alone know the hearts of men),
- so that they will fear you and walk in your
ways all the time they live in the land you gave our fathers.
- "As for the foreigner who does not
belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your
great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm--when he comes and
prays toward this temple,
- then hear from heaven, your dwelling place,
and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the
earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may
know that this house I have built bears your Name.
- "When your people go to war against
their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to you toward this
city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name,
- then hear from heaven their prayer and their
plea, and uphold their cause.
- "When they sin against you -- for there
is no one who does not sin -- and you become angry with them and give them
over to the enemy, who takes them captive to a land far away or near;
- and if they have a change of heart in the
land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land
of their captivity and say, 'We have sinned, we have done wrong and acted
wickedly';
- and if they turn back to you with all their
heart and soul in the land of their captivity where they were taken, and pray
toward the land you gave their fathers, toward the city you have chosen and
toward the temple I have built for your Name;
- then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear
their prayer and their pleas, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people,
who have sinned against you.
- "Now, my God, may your eyes be open
and your ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.
- "Now arise, O LORD God, and come to
your resting place, you and the ark of your might. May your priests, O LORD
God, be clothed with salvation, may your saints rejoice in your goodness.
- O LORD God, do not reject your anointed
one. Remember the great love promised to David your servant."
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