2 Chronicles, 6

1. Then said Solomon, The LORD hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

1. Then Solomon said: "Yahweh has chosen to live in the thick cloud. Yes, I have built you a majestic temple,

2. But I have built an house of habitation for thee, and a place for thy dwelling for ever.

2. a place for you to live in forever."

3. And the king turned his face, and blessed the whole congregation of Israel: and all the congregation of Israel stood.

3. Then the king turned and asked God's blessing on the whole assembly of Israel, who were standing there.

4. And he said, Blessed [be] the LORD God of Israel, who hath with his hands fulfilled [that] which he spake with his mouth to my father David, saying,

4. He said, "Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who has spoken through the mouth of David, my father and has now carried out by his hand what he said:

5. Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build an house in, that my name might be there; neither chose I any man to be a ruler over my people Israel:

5. From the day I brought my people out of Egypt until now I did not choose any city in the land of Israel as the place to build a house where my Name would be, and I did not choose anyone to be prince of my people Israel.

6. But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel.

6. But now I have chosen Jerusalem as the place where my Name will be, and you, David, to rule my people.'

7. Now it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

7. My father David had set his heart on building a house for the Name of Yahweh, the God of Israel,

8. But the LORD said to David my father, Forasmuch as it was in thine heart to build an house for my name, thou didst well in that it was in thine heart:

8. but Yahweh said to him, 'You have set your heart on building a temple for my name, and in this you have done well;

9. Notwithstanding thou shalt not build the house; but thy son which shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house for my name.

9. and yet, you are not the man to build the house; your son, born of your own body, shall build me a house.'

10. The LORD therefore hath performed his word that he hath spoken: for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and am set on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

10. Yahweh has kept the promise he made: I have succeeded David my father and am seated on the throne of Israel, as Yahweh promised; and now I have built a house for the Name of Yahweh, the God of Israel,

11. And in it have I put the ark, wherein [is] the covenant of the LORD, that he made with the children of Israel.

11. and have placed in it the ark containing the covenant that Yahweh made with the people of Israel."

12. And he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands:

12. Then in the presence of the whole assembly of Israel Solomon stood before the altar of Yahweh and stretched out his hands.

13. For Solomon had made a brasen scaffold, of five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court: and upon it he stood, and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven,

13. Solomon had made a bronze pedestal and had placed it in the middle of the court; it was 7 feet long, 7 feet wide and 7 feet high. Solomon mounted it, and knelt down on it in the presence of the whole assembly of Israel; he stretched out his hands to heaven.

14. And said, O LORD God of Israel, [there is] no God like thee in the heaven, nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and [shewest] mercy unto thy servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts:

14. and said, "Yahweh, God of Israel, not in heaven nor on earth is there such a God as you; you are true to your covenant and show graciousness toward your servants when they live in wholehearted obedience to you.

15. Thou which hast kept with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him; and spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled [it] with thine hand, as [it is] this day.

15. You have kept the promise you made to your servant David my father; what you promised with your mouth, today you have carried out by your hand.

16. Now therefore, O LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel; yet so that thy children take heed to their way to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me.

16. And now, Yahweh, God of Israel, keep the promise you made your servant David when you said, 'You shall always have someone from your line to rule as king of Israel, if only your sons are careful how they behave, following my Law as you yourself have done.'

17. Now then, O LORD God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David.

17. So now, God of Israel, let the words come true which you spoke to your servant David my father.

18. But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built!

18. Yet will God really live with men and women on the earth? Why, the heavens and their own heavens cannot contain you! How much less this house that I have built!

19. Have respect therefore to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee:

19. Listen to the prayer and grant the requests of your servant, Yahweh my God; listen to the cry and to the prayer your servant makes to you.

20. That thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy name there; to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth toward this place.

20. Day and night let your eyes watch over this house, where you have promised that your Name would be.

21. Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall make toward this place: hear thou from thy dwelling place, [even] from heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive.

21. Hear the prayers of your servant and of Israel your people as they pray in this place. From heaven where your dwelling is, hear; and, as you hear, forgive.

22. If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to make him swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house;

22. If anyone sins against his neighbour, and the neighbour calls down a curse on him and makes him swear an oath before your altar in this house,

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

23. hear from heaven, and act; decide between your servants: punish the wicked one, bringing his conduct down on his own head; and vindicate the innocent, rewarding him as his innocence deserves.

24. And if thy people Israel be put to the worse before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee; and shall return and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication before thee in this house;

24. If Israel your people are defeated by the enemy because they have sinned against you, but they return to you and praise your name and humbly pray to you for forgiveness, in this house,

25. Then hear thou from the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers.

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

26. When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; [yet] if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them;

26. When the heavens are shut and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray in this place and praise your name, having been humbled by you, and repent of their sin,

27. Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them the good way, wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance.

27. hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servant and of your people Israel. Teach them to do what is right; and send rain on your land which you have given your people as an inheritance.

28. If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillers; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness [there be]:

28. Should there be famine in the land or epidemic or the crops are destroyed by scorching winds or swarms of locusts, should this people's enemies lay siege to one of their cities, if there is any plague or sickness,

29. [Then] what prayer [or] what supplication soever shall be made of any man, or of all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house:

29. if any person, or all Israel your people, should, out of heartfelt sorrow, pray, stretching out his hands toward this house,

30. Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:)

30. hear from heaven where your home is. Forgive, and deal with each as his conduct deserves, for you know each heart - you alone know the hearts of all humankind -

31. That they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

31. that they may come to you and follow your ways as long as they live in the land you gave to our ancestors.

32. Moreover concerning the stranger, which is not of thy people Israel, but is come from a far country for thy great name's sake, and thy mighty hand, and thy stretched out arm; if they come and pray in this house;

32. And the foreigner too, not belonging to your people Israel, if he comes from a distant country for the sake of your Name and of your mighty hand and outstretched arm, if he comes and prays in this house,

33. Then hear thou from the heavens, [even] from thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all people of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as [doth] thy people Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.

33. hear from heaven where your home is, and grant all the foreigner asks, so that all the peoples of the earth may come to know your name and, like your people Israel, revere you, and know that your Name dwells in this house I have built.

34. If thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that thou shalt send them, and they pray unto thee toward this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name;

34. If your people go out to war against their enemies whatever way you send them, and if they turn toward the city you have chosen and toward the house I have built for your Name and pray to you,

35. Then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

35. hear from heaven their prayer and give them victory.

36. If they sin against thee, (for [there is] no man which sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before [their] enemies, and they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near;

36. If they sin against you - for there is no one who does not sin - and you are angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they are led away captive to a land far or near,

37. Yet [if] they bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly;

37. if in the land of their exile they come to themselves and repent, and in the country of their captivity they pray to you saying, 'We have sinned, we confess how sinful and wicked we have been,'

38. If they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and [toward] the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name:

38. and if they turn again to you with all their heart and soul in the country of their captivity to which they have been deported, and pray, turning toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen, and toward the house I have built for your name,

39. Then hear thou from the heavens, [even] from thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee.

39. hear from heaven where your home is. Hear their prayer, be merciful to them, and forgive your people the sins they have committed against you.

40. Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and [let] thine ears [be] attent unto the prayer [that is made] in this place.

40. Now, O my God, may your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place.

41. Now therefore arise, O LORD God, into thy resting place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness.

41. And now rise Yahweh God, come to your resting place, you and the ark of your power. Let your priests, Yahweh God, be blessed in all they do, and your faithful people rejoice in prosperity.

42. O LORD God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant.

42. Yahweh God, do not reject the face of your anointed king and remember David your servant."