2 Chronicles 6:1-41

Other Translations of 2 Chronicles 6:1-41

King James Version

The Dedication of the Temple

6¹ Then said Solomon, The Lord hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. ² But I have built an house of habitation for thee, and a place for thy dwelling for ever. ³ And the king turned his face, and blessed the whole congregation of Israel: and all the congregation of Israel stood. 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, 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: ⁶ But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel. ⁷ Now it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the Lord 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: 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. 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. ¹¹ And in it have I put the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, that he made with the children 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: ¹³ For Solomon had made a brasen scaffold, of five cubits long, long...: Heb. the length thereof, etc 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, 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: 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. 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. ¹⁷ Now then, O Lord God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David. 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! 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: 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. ²¹ Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall make make: Heb. pray toward this place: hear thou from thy dwelling place, even from heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive. ²² If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath and an oath...: Heb. and he require an oath of him be laid upon him to make him swear, and the oath come before thine 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. 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; 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. 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; 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. 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 in the cities...: Heb. in the land of their gates of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be: 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: 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:) 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. 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; 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. 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; ³⁵ Then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. cause: or, right 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; ³⁷ Yet if they bethink bethink...: Heb. bring back to their heart 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; 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: ³⁹ Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, cause: or, right and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee. 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. 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.

English Standard Version

The Dedication of the Temple

6¹ Then Solomon said, "The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. ² But I have built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever." ³ Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. ⁴ And he said, "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, 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 in which to build a house, that my name might be there, and I chose no man as prince over my people Israel; ⁶ but I have chosen Jerusalem that my name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.' ⁷ Now 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 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. ⁹ Nevertheless, it is not you who shall build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.' ¹⁰ Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹¹ And there I have set the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with the people of Israel."

¹² Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. ¹³ Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubitsA cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the court, and he stood on it. Then he knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven, ¹⁴ and said, "O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart, ¹⁵ who have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. ¹⁶ Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, 'You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.' ¹⁷ Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David. ¹⁸ "But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built! ¹⁹ Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you, ²⁰ that your eyes may be open day and night toward this house, the place where you have promised to set your name, that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. ²¹ And listen to the pleas of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen from heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive. ²² "If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, ²³ then hear from heaven and act and judge your servants, repaying the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness. ²⁴ "If your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and they turn again and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house, ²⁵ then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to them and to their fathers. ²⁶ "When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflictSeptuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew answer them, ²⁷ then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good waySeptuagint, Syriac, Vulgate (compare 1 Kings 8:36); Hebrew toward the good way in which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance. ²⁸ "If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemies besiege them in the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, ²⁹ whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing his own affliction and his own sorrow and stretching out his hands toward this house, ³⁰ then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways, for you, you only, know the hearts of the children of mankind, ³¹ that they may fear you and walk in your ways all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers. ³² "Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for the sake of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, when he comes and prays toward this house, ³³ hear from heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order 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 that I have built is called by your name. ³⁴ "If your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to you toward this city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, ³⁵ then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause. ³⁶ "If they sin against you-- for there is no one who does not sin--and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to a land far or near, ³⁷ yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity, saying, 'We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,' ³⁸ if they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their captivity to which they were carried captive, and pray toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, ³⁹ then hear from heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their pleas, and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you. ⁴⁰ Now, O my God, let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayer of this place. ⁴¹ "And now arise, O Lord God, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. Let your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let your saints rejoice in your goodness.

The Message

The Dedication of the Temple

6¹ Then Solomon said, God said he would dwell in a cloud, ² But I've built a temple most splendid, A place for you to live in forever. ³ The king then turned to face the congregation that had come together and blessed them: ⁴ "Blessed be God, the God of Israel, who spoke personally to my father David. Now he has done what he promised when he said, ⁵ 'From the day I brought my people Israel up from Egypt, I haven't set apart one city among the tribes of Israel in which to build a temple to honor my Name, or chosen one person to be the leader. ⁶ But now I have chosen both a city and a person: Jerusalem for honoring my Name and David to lead my people Israel.' ⁷ "My father David very much wanted to build a temple honoring the Name of God, the God of Israel, ⁸ but God told him, 'It was good that you wanted to build a temple in my honor - most commendable! ⁹ But you are not the one to do it. Your son, who will carry on your dynasty, will build it for my Name.' ¹⁰ "And now you see the promise completed. God has done what he said he would do; I have succeeded David my father and now rule Israel; and I have built a temple to honor God, the God of Israel, ¹¹ and have secured a place for the Chest that holds the Covenant of God, the covenant he made with the people of Israel."

¹² Before the entire congregation of Israel, Solomon took his position at the Altar of God and stretched out his hands. ¹³ Solomon had made a bronze dais seven and a half feet square and four and a half feet high and placed it inside the court; that's where he now stood. Then he knelt in full view of the whole congregation, stretched his hands to heaven, ¹⁴ and prayed: ¹⁵ You kept your word to David my father, your promise. You did exactly what you promised - every detail. The proof is before us today! ¹⁶ Keep it up, God, O God of Israel! Continue to keep the promises you made to David my father when you said, "You'll always have a descendant to represent my rule on Israel's throne, on the one condition that your sons are as careful to live obediently in my presence as you have." ¹⁷ O God, God of Israel, let this all happen - confirm and establish it! ¹⁸ Can it be that God will actually move into our neighborhood? Why, the cosmos itself isn't large enough to give you breathing room, let alone this Temple I've built. ¹⁹ Even so, I'm bold to ask: Pay attention to these my prayers, both intercessory and personal, O God, my God. Listen to my prayers, energetic and devout, that I'm setting before you right now. ²⁰ Keep your eyes open to this Temple day and night, this place you promised to dignify with your Name. And listen to the prayers that I pray in this place. ²¹ And listen to your people Israel when they pray at this place. Listen from your home in heaven and when you hear, forgive. ²² When someone hurts a neighbor and promises to make things right, and then comes and repeats the promise before your Altar in this Temple, ²³ Listen from heaven and act; judge your servants, making the offender pay for the offense And set the offended free, dismissing all charges. ²⁴ When your people Israel are beaten by an enemy because they've sinned against you, but then turn to you and acknowledge your rule in prayers desperate and devout in this Temple, ²⁵ Listen from your home in heaven; forgive the sin of your people Israel, return them to the land you gave to them and their ancestors. ²⁶ When the skies shrivel up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, but then they pray at this place, acknowledging your rule and quit their sins because you have scourged them, ²⁷ Listen from your home in heaven, forgive the sins of your servants, your people Israel. Then start over with them; train them to live right and well; Send rain on the land you gave as inheritance to your people. ²⁸ When disasters strike, famine or catastrophe, crop failure or disease, locust or beetle, or when an enemy attacks their defenses - calamity of any sort - ²⁹ any prayer that's prayed from anyone at all among your people Israel, their hearts penetrated by disaster, hands and arms thrown out for help to this Temple, ³⁰ Listen from your home in heaven, forgive and reward us: reward each life and circumstance, For you know each life from the inside, (you're the only one with such inside knowledge!), ³¹ So they'll live before you in lifelong reverence and believing obedience on this land you gave our ancestors. ³² And don't forget the foreigner who is not a member of your people Israel but has come from a far country because of your reputation - people are going to be attracted here by your great reputation, your wonderworking power - and who come to pray to this Temple. ³³ Listen from your home in heaven and honor the prayers of the foreigner, So that people all over the world will know who you are and what you're like, And live in reverent obedience before you, just as your own people Israel do, So they'll know that you personally make this Temple that I've built what it is. ³⁴ When your people go to war against their enemies at the time and place you send them and they pray to God toward the city you chose and The Temple I've built to honor your Name, ³⁵ Listen from heaven to what they pray and ask for and do what is right for them. ³⁶ When they sin against you - and they certainly will; there's no one without sin! - and in anger you turn them over to the enemy and they are taken off captive to the enemy's land, whether far or near, ³⁷ but then repent in the country of their captivity and pray with changed hearts in their exile, "We've sinned; we've done wrong; we've been most wicked," ³⁸ and they turn back to you heart and soul in the land of the enemy who conquered them, and pray to you toward their homeland, the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you chose, and this Temple I have built to the honor of your Name, ³⁹ Listen from your home in heaven to their prayers desperate and devout; Do what is best for them. Forgive your people who have sinned against you. ⁴⁰ And now, dear God, be alert and attentive to prayer, all prayer, offered in this place. ⁴¹ Up, God, enjoy your new place of quiet repose, you and your mighty covenant Chest; Dress your priests up in salvation clothes, let your holy people celebrate goodness.

New King James Version

The Dedication of the Temple

6¹ Then Solomon spoke: "The Lord said He would dwell in the dark cloud. ² I have surely built You an exalted house, And a place for You to dwell in forever." ³ Then the king turned around and blessed the whole assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing. ⁴ And he said: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who has fulfilled with His hands what He spoke with His mouth to my father David, saying, ⁵ 'Since the day that I brought My people out of the land of Egypt, I have chosen no city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house, that My name might be there, nor did I choose any man to be a ruler over My people Israel. ⁶ Yet I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name may be there; and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.' ⁷ Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel. ⁸ But the Lord said to my father David, 'Whereas it was in your heart to build a temple for My name, you did well in that it was in your heart. ⁹ Nevertheless you shall not build the temple, but your son who will come from your body, he shall build the temple for My name.' ¹⁰ So the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke, and I have filled the position of my father David, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised; and I have built the temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel. ¹¹ And there I have put the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord which He made with the children of Israel."

¹² Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands ¹³ (for Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court; and he stood on it, knelt down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven); ¹⁴ and he said: "Lord God of Israel, there is no God in heaven or on earth like You, who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts. ¹⁵ You have kept what You promised Your servant David my father; You have both spoken with Your mouth and fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day. ¹⁶ Therefore, Lord God of Israel, now keep what You promised Your servant David my father, saying, 'You shall not fail to have a man sit before Me on the throne of Israel, only if your sons take heed to their way, that they walk in My law as you have walked before Me.' ¹⁷ And now, O Lord God of Israel, let Your word come true, which You have spoken to Your servant David. ¹⁸ "But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built! ¹⁹ Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O Lord my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You: ²⁰ that Your eyes may be open toward this temple day and night, toward the place where You said You would put Your name, that You may hear the prayer which Your servant prays toward this place. ²¹ And may You 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. ²² "If anyone sins against his neighbor, and is forced to take an oath, and comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this temple, ²³ then hear from heaven, and act, and judge Your servants, bringing retribution on the wicked by bringing his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness. ²⁴ "Or if Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and return and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication before You in this temple, ²⁵ then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to them and their fathers. ²⁶ "When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, when they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin because You afflict them, ²⁷ then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance. ²⁸ "When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is; ²⁹ whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, when each one knows his own burden and his own grief, and spreads out his hands to this temple: ³⁰ then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men), 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. ³² "Moreover, concerning a foreigner, who is not of Your people Israel, but who comes from a far country for the sake of Your great name and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm, when they come and pray in this temple; ³³ then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, that all peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this temple which I have built is called by Your name. ³⁴ "When Your people go out to battle against their enemies, wherever You send them, and when they pray to You toward this city which You have chosen and the temple which I have built for Your name, ³⁵ then hear from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. ³⁶ "When they sin against You (for there is no one who does not sin), and You become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them captive to a land far or near; ³⁷ yet when they come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to You in the land of their captivity, saying, 'We have sinned, we have done wrong, and have committed wickedness'; ³⁸ and when they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been carried captive, and pray toward their land which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen, and toward the temple which I have built for Your name: ³⁹ then hear from heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You. ⁴⁰ Now, my God, I pray, let Your eyes be open and let Your ears be attentive to the prayer made in this place. ⁴¹ "Now therefore, Arise, 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 saints rejoice in goodness.

New Living Translation

The Dedication of the Temple

6¹ Then Solomon prayed, "O Lord, you have said that you would live in a thick cloud of darkness. ² Now I have built a glorious Temple for you, a place where you can live forever!" ³ Then the king turned around to the entire community of Israel standing before him and gave this blessing: ⁴ "Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who has kept the promise he made to my father, David. For he told my father, ⁵ 'From the day I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I have never chosen a city among any of the tribes of Israel as the place where a Temple should be built to honor my name. Nor have I chosen a king to lead my people Israel. ⁶ But now I have chosen Jerusalem as the place for my name to be honored, and I have chosen David to be king over my people Israel.'" ⁷ Then Solomon said, "My father, David, wanted to build this Temple to honor the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁸ But the Lord told him, 'You wanted to build the Temple to honor my name. Your intention is good, ⁹ but you are not the one to do it. One of your own sons will build the Temple to honor me.' ¹⁰ "And now the Lord has fulfilled the promise he made, for I have become king in my father's place, and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised. I have built this Temple to honor the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹¹ There I have placed the Ark, which contains the covenant that the Lord made with the people of Israel."

¹² Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire community of Israel, and he lifted his hands in prayer. ¹³ Now Solomon had made a bronze platform 7 feet long, 7 feet wide, and 4 feet high and had placed it at the center of the Temple's outer courtyard. He stood on the platform, and then he knelt in front of the entire community of Israel and lifted his hands toward heaven. ¹⁴ He prayed, "O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in all of heaven and earth. You keep your covenant and show unfailing love to all who walk before you in wholehearted devotion. ¹⁵ You have kept your promise to your servant David, my father. You made that promise with your own mouth, and with your own hands you have fulfilled it today. ¹⁶ "And now, O Lord, God of Israel, carry out the additional promise you made to your servant David, my father. For you said to him, 'If your descendants guard their behavior and faithfully follow my Law as you have done, one of them will always sit on the throne of Israel.' ¹⁷ Now, O Lord, God of Israel, fulfill this promise to your servant David. ¹⁸ "But will God really live on earth among people? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this Temple I have built! ¹⁹ Nevertheless, listen to my prayer and my plea, O Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is making to you. ²⁰ May you watch over this Temple day and night, this place where you have said you would put your name. May you always hear the prayers I make toward this place. ²¹ May you hear the humble and earnest requests from me and your people Israel when we pray toward this place. Yes, hear us from heaven where you live, and when you hear, forgive. ²² "If someone wrongs another person and is required to take an oath of innocence in front of your altar at this Temple, ²³ then hear from heaven and judge between your servants-the accuser and the accused. Pay back the guilty as they deserve. Acquit the innocent because of their innocence. ²⁴ "If your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you, and if they turn back and acknowledge your name and pray to you here in this Temple, ²⁵ then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and return them to this land you gave to them and to their ancestors. ²⁶ "If the skies are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and if they pray toward this Temple and acknowledge your name and turn from their sins because you have punished them, ²⁷ then hear from heaven and forgive the sins of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them to follow the right path, and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as their special possession. ²⁸ "If there is a famine in the land or a plague or crop disease or attacks of locusts or caterpillars, or if your people's enemies are in the land besieging their towns-whatever disaster or disease there is- ²⁹ and if your people Israel pray about their troubles or sorrow, raising their hands toward this Temple, ³⁰ then hear from heaven where you live, and forgive. Give your people what their actions deserve, for you alone know each human heart. ³¹ Then they will fear you and walk in your ways as long as they live in the land you gave to our ancestors. ³² "In the future, foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel will hear of you. They will come from distant lands when they hear of your great name and your strong hand and your powerful arm. And when they pray toward this Temple, ³³ then hear from heaven where you live, and grant what they ask of you. In this way, all the people of the earth will come to know and fear you, just as your own people Israel do. They, too, will know that this Temple I have built honors your name. ³⁴ "If your people go out where you send them to fight their enemies, and if they pray to you by turning toward this city you have chosen and toward this Temple I have built to honor your name, ³⁵ then hear their prayers from heaven and uphold their cause. ³⁶ "If they sin against you-and who has never sinned?-you might become angry with them and let their enemies conquer them and take them captive to a foreign land far away or near. ³⁷ But in that land of exile, they might turn to you in repentance and pray, 'We have sinned, done evil, and acted wickedly.' ³⁸ If they turn to you with their whole heart and soul in the land of their captivity and pray toward the land you gave to their ancestors-toward this city you have chosen, and toward this Temple I have built to honor your name- ³⁹ then hear their prayers and their petitions from heaven where you live, and uphold their cause. Forgive your people who have sinned against you. ⁴⁰ "O my God, may your eyes be open and your ears attentive to all the prayers made to you in this place. ⁴¹ "And now arise, O Lord God, and enter your resting place, along with the Ark, the symbol of your power. May your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation; may your loyal servants rejoice in your goodness.