The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Chronicles 06
1 Then Solomon said, “Yahweh has said
that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
2 But I have built you a house and home,
a place for you to dwell in forever.”
3 The king turnedhis face, andblessedall
the assembly of Israel; and all the assembly of Israel stood.
4 He said, “Blessed be Yahweh, the God of
Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David
my father, and has with his hands fulfilled
it, 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 ofIsrael to build a house in,
that my name might be there, and I chose
no man to be prince over my people Israel;
6 but now I have chosen Jerusalem, that
my name might 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
Yahweh, the God of Israel.
8 But Yahweh said to David my father,
‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a
house formyname, youdid wellthatit was
in your heart;
9 nevertheless you shall not build the
house, but your son who will come out of
your body, he shall build the house for my
name.’
10 “Yahweh has performed his word that
he spoke; for I have risen up in the place of
David my father, and sit on the throne of
Israel, as Yahweh promised, and have built
the house for the name of Yahweh, the God
of Israel.
11 There I have set the ark, in which is
Yahweh’s covenant, which he made with
the children of Israel.”
12 He stood before Yahweh’s altar 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 middle of the court; and he stood on
it, and knelt down on his knees before all
the assembly of Israel, and spread out his
hands toward heaven).
14 Then he said, “Yahweh, the God of
Israel, there is no God like you in heaven
or on earth—you who keep covenant and
loving kindness with your servants who
walk before you with all their heart;
15 who have kept with your servant
David my father that which you promised
him. Yes, you spoke with your mouth, and
have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is
today.
16 “Now therefore, Yahweh, the God of
Israel, keep with your servant David my
father that which you have promised him,
saying, ‘There shall not fail you a man in
my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if
only your children take heed to their way,
to walk in my law as you have walked
before me.’
17 Now therefore, Yahweh, the God of
Israel, let your word be verified, whichyou
spoke to your servant David.
18 “But will God indeed dwell with men
on the earth? Behold, heaven and the
heaven of heavens can’t contain you; how
much less this house which I have built!
19 Yet have respect for the prayer of your
servant and to his supplication, Yahweh
my God, to listen to the cry and to the
prayer which your servant prays before
you;
20 that your eyes may be open toward
this house day and night, even toward the
place where you have said that you would
put your name, to listen to the prayer
which your servant will pray toward this
place.
21 Listen to the petitions of your servant
and of your people Israel, when they pray
toward this place. Yes, hear from your
dwelling place, even from heaven; and
when you hear, forgive.
22 “If a man sins against his neighbor,
and an oath is laid on him to cause him
to swear, and he comes and swears before
your altar in this house,
23 then hear from heaven, act, and judge
your servants, bringing retribution to the
wicked, to bring his way on his own head;
and justifying the righteous, to give him
according to his righteousness.
24 “If your people Israel are struck
down before the enemy because they
have sinned against you, and they turn
again and confess your name, and pray
and make supplication before you in this
house,
25 then hear from heaven, and forgive
the sin of your people Israel, and bring
them again to the land which you gave to
them and to their fathers.
26 “When the sky is shut up and there is
no rain because they have sinned against
you, if they pray toward this place and
confess your name, and turn from their sin
when you afflict them,
27 then hear in heaven, and forgive the
sin of your servants, your people Israel,
when you teach them the good way in
which they should walk, and send rain on
your land, which you have given to your
people for an inheritance.
28 “If there is famine in the land, if there
is pestilence, ifthere is blight or mildew, locust or caterpillar; iftheir enemies besiege
them in the land of their cities; whatever
plague or whatever sickness there is—
29 whatever prayer and supplication is
made by any man, or by all your people
Israel, who will each know his own plague
and his own sorrow, and shall spread out
his hands toward this house,
30 then hear from heaven your dwelling
place and forgive, and render to every
man according to all his ways, whose heart
you know (for you, even you only, know
the hearts of the children 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 the foreigner,
who is not of your people Israel, when he
comes from a far country for your great
name’s sake and your mighty hand and
your outstretched arm, when they come
and pray toward this house,
33 then hear from heaven, even from
your dwelling place, and do according to
all that the foreigner calls to you for; 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 which I have built is called by your
name.
34 “If your people go out to battle against
their enemies, by whatever way you send
them, and they pray to you toward this
city which you have chosen, and the house
which I have built for your name;
35 then hear from heaven their prayer
and their supplication, and maintain their
cause.
36 “If they sin against you (for there is no
man who doesn’t sin), and you are angry
with them and deliver them to the enemy,
so that they carry them away captive to a
land far off or near;
37 yet if they come to their senses in
the land where they are carried captive,
and turn again, and make supplication to
you in the land of their captivity, saying,
‘We have sinned, we have done perversely,
and have dealt wickedly;’
38 if they return to you with all their
heart and with all their soul in the land
of their captivity, where they have been
taken captive, and pray toward their land
which you gave to their fathers, and the
city which you have chosen, and toward
the house which I have built for your
name;
39 then hear from heaven, even from
your dwelling place, their prayer and
their petitions, and maintain their cause,
and forgive your people who have sinned
against you.
40 “Now, my God, let, I beg you, your eyes
be open, and let your ears be attentive to
the prayer that is made in this place.
41 “Now therefore arise, Yahweh God,
into your resting place, you, and the ark
of your strength. Let your priests, Yahweh
God, be clothed with salvation, and let
your saints rejoice in goodness.
42 “Yahweh God, don’tturn away the face
of your anointed. Remember your loving
kindnesses to David your servant.”