2 Chronicles 6

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

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

3 And the king turned his face, and ^dblessed the whole congregation of Israel: (and all the congregation of ^eIsrael stood:)

4 And he said, ^fBlessed be the LORD God of Israel, who hath with his hands ^gfulfilled that which he spake with his mouth to my father David, saying,

5 Since^h 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:²

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

7 Now ^kit 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 ^lwell in that it was in thine heart:

9 Notwithstanding ^mthou 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 ⁿI am risen up in the room of David my father, and am set on the throne of Israel, as ^othe LORD promised, and ^phave built the house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

11 And^q in it have I put the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD,³ that he made with the children of Israel.

12 ¶ And ^rhe stood before the altar of the LORD, in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands,⁴

13 (For Solomon had made a brazen ^sscaffold, of five cubits[≈ 2.3 m · 7 ft 6 in] long, and five cubits[≈ 2.3 m · 7 ft 6 in] broad, and three cubits[≈ 1.4 m · 4 ft 6 in] high, and had set it in the midst of the ^tcourt; and upon it he stood, and ^ukneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and ^xspread forth his hands toward heaven,)

14 And said, O LORD God of Israel, ^ythere is no God like thee in the heaven, nor in the earth; ^zwhich keepest covenant, and showest mercy unto thy servants that ^awalk 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, ^bkeep with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him, saying, ^cThere 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, ^dto walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me.

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

18 (But ^fwill God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, ^gheaven and the heaven of heavens⁵ cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built!)

19 Have ^hrespect 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 ⁱprayeth before thee:

20 That thine ^keyes 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 ^ltoward this place.

21 Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall ^mmake toward this place: hear thou from thy dwelling-place, even from heaven; and when thou hearest, ⁿforgive.⁸

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

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

24 ¶ And if thy people Israel ^sbe put to the worse before the enemy, because they ^thave sinned against thee; and shall ^ureturn and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication before thee in⁹ this house;

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

26 ¶ When the ^yheaven 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^z thou dost afflict them;

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

28 ¶ If there ^cbe dearth¹ in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillars; if their ^denemies besiege them in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be:

29 Then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of ^eany man, or of all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore, and his own grief,² and shall ^fspread forth his hands ^gin 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 ^hknowest the hearts of the children of men;)

31 Thatⁱ they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as³ they live in the land⁴ which thou gavest unto our fathers.

32 ¶ Moreover, concerning ^kthe stranger, which is not of thy people Israel, but is come from a far country ^lfor 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 ^mpeople of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as doeth thy people Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called⁵ by thy name.⁶

34 ¶ Ifⁿ thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that thou shalt send them, and they ^opray 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 ^pmaintain their ^qcause.

36 ¶ If^r they sin against thee, (for there is ^sno man which sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away ⁷captives unto a land far off or near;⁸

37 Yet if ^tthey bethink⁹ 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 ^uwith 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, 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.¹

41 Now therefore arise, O LORD God, into thy resting-place, thou, and the ark of thy strength:² let thy priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation,³ and let thy saints rejoice in goodness.

42 O LORD God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy ⁴servant.⁵