2 Chronicles 6

Solomon’s Dedication

1Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud. 2“I have built You a lofty house,
A place for You to dwell forever.”

3Then the king turned around and blessed the entire assembly of Israel, while they were all standing. 4And he said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David and has fulfilled with His hands what He promised, saying, 5‘Since the day that I brought My people out of the land of Egypt, I did not choose a city among all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house so that My Name (Presence) might be there, nor did I choose any man to be a leader over My people Israel; 6but I have chosen Jerusalem that My Name might be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’ 7Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel. 8But the LORD said to my father David, ‘Because it was in your heart to build a house for My Name, you did well that it was in your heart. 9‘Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who will be born to you, he shall build the house for My Name.’ 10Now the LORD has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for I have risen in place of my father David and I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel. 11“There I have placed the ark [the symbol of His Presence] in which is the covenant of the LORD [the Ten Commandments], which He made with the people (descendants) of Israel.”

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication 12Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of the entire assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. 13For Solomon had made a bronze platform, five cubits square and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the courtyard; and he stood on it, and he knelt down on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven, 14and he said, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no god like You in heaven or on the earth, keeping covenant and showing mercy and lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You [in obedience] with all their heart, 15[You] who have kept Your promise to Your servant David, my father, that which You told him; You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is today. 16Now therefore, O LORD, the God of Israel, keep with Your servant David, my father, that which You promised him, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man to sit on the throne of Israel, provided your sons are careful to walk in My law as you, [David,] have walked before Me.’ 17Now then, O LORD, the God of Israel, let Your word which You have spoken to Your servant David be confirmed (verified).

18“But will God actually dwell with mankind on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house which I have built! 19Yet have regard for the prayer of Your servant and for his supplication, O LORD my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You, 20that Your eyes may be open toward this house day and night, toward the place in which You have said that You would put Your Name (Presence), to listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place. 21So listen to the requests of Your servant and Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from Your dwelling place, from heaven; and when You hear, forgive.

22“If a man sins against his neighbor, and he is required to take an oath, and he comes and takes the oath before Your altar in this house, 23then hear from heaven and act and judge Your servants, punishing the wicked by bringing his conduct on his own head, and providing justice to the righteous by giving to him in accordance with his righteousness (innocence).

24“If Your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against You, and they return to You and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication before You in this house, 25then 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 heavens are shut up and there is no rain because Your people have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin when You afflict and humble them; 27then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel, indeed, 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“If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight or mildew, if there are [migratory] locusts or grasshoppers, if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities, whatever plague or whatever sickness there is, 29then whatever prayer or request is made by any man or all of Your people Israel, each knowing his own suffering and his own pain, and stretching out his hands toward this house, 30then hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, and forgive, and render to each in accordance with all his ways, whose heart You know; for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men, 31so that they may fear You, to walk in Your ways [in obedience to You] as long as they live in the land which You have given to our fathers.

32“Also in regard to the foreigner who is not from Your people Israel, but has come from a far country for the sake of Your great name and Your mighty power and Your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this house, 33then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, so that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, and fear You [reverently and worshipfully], as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Your Name.

34“When Your people go out to war against their enemies, by the way that You send them, and they pray to You facing this city [Jerusalem] which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your Name, 35then hear from heaven their prayer and their request, and maintain their cause and do justice.

36“When they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin) and You are angry with them and hand them over to an enemy, so that they take them away captive to a land far away or near, 37if they take it to heart in the land where they have been taken captive, and repent and pray to You in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong and have acted wickedly’; 38if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, and pray facing their land which You have given to their fathers and toward the city which You have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for Your Name; 39then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, their prayer and requests, and maintain their cause and do justice and forgive Your people who have sinned against You.

40“Now, O my God, I pray, let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place.

41“Now then arise, O LORD God, [and come] to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength and power. Let Your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation and let Your godly ones rejoice in [Your] goodness.

42“O LORD God, do not turn away and reject the face of Your anointed; remember Your lovingkindness and faithfulness to Your servant David.”