Second Book of Chronicles 6

¹ Then Solomon said: ‘Yahweh has chosen to dwell in the thick cloud. Yes, I have built you a dwelling,

² a place for you to live in for ever.’

³ Then the king turned and blessed the whole assembly of Israel, while the whole assembly of Israel stood.

⁴ He said, ‘Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who has carried out by his hand what he promised with his mouth to David, my father, when he said,

⁵ “From the day I brought my people out of the land of Egypt I chose no city, in any of the tribes of Israel, to have a house built where my name might make its home, and chose no man to be prince of my people Israel;

⁶ but I chose Jerusalem for my name to make its home there, and I chose David to rule over Israel my people”.

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

⁸ but Yahweh said, “You have set your heart on building a house for my name, and in this you have done well;

⁹ and yet, you are not the man to build the house; your son, born of your own body, shall build the house for my name”.

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; I have built the house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel,

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

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

¹³ Now Solomon had made a bronze pedestal and had placed it in the middle of the court; it was five cubits long, five cubits wide and five cubits 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, ‘Yahweh, God of Israel, not in heaven nor on earth is there such a God as you, true to your covenant and your graciousness towards your servants when they walk wholeheartedly in your way.

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 And now, Yahweh, God of Israel, keep the promise you made your servant David when you said, “You shall never lack for a man seated before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are careful how they behave, following my law as you yourself have done”.

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

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

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

²⁰ Day and night let your eyes watch over this house, over this place in which you have promised to make a home for your name. Listen to the prayer that your servant will offer in this place.

²¹ ‘Hear the entreaties 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 sins against his neighbour, and the neighbour calls down a curse on him and makes him swear an oath before your altar in this Temple,

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 ‘If Israel your people are defeated by the enemy because they have sinned against you, if they return to you and praise your name and pray to you and entreat you in this Temple,

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

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 and, having been humbled by you, repent of their sin,

²⁷ hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servant and of your people Israel; show them the good way they ought to follow; and send rain on your land which you have given your people as an inheritance.

²⁸ ‘Should there be famine in the land or pestilence, blight or mildew, locust or caterpillar, should this people’s enemies lay siege to one of its city gates, if there is any plague or sickness,

²⁹ if any one man, or all Israel your people, should feel remorse and sorrow and pray or make entreaty, stretching out his hands towards this Temple,

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 mankind –

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

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 Temple,

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 is given to the Temple I have built.

³⁴ ‘If your people go out to war against their enemies on the way you send them, and if they turn towards the city you have chosen and towards the Temple I have built for your name and pray to you,

³⁵ hear from heaven their prayer and their entreaty, and uphold their cause.

³⁶ ‘If they sin against you – for there is no man 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 if in the land of their exile they come to themselves and repent, and in the country of their captivity they entreat you saying, “We have sinned, we have acted perversely and wickedly”,

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 towards the land you gave their ancestors, towards the city you have chosen, and towards the Temple I have built for your name,

³⁹ hear from heaven where your home is, hear their prayer and their entreaty, uphold their cause, and forgive your people the sins they have committed against you.

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

⁴¹ And now Rise Yahweh God, come to your resting place, you and the ark of your power. Your priests, Yahweh God, are vested in salvation, your faithful rejoice in prosperity.

⁴² Yahweh God, do not turn away from the face of your anointed; remember your favours to David your servant.’