2 Chronicles 6:12-8:10

Young's Literal Translation

¹² And he standeth before the altar of Jehovah, over-against all the assembly of Israel, and spreadeth out his hand, --

¹³ for Solomon hath made a scaffold of brass, and putteth it in the midst of the court, five cubits its length, and five cubits its breadth, and three cubits its height, and he standeth upon it, and kneeleth on his knees over-against all the assembly of Israel, and spreadeth forth his hands towards the heavens --

¹⁴ and saith, `O Jehovah God of Israel, there is not like Thee a god in the heavens and in the earth, keeping the covenant and the kindness for Thy servants who are walking before Thee with all their heart;

¹⁵ who hast kept for Thy servant David my father that which Thou didst speak to him; yea, Thou dost speak with Thy mouth, and with Thy hand hast fulfilled [it], as at this day.

¹⁶ `And now, O Jehovah, God of Israel, keep for Thy servant David my father that which Thou didst speak to him, saying, There is not cut off to thee a man from before Me, sitting on the throne of Israel, only, if thy sons watch their way to walk in My law, as thou hast walked before Me.

¹⁷ `And now, O Jehovah, God of Israel, is Thy word stedfast that Thou hast spoken to Thy servant, to David,

¹⁸ (for is it true? -- God dwelleth with man on the earth! Lo, the heavens, and the heavens of the heavens, do not contain Thee, how much less this house that I have built?)

¹⁹ `And Thou hast turned unto the prayer of Thy servant, and unto his supplication, O Jehovah my God, to hearken unto the cry and unto the prayer that Thy servant is praying before Thee,

²⁰ for Thine eyes being open towards this house by day and by night, towards the place that Thou hast said to put Thy name there, to hearken unto the prayer that Thy servant prayeth towards this place.

²¹ `And Thou hast hearkened unto the supplications of Thy servant, and of Thy people Israel, that they pray towards this place, and Thou dost hear from the place of Thy dwelling, from the heavens, and hast hearkened, and forgiven.

²² `If a man doth sin against his neighbour, and he hath lifted up on him an oath to cause him to swear, and the oath hath come in before Thine altar in this house --

²³ then Thou dost hear from the heavens, and hast done, and hast judged Thy servants, to give back to the wicked, to put his way on his head, and to declare righteous the righteous, to give to him according to his righteousness.

²⁴ `And if Thy people Israel is smitten before an enemy, because they sin against Thee, and they have turned back and confessed Thy name, and prayed and made supplication before Thee in this house --

²⁵ then Thou dost hear from the heavens, and hast forgiven the sin of Thy people Israel, and caused them to turn back unto the ground that Thou hast given to them, and to their fathers.

²⁶ `In the heavens being restrained, and there is no rain, because they sin against Thee, and they have prayed towards this place, and confessed Thy name -- from their sin they turn back because Thou dost afflict them --

²⁷ then Thou dost hear in the heavens, and hast forgiven the sin of Thy servants, and of Thy people Israel, because Thou directest them unto the good way in which they walk, and hast given rain on Thy land that Thou hast given to Thy people for an inheritance.

²⁸ `Famine, when it is in the land, pestilence, when it is, blasting, and mildew, locust, and caterpillar, when they are, when its enemies have distressed it in the land -- its gates, any plague and any sickness;

²⁹ any prayer, any supplication that is for any man, and for all Thy people Israel, when they know each his own plague, and his own pain, and he hath spread out his hands towards this house:

³⁰ then Thou dost hear from the heavens, the settled place of Thy dwelling, and hast forgiven, and hast given to each according to all his ways (because Thou knowest his heart, for Thou -- Thou only -- hast known the heart of the sons of men),

³¹ so that they fear Thee, to walk in Thy ways, all the days that they are living on the face of the ground that Thou hast given to our fathers.

³² `And also, unto the stranger who is not of Thy people Israel, and he hath come from a land afar off for the sake of Thy great name, and Thy strong hand, and Thy stretched-out arm, and they have come in and prayed towards this house:

³³ then Thou dost hear from the heavens, from the settled place of Thy dwelling, and hast done according to all that the stranger calleth unto Thee for: so that all the peoples of the earth do know Thy name, so as to fear Thee, as Thy people Israel, and to know that Thy name is called on this house that I have built.

³⁴ `When Thy people doth go out to battle against its enemies in the way that Thou dost send them, and they have prayed unto Thee the way of this city that Thou hast fixed on, and the house that I have built for Thy name:

³⁵ then Thou hast heard from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and hast maintained their cause.

³⁶ `When they sin against Thee -- for there is not a man who sinneth not -- and Thou hast been angry with them, and hast given them before an enemy, and taken them captive have their captors, unto a land far off or near;

³⁷ and they have turned [it] back unto their heart in the land whither they have been taken captive, and have turned back, and made supplication unto Thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done perversely, and have done wickedly;

³⁸ yea, they have turned back unto Thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their captivity, whither they have taken them captive, and they have prayed the way of their land that Thou hast given to their fathers, and of the city that Thou hast chosen, and of the house that I have built for Thy name:

³⁹ then Thou hast heard from the heavens, from the settled place of Thy dwelling, their prayer and their supplications, and hast maintained their cause, and forgiven Thy people who have sinned against Thee.

⁴⁰ `Now, my God, let, I beseech Thee, Thine eyes be open, and Thine ears attentive, to the prayer of this place:

⁴¹ and now, rise, O Jehovah God, to Thy rest, Thou, and the ark of Thy strength; Thy priests, O Jehovah God, are clothed with salvation, and Thy saints rejoice in the goodness,

⁴² O Jehovah God, turn not back the face of Thine anointed, be mindful of the kind acts of David Thy servant.'

7 And at Solomon's finishing to pray, then the fire hath come down from the heavens, and consumeth the burnt-offering and the sacrifices, and the honour of Jehovah hath filled the house,

² and the priests have not been able to go in unto the house of Jehovah, because the honour of Jehovah hath filled the house of Jehovah.

³ And all the sons of Israel are looking on the descending of the fire, and the honour of Jehovah on the house, and they bow -- faces to the earth -- on the pavement, and do obeisance, and give thanks to Jehovah, for good, for to the age [is] His kindness.

⁴ And the king and all the people are sacrificing a sacrifice before Jehovah,

⁵ and king Solomon sacrificeth the sacrifice of the herd, twenty and two thousand, and of the flock, a hundred and twenty thousand, and the king and all the people dedicate the house of God.

⁶ And the priests over their charges are standing, and the Levites with instruments of the song of Jehovah -- that David the king made, to give thanks to Jehovah, for to the age [is] His kindness, in David's praising by their hand -- and the priests are blowing trumpets over-against them, and all Israel are standing.

⁷ And Solomon sanctifieth the middle of the court that [is] before the house of Jehovah, for he hath made there the burnt-offerings, and the fat of the peace-offerings: for the altar of brass that Solomon made hath not been able to contain the burnt-offering, and the present, and the fat.

⁸ And solomon maketh the feast at that time seven days, and all Israel with him -- a very great assembly -- from the entering in of Hamath unto the brook of Egypt.

⁹ And they make on the eighth day a restraint, because the dedication of the altar they have made seven days, and the feast seven days.

¹⁰ And on the twenty and third day of the seventh month he hath sent the people to their tents, rejoicing, and glad in heart, for the goodness that Jehovah hath done to David, and to Solomon, and to Israel His people.

¹¹ And Solomon finisheth the house of Jehovah, and the house of the king; and all that hath come on the heart of Solomon to do in the house of Jehovah, and in his own house, he hath caused to prosper.

¹² And Jehovah appeareth unto Solomon by night, and saith to him, `I have heard thy prayer, and have fixed on this place to Me for a house of sacrifice.

¹³ If I restrain the heavens and there is no rain, and if I lay charge on the locust to consume the land, and if I send pestilence among My people --

¹⁴ and My people on whom My name is called be humbled, and pray, and seek My face, and turn back from their evil ways, then I -- I hear from the heavens, and forgive their sin, and heal their land.

¹⁵ `Now, Mine eyes are open, and Mine ears attentive, to the prayer of this place;

¹⁶ and now, I have chosen and sanctified this house for My name being there unto the age; yea, Mine eyes and My heart have been there all the days.

¹⁷ `And thou, if thou dost walk before Me as David thy father walked, even to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and My statutes and My judgments dost keep --

¹⁸ then I have established the throne of thy kingdom, as I covenanted with David thy father, saying, There is not cut off a man to thee -- a ruler in Israel;

¹⁹ and if ye turn back -- ye -- and have forsaken My statutes, and My commands, that I have placed before you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them -- then I have plucked them from off My ground that I have given to them,

²⁰ and this house that I have sanctified for My name, I cast from before My face, and make it for a proverb, and for a byword, among all the peoples.

²¹ `And this house that hath been high, to every one passing by it, is an astonishment, and he hath said, Wherefore hath Jehovah done thus to this land, and to this house?

²² and they have said, Because that they have forsaken Jehovah, God of their fathers, who brought them out from the land of Egypt, and lay hold on other gods, and bow themselves to them, and serve them, therefore He hath brought upon them all this evil.'

8 And it cometh to pass, at the end of twenty years, that Solomon hath built the house of Jehovah, and his own house.

² As to the cities that Huram hath given to Solomon, Solomon hath built them, and there he causeth the sons of Israel to dwell.

³ And Solomon goeth to Hamath-Zobah, and layeth hold upon it;

⁴ and he buildeth Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the cities of store that he hath built in Hamath.

⁵ And he buildeth Beth-Horon the upper, and Beth-Horon the lower -- cities of defence, with walls, two-leaved doors, and bar --

⁶ and Baalath, and all the cities of store that Solomon had, and all the cities of the chariot, and the cities of the horsemen, and all the desire of Solomon that he desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.

⁷ All the people who are left of the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, who are not of Israel --

⁸ of their sons who have been left after them in the land, whom the sons of Israel consumed not -- doth Solomon lift up a tribute unto this day.

⁹ And none of the sons of Israel hath Solomon made servants for his work, but they [are] men of war, and heads of his captains, and heads of his charioteers, and of his horsemen;

¹⁰ and these [are] heads of the officers whom king Solomon hath, two hundred and fifty who are rulers among the people.