Moff 2 CHR Chapter 6

◄ 2 CHR 6 ► ║ ═ ©

6 Then said Solomon:

The sun has the Eternal set in heaven,

but chosen himself to dwell in darkness;

2 so I have built this mansion great for thee,

for thee to dwell in, to eternity. 3 The king turned round and blessed all the gathering of Israel as they stood. 4 He said,

“Blessed be the Eternal the God of Israel, who spoke directly to my father David and has done all he promised! 5 He said, ‘Ever since I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of any clan of Israel to build a temple for my presence, nor did I choose any man to rule my people Israel, 6 none but Jerusalem as my seat and David as lord over my people Israel.’ 7 My father David did have it in mind to build a temple in honour of the Eternal the God of Israel; 8 but the Eternal said to my father David, ‘You had it in your mind to build a temple in my honour; you did well to have that in mind. 9 Yet you are not to build the temple; it is your son, born of your body, who shall build the temple in my honour.’ 10 The Eternal has done what he promised; for I have risen to succeed my father David and to sit upon the throne of Israel, as the Eternal promised, and I have built the temple in honour of the Eternal the God of Israel; 11 in it I have placed the ark containing the compact which the Eternal made with the Israelites.”

12 Then he stood in front of the altar of the Eternal, in presence of all the community of Israel, and stretched out his hands. 13 Solomon had made a bronze platform, seven and a half feet long, seven and a half feet wide, and about four feet high, which he placed in the middle of the court; taking up his position on this, he knelt down in the presence of all the community of Israel, and stretching out his hands to heaven he cried: 14 “O Eternal, God of Israel, there is no god like thee in heaven or earth, who keepest thy compact and showest kindness to thy servants, as they live under thine eye with all their heart. 15 Thou hast kept thy word to thy servant David my father; thou didst make him thine own promise and thou hast done it, as it is this day. 16 Now then, O Eternal, God of Israel, keep this thy promise to thy servant David my father: ‘You shall never lack a descendant in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel, if only your children watch their lives, careful to follow my directions as you have done.’ 17 O Eternal, God of Israel, pray let this promise be fulfilled, which thou didst make to thy servant David!

18 But can God really live among men on earth? The very heaven, the height of heaven itself, cannot contain thee; and how much less this temple I have built! 19 So do thou turn, O Eternal my God, to thy servant in his prayers and supplications, listening to the cry of prayer which thy servant lifts to thee, 20 that thine eyes may be open, day and night, to this temple, to the place where thou hast promised thy presence, listening to the prayer thy servant offers, when he turns to this place. 21 Listen to the supplications of thy servant and of thy people Israel, when they turn in prayer towards this place; yea, hear us up in thy home, in heaven, and as thou hearest forgive us.

22 When a man sins against his neighbour and is adjured to swear an oath, when he comes and swears his oath before thine altar in this temple, 23 then do thou listen up in heaven, take action and decide between thy servants, punishing the guilty by making him suffer for his misdeeds, and vindicating the innocent by rewarding him for his innocence.

24 When thy people Israel fall before the foe, because they have sinned against thee, if they repent and own thee openly and pray with supplications to thee in this temple, 25 then do thou listen up in heaven and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, letting them remain within the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers. 26 When the skies are shut and no rain falls, because they have sinned against thee, if they turn in prayer towards this place and own thee openly and give up their sin under thy chastisement, 27 then do thou listen in heaven and forgive the sin of thy servant and thy people Israel, as thou teachest them the good path for their life; send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people as their heritage. 28 When there is famine in the land, or pestilence, blasting or mildew, locusts or caterpillars, when their enemies besiege them in any of their towns, whatever be the plague or trouble-- 29 whatever prayer and supplication is offered by any man of them, knowing well what plagues and vexes himself, and stretching out his hands towards this temple, 30 then do thou listen up in thy home, in heaven, and forgive them, dealing with every man as he has lived, O thou who knowest his heart (for thou, thou only, knowest the heart of all men), 31 that in awe of thee they may live as thou livest, so long as they are in the land thou gavest to our fathers. 32 As for the alien, who does not belong to thy people Israel but who came from a distant land, drawn by thy great fame for sheer strength and main force, when they come and turn in prayer towards this temple, 33 then do thou listen up in thy home, in heaven, and do all that the alien asks of thee, so that the nations in the world may know what thou art, learning to stand in awe of thee like thy people Israel, and learning that thou hast taken this temple which I built to be thine own.

34 When thy people march out to 34 fight against their enemies, in any way of thine appointing, and pray to thee, turning towards this city thou hast chosen and this temple I have built in honour of thee, 35 then do thou listen up in heaven to their prayer and supplication and uphold their cause. 36 When they sin against thee (for there is no man who does not sin) and thou in thine anger leavest them to their enemies, to be carried prisoners to some land far off or near, 37 yet if they take thought in the land of their captivity and repent and offer supplications to thee in the land of their captivity, crying, ‘We have sinned, we have gone wrong, we have done evil,’ 38 if they repent, heart and soul, in the land of their captivity, where they have been carried off as prisoners, and turn in prayer towards the land thou gavest to their fathers, towards the city thou hast chosen, towards the temple I have built in honour of thee: 39 then do thou listen up in thy home, in heaven, to their prayers and supplications, and uphold their cause; forgive thy people who have sinned against thee.

40 And now, O my God, pray let thine eyes be open and thine ears attentive to prayer offered in this place.

41 Move up, O thou Eternal, to thy resting-place, thou and thy mighty ark!--

thy priests, O Eternal, in triumphant array,

thy worshippers rejoicing in prosperity!

42 O thou Eternal, disregard not thine own king,

remember thy kind promises to thy servant David.”

2 CHR C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28 C29 C30 C31 C32 C33 C34 C35 C36

Moff 2 CHR Chapter 6

Moff 2 CHR Chapter 6