2 Chronicles 7

New International Version

The Dedication of the Temple^(A)

7 When Solomon finished praying, fire^(B) came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled^(C) the temple.^(D) ²The priests could not enter^(E) the temple of the Lord because the glory^(F) of the Lord filled it. ³When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying,

“He is good;
his love endures forever.”^(G)

⁴Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. ⁵And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand head of cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the people dedicated the temple of God. ⁶The priests took their positions, as did the Levites^(H) with the Lord’s musical instruments,^(I) which King David had made for praising the Lord and which were used when he gave thanks, saying, “His love endures forever.” Opposite the Levites, the priests blew their trumpets, and all the Israelites were standing.

⁷Solomon consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the Lord, and there he offered burnt offerings and the fat^(J) of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar he had made could not hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat portions.

⁸So Solomon observed the festival^(K) at that time for seven days, and all Israel^(L) with him—a vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamath^(M) to the Wadi of Egypt.^(N) ⁹On the eighth day they held an assembly, for they had celebrated^(O) the dedication of the altar for seven days and the festival^(P) for seven days more. ¹⁰On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people to their homes, joyful and glad in heart for the good things the Lord had done for David and Solomon and for his people Israel.

The Lord Appears to Solomon^(Q)

¹¹When Solomon had finished^(R) the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the Lord and in his own palace, ¹²the Lord appeared^(S) to him at night and said:

“I have heard your prayer and have chosen^(T) this place for myself^(U) as a temple for sacrifices.

¹³“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain,^(V) or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, ¹⁴if my people, who are called by my name,^(W) will humble^(X) themselves and pray and seek my face^(Y) and turn^(Z) from their wicked ways, then I will hear^(AA) from heaven, and I will forgive^(AB) their sin and will heal^(AC) their land. ¹⁵Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.^(AD) ¹⁶I have chosen^(AE) and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.

¹⁷“As for you, if you walk before me faithfully^(AF) as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees^(AG) and laws, ¹⁸I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted^(AH) with David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor^(AI) to rule over Israel.’^(AJ)

¹⁹“But if you^[a] turn away^(AK) and forsake^(AL) the decrees and commands I have given you^[b] and go off to serve other gods and worship them, ²⁰then I will uproot^(AM) Israel from my land,^(AN) which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule^(AO) among all peoples. ²¹This temple will become a heap of rubble. All^[c] who pass by will be appalled^(AP) and say,^(AQ) ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ ²²People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them^(AR)—that is why he brought all this disaster on them.’”

Footnotes

2 Chronicles 7:19 The Hebrew is plural.
2 Chronicles 7:19 The Hebrew is plural.
2 Chronicles 7:21 See some Septuagint manuscripts, Old Latin, Syriac, Arabic and Targum; Hebrew And though this temple is now so imposing, all

Isaiah 37

New International Version

Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold^(A)

37 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes^(B) and put on sackcloth^(C) and went into the temple^(D) of the Lord. ²He sent Eliakim^(E) the palace administrator, Shebna^(F) the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.^(G) ³They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress^(H) and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth^(I) and there is no strength to deliver them. ⁴It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule^(J) the living God,^(K) and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard.^(L) Therefore pray^(M) for the remnant^(N) that still survives.”

⁵When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, ⁶Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid^(O) of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed^(P) me. ⁷Listen! When he hears a certain report,^(Q) I will make him want^(R) to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down^(S) with the sword.’”

⁸When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish,^(T) he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.^(U)

⁹Now Sennacherib^(V) received a report^(W) that Tirhakah, the king of Cush,^[a]^(X) was marching out to fight against him. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: ¹⁰“Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive^(Y) you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’^(Z) ¹¹Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered?^(AA) ¹²Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors^(AB) deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran,^(AC) Rezeph and the people of Eden^(AD) who were in Tel Assar? ¹³Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad?^(AE) Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim,^(AF) Hena and Ivvah?”^(AG)

Hezekiah’s Prayer^(AH)

¹⁴Hezekiah received the letter^(AI) from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple^(AJ) of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. ¹⁵And Hezekiah prayed^(AK) to the Lord: ¹⁶“Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned^(AL) between the cherubim,^(AM) you alone are God^(AN) over all the kingdoms^(AO) of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.^(AP) ¹⁷Give ear, Lord, and hear;^(AQ) open your eyes, Lord, and see;^(AR) listen to all the words Sennacherib^(AS) has sent to ridicule^(AT) the living God.^(AU)

¹⁸“It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands.^(AV) ¹⁹They have thrown their gods into the fire^(AW) and destroyed them,^(AX) for they were not gods^(AY) but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.^(AZ) ²⁰Now, Lord our God, deliver^(BA) us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth^(BB) may know that you, Lord, are the only God.^[b]^(BC)”

Sennacherib’s Fall^(BD)

²¹Then Isaiah son of Amoz^(BE) sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, ²²this is the word the Lord has spoken against him:

“Virgin Daughter^(BF) Zion^(BG)
    despises and mocks you.
Daughter Jerusalem
    tosses her head^(BH) as you flee.
²³Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?^(BI)
    Against whom have you raised your voice^(BJ)
and lifted your eyes in pride?^(BK)
    Against the Holy One^(BL) of Israel!
²⁴By your messengers
    you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,
    ‘With my many chariots^(BM)
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
    the utmost heights^(BN) of Lebanon.^(BO)
I have cut down its tallest cedars,
    the choicest of its junipers.^(BP)
I have reached its remotest heights,
    the finest of its forests.
²⁵I have dug wells in foreign lands^[c]
    and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
    I have dried up^(BQ) all the streams of Egypt.^(BR)’

²⁶“Have you not heard?
    Long ago I ordained^(BS) it.
In days of old I planned^(BT) it;
    now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
    into piles of stone.^(BU)
²⁷Their people, drained of power,
    are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
    like tender green shoots,
like grass^(BV) sprouting on the roof,^(BW)
    scorched^[d] before it grows up.

²⁸“But I know where you are
    and when you come and go^(BX)
    and how you rage^(BY) against me.
²⁹Because you rage against me
    and because your insolence^(BZ) has reached my ears,
I will put my hook^(CA) in your nose^(CB)
    and my bit in your mouth,
and I will make you return
    by the way you came.^(CC)

³⁰“This will be the sign^(CD) for you, Hezekiah:

“This year^(CE) you will eat what grows by itself,
    and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year^(CF) sow and reap,
    plant vineyards^(CG) and eat their fruit.^(CH)
³¹Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah
    will take root^(CI) below and bear fruit^(CJ) above.
³²For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,^(CK)
    and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.^(CL)
The zeal^(CM) of the Lord Almighty
    will accomplish this.

³³“Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:

“He will not enter this city^(CN)
    or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
    or build a siege ramp^(CO) against it.
³⁴By the way that he came he will return;^(CP)
    he will not enter this city,”
declares the Lord.
³⁵“I will defend^(CQ) this city and save it,
    for my sake^(CR) and for the sake of David^(CS) my servant!”

³⁶Then the angel^(CT) of the Lord went out and put to death^(CU) a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian^(CV) camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! ³⁷So Sennacherib^(CW) king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh^(CX) and stayed there.

³⁸One day, while he was worshiping in the temple^(CY) of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat.^(CZ) And Esarhaddon^(DA) his son succeeded him as king.^(DB)

Footnotes

Isaiah 37:9 That is, the upper Nile region
Isaiah 37:20 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:19); Masoretic Text you alone are the Lord
Isaiah 37:25 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:24); Masoretic Text does not have in foreign lands.
Isaiah 37:27 Some manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Dead Sea Scrolls and some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 2 Kings 19:26); most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text roof / and terraced fields