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2 Chronicles 7
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Solomon Dedicates the Temple

7 When Solomon had ended his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.(A) 2 The priests could not enter the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house. 3 When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying,

“For he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.”(B)

4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the Lord.(C) 5 King Solomon offered as a sacrifice twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. 6 The priests stood at their posts, the Levites also, with the instruments for music to the Lord that King David had made for giving thanks to the Lord—for his steadfast love endures forever—whenever David offered praises through their playing. Opposite them the priests sounded trumpets, and all Israel stood.(D)

7 Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the house of the Lord, for there he offered the burnt offerings and the fat of the offerings of well-being because the bronze altar Solomon had made could not hold the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat parts.(E)

8 At that time Solomon held the festival for seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from Lebo-hamath to the Wadi of Egypt.(F) 9 On the eighth day they held a solemn assembly, for they had observed the dedication of the altar seven days and the festival seven days.(G) 10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their homes, joyful and in good spirits because of the goodness that the Lord had shown to David and to Solomon and to his people Israel.(H)

11 Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s house; all that Solomon had planned to do in the house of the Lord and in his own house he successfully accomplished.(I)

God’s Second Appearance to Solomon

12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice.(J) 13 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain or command the locust to devour the land or send pestilence among my people,(K) 14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.(L) 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.(M) 16 For now I have chosen and consecrated this house so that my name may be there forever; my eyes and my heart will be there for all time.(N) 17 As for you, if you walk before me as your father David walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my ordinances,(O) 18 then I will establish your royal throne, as I made a covenant[a] with your father David saying, ‘You shall never lack a successor to rule over Israel.’(P)

19 “But if you[b] turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you and go and serve other gods and worship them,(Q) 20 then I will pluck you[c] up from the land that I have given you,[d] and this house, which I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.(R) 21 And regarding this house, now exalted, everyone passing by will be astonished and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this house?’(S) 22 Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord the God of their ancestors who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they embraced other gods and worshiped them and served them; therefore he has brought all this calamity upon them.’ ”

Footnotes

  1. 7.18 Heb lacks a covenant
  2. 7.19 The word you in this verse is plural
  3. 7.20 Heb them
  4. 7.20 Heb them
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2 Chronicles 7
International Standard Version

The Glory of God Fills the Temple(A)

7 As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire descended from heaven and burned up the burnt offerings and sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the Temple. 2 The priests could not enter into the Temple because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s Temple. 3 When all of the Israelis saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord resting[a] on the Temple, they bowed down with their faces[b] to the ground on the pavement, worshipped, and gave thanks to the Lord,

“Because he is good;
    because his gracious love is eternal.”

4 Then the king and all the people kept on offering sacrifices in the presence of the Lord. 5 King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep, which is how[c] the king and all of the people dedicated God’s Temple. 6 The priests stood in waiting at their assigned places, along with the descendants of Levi who carried musical instruments used in service to the Lord that King David had made for giving thanks to the Lord—because his gracious love is eternal—whenever David, accompanied by priests[d] sounding trumpets, offered praises while all of Israel stood in the assembly.[e]

7 Solomon also dedicated the middle of the court in front of the Lord’s Temple by offering there burnt offerings and fat from peace offerings because the bronze altar that Solomon had made could not contain the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and fat portion offerings. 8 At that time Solomon also held a week-long festival attended by all of Israel. The assembly was very large, and included people from as far away as Lebo-hamath[f] to the Wadi[g] of Egypt.[h] 9 On the day after the festival ended,[i] they convened a solemn assembly, because they had been dedicating the altar for seven days and observing the festival for seven days. 10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month, King Solomon[j] sent the people back home,[k] and they returned[l] rejoicing and in good spirits because of the goodness that the Lord had shown to David, to Solomon, and to his people Israel. 11 And so Solomon completed the Lord’s Temple, bringing to completion everything that he had planned on doing for the Lord’s Temple and for his own palace.

God Appears to Solomon(B)

12 Later, the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night and told him:

“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for a sacrificial temple to me. 13 Whenever I close the skies so there is no rain, or whenever I command locusts to lay waste to the land, or whenever I send epidemics among my people, 14 when my people humble themselves—the ones who are called by my name—and pray, seek me,[m] and turn away from their evil practices, I myself will listen from heaven, I will pardon their sins, and I will restore their land.

15 “Now therefore my eyes will remain open and my ears will remain listening to the prayers that are offered in this place. 16 Furthermore, I have chosen and have set apart for myself[n] this Temple, intending my name to reside there forever. My eyes and my heart will reside there every day. 17 Now as for you, if you commune with me like your father did, doing everything that I have commanded you, including obeying my statutes and my legal decisions, 18 then I will make your royal throne secure, just as I agreed to do for your father David when I said, ‘You are to not lack a man to rule over Israel.’[o]

19 “But if you[p] turn away and abandon my statutes and my commands that I have given you, and if you[q] walk away to serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will tear them up by the roots from the ground that I had given them! And as for this Temple that I have set apart for my name, I will throw it out of my sight and make it the butt of jokes[r] and a means of ridicule among people worldwide!

21 “Furthermore, even though this Temple seems so exalted, everyone who passes by it will be so astounded that they will ask, ‘Why did the Lord do this to this land and to this Temple?’ 22 They will answer, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors, who brought them from the land of Egypt, adopted other gods, worshipped them, and served them, therefore the Lord[s] has brought all of this disaster on them.’”

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 7:3 The Heb. lacks resting
  2. 2 Chronicles 7:3 Lit. nostrils
  3. 2 Chronicles 7:5 The Heb. lacks which is how
  4. 2 Chronicles 7:6 Lit. David by their hand, that is, the priests,
  5. 2 Chronicles 7:6 The Heb. lacks in the assembly
  6. 2 Chronicles 7:8 I.e. the principal city of Syria to the north of Israel in the Orontes Valley.
  7. 2 Chronicles 7:8 I.e. a seasonal stream or river that channels water during rain seasons but is dry at other times
  8. 2 Chronicles 7:8 Or Brook of Egypt; the southwestern-most border of Israel
  9. 2 Chronicles 7:9 Lit. On the eighth day
  10. 2 Chronicles 7:10 Lit. he
  11. 2 Chronicles 7:10 Lit. back to their tents
  12. 2 Chronicles 7:10 The Heb. lacks and they returned
  13. 2 Chronicles 7:14 Lit. seek my face
  14. 2 Chronicles 7:16 The Heb. lacks for myself
  15. 2 Chronicles 7:18 Cf. 1King 2:4; 2Chr 6:16
  16. 2 Chronicles 7:19 MT pronoun is pl.
  17. 2 Chronicles 7:19 MT pronoun is pl.
  18. 2 Chronicles 7:20 Lit. it an object of mockery
  19. 2 Chronicles 7:22 Lit. he
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