2 Chronicles 6-10
The Voice
This event signals His acceptance of the temple and is reminiscent of His acceptance of the congregation tent in the desert.
6 Solomon: The Eternal has told us that He resides in a thick cloud. 2 Now I have built You a grand house where You can reside forever.
3-4 (turning to the standing assembly of Israel and blessing them) Blessed is the Eternal God of Israel, who made these promises to my father, David, with His mouth and fulfilled them with His hands:
5 Since the day I brought My people from the land of Egypt and traveled in the desert with them, I did not choose one city from among the Israelite tribes in which to build a temple where the people could worship Me, nor did I choose any man to lead My people Israel because I had always been their leader. 6 But now I have chosen Jerusalem as the place where My reputation will be honored and David as the leader of My people, Israel.
Verses 14-42 record is a remarkable prayer by Israel’s king. Solomon begins by confessing the Lord’s attributes and character. Then he speaks of his humility for being given the honor of building this magnificent house, the Jerusalem temple. Solomon’s public prayer before all the people brings to mind the conditional nature of this agreement between the Eternal and the people. The only way the temple can remain in operation and the people in the land is if they obey the Eternal’s commands.
Solomon realizes that rebellion, pestilence, and foreign invasion will come; but if the people open their eyes and lives to God, then His ears and eyes will be opened to the plight of Israel. The centerpiece of the Eternal’s relationship to Israel is the Jerusalem temple, and this is manifest at the moment when Solomon ends his prayer and divine fire comes from the heavens to consume the offerings and sacrifices.
7 Shortly after he became king, my father, our beloved King David, wanted to build a house honoring the reputation of the Eternal God of Israel. 8 But the Eternal did not agree to David’s plan. He told my father David, “It is good that you want to build a house honoring My reputation; 9 however, you will not build the house. Your future son will build that house to honor My reputation.”
10 Now the Eternal has fulfilled His promise—I have succeeded my father David as king of Israel and have built the temple honoring the reputation of the Eternal God of Israel. 11 In that house I have placed the chest that holds the covenant between the Eternal One and the Israelites.
12 Solomon stood before the assembly of Israel in front of the altar of the Eternal and spread out his hands. 13 Then he stood on the bronze platform he had built in the center of the court (90 inches long, 90 inches wide, and 54 inches high), knelt down, spread out his hands toward heaven, 14 and prayed.
Solomon: Eternal God of Israel, You are unparalleled among the gods of heaven and earth. You honor Your covenants with Your servants and give limitless loyal love to those who faithfully follow You. 15 Until now, You have honored Your covenant with my father David, Your servant and our beloved king, by doing all that You promised him. 16 Now that David is no longer king and I have replaced him, remember what You promised to my father David, Your servant: “As long as your descendants follow My laws as you have done, one of them will always be a king of Israel.” 17 Eternal God of Israel, honor this promise which You made to Your servant David.
18 How can I think that this temple I have built will be suitable lodging for You when the heavens You created are not vast enough? Certainly we are not worthy to have You live among us humans. 19 Yet we hope that You will hear and address our prayers and our pleas, Eternal God, and 20 that You will watch this humble temple day and night. This will be the place for us to communicate with You. Here Your reputation will be honored, so You will be able to hear the prayers Your servants offer here. 21 Listen to these prayers when we, Your people Israel, pray, looking toward this temple, Your earthly house; hear these prayers from Your house in heaven, and forgive us.
22 If a man breaks one of Your commandments by sinning against his neighbor, making an oath, and confesses the oath before Your altar in this earthly house, 23 then hear his oath from Your house in heaven. Judge his actions and act upon Your judgment—either punish the wicked man with the consequences of his actions or forgive the righteous man proportionate to his own righteousness.
24 If Your people Israel break Your commandments, are crushed by an enemy, and return to You, praying for forgiveness in Your earthly house, 25 then hear their prayers from Your house in heaven. Forgive the sins of Your people Israel and return them to the land You have given to their ancestors and their descendants.
26 If Your people Israel break Your commandments, are punished by a devastating drought, and return to You after their punishment by praying for forgiveness in Your earthly house, 27 then hear their prayers from Your house in heaven. Forgive the sins of Your servants, Your people Israel, teach them how to follow Your ways, and send rain to Your land that You have given as an inheritance to Your people.
28 If disasters, plague, or disease strike Israel—famine, pestilence, blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or military attacks at their gates— 29-30 then hear from Your house in heaven the prayers of every man (for his own sins) and the prayers of all Israel (for the sins of the nation) offered up with outstretched hands toward Your earthly house. Forgive or punish each man (whose intentions and heart only You know) proportionate to his behavior, 31 so that man will fear and obey You as long as he lives in the land that You have given to his ancestors.
32 If a foreigner (who is not one of Your people in Israel) travels to see this Your earthly house and pray toward it because of Your great name and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm, 33 then hear his prayers from Your house in heaven. Grant the foreigner’s request so that all nations may recognize Your name, fear You as we do, and recognize this temple as Your name’s dwelling place.
34 If Your people pray to You, facing Jerusalem and Your earthly house, while they are away fighting their enemies, 35 then hear their prayers and requests from heaven. Grant them victory.
36 When Your people sin against You (as everyone does), angering You so that You give them to their enemies and into foreign captivity, 37 if they pray to You and repent while in that land, admitting, “We have sinned, we have distorted Your ways, and we have acted wickedly,” 38 if they genuinely repent while captive in that foreign land and pray facing Israel (that You gave to our ancestors), and the city Jerusalem that You have chosen, and Your earthly house (which I have built to honor Your reputation), 39 then hear their prayers and requests from Your house in heaven. Sustain their cause and forgive their sins carried out against You.
40-41 Eternal God, may Your eyes witness and Your ears hear my prayer in this temple: Come to Your resting place, both You and the covenant chest of Your power. Let Your priests, O Eternal God, dress themselves in salvation. Let Your godly ones rejoice in goodness. 42 Do not turn away from Your newly anointed king; remember the loyal love You promised to Your servant, my father David.
7 As Solomon finished his prayer, fire descended from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the other sacrifices. At that moment, the glory of the Eternal filled the house.
The presence of God comes down and rests above the seat of mercy on the covenant chest with the winged guardians as His footstool.
2 The Eternal’s glory filled the temple so overwhelmingly that the priests could not enter. 3 When all the Israelites saw the fire and the Eternal’s glory, they fell prostrate before the temple, worshiping and praising the Eternal One.
Israelites: He is good! His loyal love lasts forever!
4-5 Having prayed and worshiped God, the king and all the people made sacrifices to the Eternal and dedicated the temple. King Solomon offered 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep.
This is an enormous offering that signifies the importance of the occasion.
6 All of Israel stood, and the priests and the Levites played their instruments to the Eternal One while other priests standing across from them played trumpets. (King David had made these instruments and used them to praise the Eternal, whose love endures forever.) 7 Solomon consecrated the middle of the court in front of the Eternal’s temple by giving burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings. The bronze altar was not large enough to hold the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat.
8 Solomon and all of Israel (from the border with Hamath in Aram to the river of Egypt) feasted for seven days, celebrating the temple dedication and Succoth, the Festival of Booths. 9 On the eighth day, after the dedication of the altar and the feasting had concluded, the people held a solemn assembly. 10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month, Solomon sent the people home, rejoicing over the goodness that the Eternal had shown to David, Solomon, and His people Israel.
11 In this way Solomon successfully finished the Eternal’s house and the house of the king so that everything Solomon had in his heart to do for the divine and royal residences he accomplished. 12 The Eternal appeared to Solomon one night.
True God: As promised, I have chosen this temple as the place where My name will dwell and where I will receive sacrifices and prayer. I heard your prayer, and I will honor it.
13 If I close up the heavens and their rain and send any of the disasters you described—drought, locusts, pestilence—to ravish the land and people; 14 and My people (who are known by My name) humbly pray, follow My commandments, and abandon any actions or thoughts that might lead to further sinning, then I shall hear their prayers from My house in heaven, I shall forgive their sins, and I shall save their land from the disasters. 15 Now I will witness with My eyes and hear with My ears the prayers offered in this temple 16 because I have chosen and consecrated this temple as the eternal resting place for My reputation, My eyes, and My heart.
17 If you follow My ways as your father David did, do all that I ask you to do, and follow My laws and commands, 18 then I will establish your royal throne and keep My covenant with your father David: “One of your descendants will always be a king of Israel.”
Just as the Eternal makes a covenant with David, so He will not remove David’s offspring from the Jerusalem throne, as long as David’s sons follow the Lord.
19 If you and the Israelites ignore My ways and disregard My laws, if you serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will remove you all from My land, the land I gave to you and your ancestors, and I will destroy this temple, which I have consecrated for My reputation, making it a proverb and a byword among the nations. 21 Everyone who passes by this exalted temple will be astonished: “Why has the Eternal destroyed His land and His house?” 22 They will conclude, “He has done this because they abandoned the Eternal, the God of their fathers who brought them from the land of Egypt, and they served other gods and worshiped them. He is the One who has brought this evil upon them.”
8 After 20 years of constructing the Eternal’s house and his own house, 2 Solomon built cities in the regions which Huram, king of Tyre, had given to Israel and settled the Israelites in them.
3 Then Solomon conquered Hamath-zobah in Aram. 4 He built Tadmor in the wilderness and all the storage cities in Hamath. 5 He also built upper Beth-horon and lower Beth-horon (fortified cities with walls, gates, and crossbeams in the territory of Ephraim), 6 Baalath (in the territory of Dan), all his storage cities, and all the cities for his chariots and his horsemen. Solomon built these in Jerusalem, in the region of Lebanon, and in all the lands he ruled to defend Israel’s territory.
7-8 All of the non-Israelites who remained in Solomon’s kingdom, including descendants of Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, became conscripted laborers to this day. 9 But Solomon did not enslave the Israelites for his building projects. The Israelites were warriors, Solomon’s leaders and commanders of his chariots and horsemen, 10 and 250 of them were his chief officers who ruled over the people.
11 Then Solomon moved his wife, Pharaoh’s daughter, from the city of David and away from the temple to a separate house which he built for her. Solomon thought, “My foreign wife will not live in the palace of David, king of Israel, because the places are holy where the Eternal’s covenant chest has entered.”
12 So that it pleased God and followed the provisions of his father, Solomon gave burnt offerings on the Eternal’s altar, which he had built in front of the porch. 13 He did this daily (according to the commandment of Moses), weekly (on the Sabbaths), monthly (on the new moons), and at the three annual feasts (the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Booths). 14 Following the plans of his father David, Solomon assigned the temple duties to the priests, the Levites’ daily duties of praise and ministering before the priests, and the gatekeepers’ gate divisions. These plans had been laid out by David, a man who followed the True God. 15 The priests and the Levites followed all the commandments of their king, even those regarding the storehouses. 16 Solomon finished all this work, beginning with the groundbreaking of the Eternal’s temple and ending with its completion.
17 Then Solomon went to Ezion-geber and to Eloth on the coast in Edom. 18 Huram sent his seafaring servants in ships to help Solomon’s servants sail to Ophir. There the servants took 450 talents of gold and brought them to King Solomon.
Solomon’s wealth and wisdom are so well-known that other monarchs in the region come to him to receive advice and to offer gifts. Huram, king of Tyre, may give Solomon great gifts during the construction of Israel’s infrastructure, but his aid is not nearly as memorable as the gifts of the queen of Sheba, who visits from the Arabian peninsula.
9 The queen of Sheba entered Jerusalem with an impressive entourage and camels carrying spices, a large amount of gold, and gems. She had heard about Solomon’s famous wisdom, so she came to ask him difficult questions that addressed her personal concerns. 2 Solomon answered these questions openly and honestly where nothing about the queen was hidden from Solomon’s knowledge. 3-4 His wisdom and frankness impressed and astonished the queen, as did the palace, the meal, the servants, the guests and their clothing, the cupbearers and their clothing, and the stairway[a] that led to the Eternal’s temple. After viewing all these things, the queen was mesmerized and breathless.
Queen of Sheba: 5-6 Although I did not believe the reports of your greatness—it seemed impossible that anyone could have your wisdom, power, and justice—your reputation as a well-spoken and wise king is justified. I have witnessed only a portion of your wisdom, yet even that portion surpasses the stories that are told about you. 7 Those who surround you, your men and your servants, are blessed to be near you and to hear your wise musings daily. 8 Blessed be the Eternal One your God, who favored your potential as a great ruler and placed you on His throne. He has demonstrated His love for Israel by ensuring the nation’s future with you as their just and righteous king.
9 The queen of Sheba gave to Solomon in recognition of his prestige 9,000 pounds of gold, vast quantities of gems, and a large amount of spices previously unknown in Israel. 10 When Solomon’s and Huram’s servants had brought gold from the land of Ophir, they also brought algum wood and costly gems. 11 Solomon had used this non-native algum wood to build the steps to the Eternal’s temple and the king’s palace and to make lyres and harps for the musicians. These were all unmatched by anything that had existed in the land of Judah.
12 Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all that she had traveled to Israel to receive, in addition to gifts equaling those that she brought to him. Contented with her visit, the queen returned home with her servants.
In addition to the gifts of Huram and the queen of Sheba, Solomon collects a substantial treasury from the gifts of other nations.
13 Annually Solomon received about 25 tons of gold 14 in addition to what the traders and merchants brought. The Arabian kings and the local governors also brought gold and silver to him.
15 Solomon used some of this metal to make weapons: 200 large shields (each weighing 7½ pounds of beaten gold) 16 and 300 small, rounded shields (each weighing 3¾ pounds of beaten gold). All the shields were stored in the house made of wood imported from Lebanon.
17 Solomon then constructed a large ivory throne and gilded it. 18-19 At the base of the throne were 6 steps and a golden footstool, and at the sides were armrests. The throne was guarded by 14 lions: one next to each armrest, and one on either side of each step. This throne was unlike any other monarch’s throne.
20 In King Solomon’s house, made of wood from Lebanon, the drinking cups and dishes were of gold (since silver was not recognized as a precious metal in Solomon’s days).
21 Both Solomon and Huram owned ships which traded with the coastal city of Tarshish every three years, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks[b] into Israel. 22 All this made King Solomon richer than all other monarchs, and his wisdom was equally immeasurable. 23 All the kings of the earth wanted an audience with King Solomon, to hear the wisdom which God bestowed upon him, as the queen of Sheba had. 24 Each visitor brought gifts to Solomon every year: silver, gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.
25 Solomon’s horses and chariots stayed in 4,000 stalls along with the 12,000 horsemen who resided with him in Jerusalem or in Israel’s other fortified cities.
26 During his reign, Solomon ruled the region between the Euphrates River in the east and to the land of the Philistines all the way to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, and southward to north of the border of Egypt. 27 He made Jerusalem so wealthy that silver was as common as stones in the rocky regions and cedars were as plentiful as sycamore trees in the lowland. 28 Solomon also imported and was given expensive horses from Egypt and from other countries.
29 The actions of King Solomon, from his birth until his death, are recorded in the chronicles of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecies of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer (specifically those concerning Jeroboam, son of Nebat).
30 Solomon’s rule over all Israel lasted 40 years—during which time he governed from his capital city, Jerusalem. 31 And after he joined with his ancestors in death and was laid with his father, our beloved King David, in Jerusalem, Solomon’s son Rehoboam ruled Israel in his place.
After the death of King Solomon, nothing is ever the same in Israel. Many of the Israelites rebel against God, no longer follow God’s elected Judahite kings, and form the new Northern Kingdom with their own kings and heretical temples.
10 After his father died, King Rehoboam went to Shechem in Northern Israel to be coronated before all the Israelites. 2 The news of the impending coronation reached Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, where he was living as an exile in Egypt, so he hastily returned to Israel.
King Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam when the prophet Ahijah predicted that Israel would divide into two countries with Jeroboam leading the Northern Kingdom.
3 The Israelites requested that Jeroboam meet them in Shechem at the coronation. Together, they made a request of Rehoboam, who would be their new king.
This next conversation between Rehoboam and the tribes is pivotal for the nation of Israel and the twelve tribes. The prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite in the 1 Kings 11 story foreshadows that God is going to give Judah—and neighboring Benjamin—to Rehoboam, but Jeroboam in the north gets ten tribes. The story is ironic since it appears that the Eternal favors Jeroboam by giving him most of the Israelite tribes and territory, and Rehoboam is portrayed as a despotic fool. In the end, the Davidic offspring, King Rehoboam, has a disastrous reign, and Jeroboam sets up Dan and Bethel as temple sites to worship the Eternal One. It seems that a king, whether in the Northern or Southern Kingdom, is a bad deal for the people.
Israelites (to Rehoboam): 4 Your father made us work very hard for the building of Israel. We built cities and palaces and temples and roads for him. We are tired of this constant work which your father required. If you will reduce the amount of work we are required to perform for the nation, then we will coronate you as king and serve you as your people.
Rehoboam: 5 Let me think about this for three days. Then I will give you an answer.
As the Israelites left, 6 King Rehoboam asked older men who were his father Solomon’s advisors for advice about the situation.
Rehoboam: What do you think I should tell the people?
Solomon’s Advisors: 7 Listen to their concerns, show them kindness, and please them. Then they will be your subjects and will always respect you.
8 But Rehoboam did not listen to the advisors’ recommendation. Instead he asked the opinions of his childhood friends who were more likely to give him the advice that he wanted to hear.
Rehoboam: 9 How do you think I should answer these people’s request that I reduce the amount of work my father required of them?
These younger childhood “counselors” encourage Rehoboam to be a stronger, more dominant ruler instead of a kinder, more respected ruler.
Rehoboam’s Friends: 10 Tell those who want a reduced workload, “I am stronger and more virile than my father ever was! 11 You will long for my father’s leniency. He made you work hard, but I will make you work even harder. He disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with the sting of scorpions.”
12 On the third day, Jeroboam and the Israelites returned to Rehoboam as the king had requested. 13-14 The king followed the advice of his young friends, answering harshly and ignoring the advice of his father’s advisors.
Rehoboam: You will long for my father’s leniency. He made you work hard, but I will make you work even harder. He disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with the sting of scorpions.
15 By ignoring the Israelites’ desires, the king fulfilled the Eternal God’s prophecy that was spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam, son of Nebat. 16 Just as predicted, the Northern tribes formed a nation separate from Judah because the king did not listen to them.
Israelites (to Rehoboam): God promised the kingdom of Israel to David and his sons. Why should we follow David’s descendants when we do not share in the inheritance of Jesse’s son? Let us form our own nation in the North, and so every Israelite should return to his house. In the same way, let the Judahites and the Benjaminites continue by themselves as the house of David in the South.
Most of the Israelites left Shechem to form a new Northern Kingdom, 17 but a few Israelites remained in the cities of Judah, the Southern Kingdom, because they recognized that Rehoboam was their rightful king.
18 In a final attempt to reunite his father Solomon’s kingdom, King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, the superintendent of Solomon’s forced labor, into Israel to compel the Northern Kingdom to accept Rehoboam as their king. But the Israelites stoned Hadoram to death. Realizing the anger of the Northern Kingdom, King Rehoboam fled in his chariot to Jerusalem. 19 Thus the Northern Kingdom of Israel has rebelled against the Southern Kingdom, the Davidic kings in Judah, until today.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
