2 Chronicles 7
Contemporary English Version
Solomon Dedicates the Temple
(1 Kings 8.62-66)
7 (A) As soon as Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and burned up the offerings. The Lord's dazzling glory then filled the temple, 2 and the priests could not go in.
3 (B) When the crowd of people saw the fire and the Lord's glory, they knelt down and worshiped the Lord. They prayed:
“The Lord is good,
and his love never ends.”
4-5 Solomon and the people dedicated the temple to the Lord by sacrificing 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. 6 Everybody stood up during the ceremony. The priests were in their assigned places, blowing their trumpets. And the Levites faced them, playing the musical instruments that David had made for them to use when they praised the Lord for his never-ending love.
7 On that same day, Solomon dedicated the courtyard in front of the temple and got it ready to be used for worship. The bronze altar he had made was too small, so he used the courtyard to offer sacrifices to please the Lord[a] and grain sacrifices, and also to send up in smoke the fat from the other offerings.
8 For 7 days, Solomon and the crowd celebrated the Festival of Shelters, and people came from as far away as the Egyptian Gorge in the south and Lebo-Hamath in the north. 9 Then on the next day, everyone came together for worship. They had celebrated a total of 14 days, 7 days for the dedication of the altar and 7 more days for the festival. 10 Then on the twenty-third day of the seventh month,[b] Solomon sent everyone home. They left very happy because of all the good things the Lord had done for David and Solomon, and for his people Israel.
The Lord Appears to Solomon Again
(1 Kings 9.1-9)
11 The Lord's temple and Solomon's palace were now finished. In fact, everything Solomon had planned to do was completed.
12 Some time later, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream and said:
I heard your prayer, and I have chosen this temple as the place where sacrifices will be offered to me.
13 Suppose I hold back the rain or send locusts[c] to eat the crops or make my people suffer with deadly diseases. 14 If my own people will humbly pray and turn back to me and stop sinning, then I will answer them from heaven. I will forgive them and make their land fertile once again. 15 I will hear the prayers made in this temple, 16 because it belongs to me, and this is where I will be worshiped forever. I will never stop watching over it.
17 Your father David obeyed me, and now, Solomon, you must do the same. Obey my laws and teachings, 18 (C) and I will keep my solemn promise to him that someone from your family will always be king of Israel.
19 But if you or any of the people of Israel disobey my laws or start worshiping foreign gods, 20 I will pull you out of this land I gave you. I will desert this temple where I said I would be worshiped, so that people everywhere will think it is only a joke and will make fun of it. 21 This temple is now magnificent. But when these things happen, everyone who walks by it will be shocked and will ask, “Why did the Lord do such a terrible thing to his people and to this temple?” 22 Then they will answer, “It was because the people of Israel rejected the Lord their God, who rescued their ancestors from Egypt, and they started worshiping other gods.”
2 Chronicles 7
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 7
1 (A)When Solomon had ended his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offerings and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the house. 2 But the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.(B) 3 All the Israelites looked on while the fire came down and the glory of the Lord was upon the house, and they fell down upon the pavement with their faces to the earth and worshiped, praising the Lord, “who is so good, whose love endures forever.” 4 The king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord.(C) 5 King Solomon offered as sacrifice twenty-two thousand oxen, and one hundred twenty thousand sheep.(D)
End of the Dedication. Thus the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. 6 The priests were standing at their stations, as were the Levites, with the musical instruments of the Lord which King David had made to give thanks to the Lord, “whose love endures forever,” when David offered praise through them. The priests opposite them blew the trumpets and all Israel stood.(E)
7 Then Solomon consecrated the middle of the court facing the house of the Lord; he offered there the burnt offerings and the fat of the communion offerings, since the bronze altar which Solomon had made could not hold the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat.(F)
8 On this occasion Solomon and with him all Israel, a great assembly from Lebo-hamath to the Wadi of Egypt, celebrated the festival for seven days.(G) 9 (H)On the eighth day they held a solemn assembly, for they had celebrated the dedication of the altar for seven days and the feast[a] for seven days. 10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he dismissed the people to their tents, rejoicing and glad of heart because of all the blessings the Lord had given to David, to Solomon, and to his people Israel. 11 (I)Solomon finished building the house of the Lord, the house of the king, and everything else he wanted to do in regard to the house of the Lord and his own house.
God’s Promise to Solomon. 12 The Lord appeared to Solomon during the night and said to him: I have heard your prayer, and I have chosen this place for my house of sacrifice. 13 If I close heaven so that there is no rain, if I command the locust to devour the land, if I send pestilence among my people, 14 if then my people, upon whom my name has been pronounced, humble themselves and pray, and seek my face and turn from their evil ways, I will hear them from heaven and pardon their sins and heal their land. 15 Now, therefore, my eyes shall be open and my ears attentive to the prayer of this place; 16 now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever; my eyes and my heart shall be there always.
17 As for you, if you walk before me as David your father did, doing all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and ordinances, 18 I will establish the throne of your kingship as I covenanted with David your father when I said, There shall never be wanting someone from your line as ruler in Israel. 19 But if ever you turn away and forsake my commandments and statutes which I set before you, and proceed to serve other gods, and bow down to them, 20 I will uproot the people from the land I gave and repudiate the house I have consecrated for my name. I will make it a proverb and a byword among all nations. 21 And this house which is so exalted—every passerby shall be horrified and ask: “Why has the Lord done such things to this land and to this house?” 22 And the answer will come: “Because they abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they embraced other gods, bowing down to them and serving them. That is why he has brought upon them all this evil.”
Footnotes
- 7:9–10 The feast: Booths, celebrated on the fifteenth day of the seventh month and followed by a solemn octave lasting through the twenty-second day (Lv 23:33–36; Nm 29:12–35); the people are therefore sent home on the twenty-third day of the month (v. 10). The festival (v. 8) marking the dedication of the altar and of the Temple was held during the seven days prior to the feast of Booths, i.e., from the seventh to the fourteenth day of the seventh month. According to 1 Kgs 8:3, 65–66 the dedication of the Temple was celebrated concomitantly with the seven days of the feast of Booths, after which the people were dismissed on the eighth day.
2 Chronicles 7
New King James Version
Solomon Dedicates the Temple(A)
7 When (B)Solomon had finished praying, (C)fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and (D)the glory of the Lord filled the [a]temple. 2 (E)And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house. 3 When all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped and praised the Lord, saying:
4 (H)Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. 5 King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. 6 (I)And the priests attended to their services; the Levites also with instruments of the music of the Lord, which King David had made to praise the Lord, saying, “For His mercy endures forever,” whenever David offered praise by their [b]ministry. (J)The priests sounded trumpets opposite them, while all Israel stood.
7 Furthermore (K)Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the house of the Lord; for there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat.
8 (L)At that time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly (M)from the entrance of Hamath to (N)the[c] Brook of Egypt. 9 And on the eighth day they held a (O)sacred assembly, for they observed the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days. 10 (P)On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their tents, joyful and glad of heart for the good that the Lord had done for David, for Solomon, and for His people Israel. 11 Thus (Q)Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s house; and Solomon successfully accomplished all that came into his heart to make in the house of the Lord and in his own house.
God’s Second Appearance to Solomon(R)
12 Then the Lord (S)appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, (T)and have chosen this (U)place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. 13 (V)When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 14 if My people who are (W)called by My name will (X)humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, (Y)then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now (Z)My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. 16 For now (AA)I have chosen and [d]sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and [e]My eyes and [f]My heart will be there perpetually. 17 (AB)As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, 18 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, (AC)‘You shall not fail to have a man as ruler in Israel.’
19 (AD)“But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them, 20 (AE)then I will uproot them from My land which I have given them; and this house which I have [g]sanctified for My name I will cast out of My sight, and will make it a proverb and a (AF)byword among all peoples.
21 “And as for (AG)this [h]house, which [i]is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be (AH)astonished and say, (AI)‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and this house?’ 22 Then they will answer, ‘Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore He has brought all this calamity on them.’ ”
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 7:1 Lit. house
- 2 Chronicles 7:6 Lit. hand
- 2 Chronicles 7:8 The Shihor, 1 Chr. 13:5
- 2 Chronicles 7:16 set apart
- 2 Chronicles 7:16 My attention
- 2 Chronicles 7:16 My concern
- 2 Chronicles 7:20 set apart
- 2 Chronicles 7:21 Temple
- 2 Chronicles 7:21 Or was
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