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2 Chronicles 6:12-42
New English Translation

12 He stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. 13 Solomon had made a bronze platform and had placed it in the middle of the enclosure. It was 7½[a] long, 7½[b] wide, and 4½ feet[c] high. He stood on it and then got down on his knees in front of the entire assembly of Israel. He spread out his hands toward the sky, 14 and prayed:[d] “O Lord God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven or on earth! You maintain covenantal loyalty[e] to your servants who obey you with sincerity.[f] 15 You have kept your word to your servant, my father David;[g] this very day you have fulfilled what you promised.[h] 16 Now, O Lord God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David, when you said, ‘You will never fail to have a successor ruling before me on the throne of Israel,[i] provided that your descendants watch their step and obey my law as you have done.’[j] 17 Now, O Lord God of Israel, may the promise you made to your servant David be realized.[k]

18 “God does not really live with humankind on the earth![l] Look, if the sky and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built! 19 But respond favorably to[m] your servant’s prayer and his request for help, O Lord my God. Answer[n] the desperate prayer[o] your servant is presenting to you.[p] 20 Night and day may you watch over this temple, the place where you promised you would live.[q] May you answer your servant’s prayer for this place.[r] 21 Respond to the requests of your servant and your people Israel for this place.[s] Hear from your heavenly dwelling place and respond favorably and forgive.[t]

22 “When someone is accused of sinning against his neighbor and the latter pronounces a curse on the alleged offender before your altar in this temple,[u] 23 listen from heaven and make a just decision about your servants’ claims. Condemn the guilty party, declare the other innocent, and give both of them what they deserve.[v]

24 “If your people Israel are defeated by an enemy[w] because they sinned against you, then if they come back to you, renew their allegiance to you,[x] and pray for your help[y] before you in this temple, 25 then listen from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their ancestors.[z]

26 “The time will come when[aa] the skies[ab] are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people[ac] sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you,[ad] and turn away from their sin because you punish[ae] them, 27 then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Certainly[af] you will then teach them the right way to live[ag] and send rain on your land that you have given your people to possess.[ah]

28 “The time will come when the land suffers from a famine, a plague, blight, and disease, or a locust[ai] invasion, or when their enemy lays siege to the cities of the land,[aj] or when some other type of plague or epidemic occurs. 29 When all your people Israel pray and ask for help,[ak] as they acknowledge their intense pain[al] and spread out their hands toward this temple, 30 then listen from your heavenly dwelling place, forgive their sin,[am] and act favorably toward each one based on your evaluation of their motives.[an] (Indeed you are the only one who can correctly evaluate the motives of all people.)[ao] 31 Then they will honor[ap] you by obeying you[aq] throughout their lifetimes as[ar] they live on the land you gave to our ancestors.

32 “Foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel will come from a distant land because of your great reputation[as] and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds;[at] they will come and direct their prayers toward this temple. 33 Then listen from your heavenly dwelling place and answer all the prayers of the foreigners.[au] Then all the nations of the earth will acknowledge your reputation,[av] obey[aw] you as your people Israel do, and recognize that this temple I built belongs to you.[ax]

34 “When you direct your people to march out and fight their enemies,[ay] and they direct their prayers to you toward this chosen city and this temple I built for your honor,[az] 35 then listen from heaven to their prayers for help[ba] and vindicate them.[bb]

36 “The time will come when your people[bc] will sin against you (for there is no one who is sinless!) and you will be angry at them and deliver them over to their enemies, who will take them as prisoners to their land, whether far away or close by. 37 When your people[bd] come to their senses[be] in the land where they are held prisoner, they will repent and beg for your mercy in the land of their imprisonment, admitting, ‘We have sinned and gone astray,[bf] we have done evil!’ 38 When they return to you with all their heart and being[bg] in the land where they are held prisoner and direct their prayers toward the land you gave to their ancestors, your chosen city, and the temple I built for your honor,[bh] 39 then listen from your heavenly dwelling place to their prayers for help,[bi] vindicate them,[bj] and forgive your sinful people.

40 “Now, my God, may you be attentive and responsive to the prayers offered in this place.[bk] 41 Now ascend, O Lord God, to your resting place, you and the ark of your strength! May your priests, O Lord God, experience your deliverance.[bl] May your loyal followers rejoice in the prosperity you give.[bm] 42 O Lord God, do not reject your chosen ones![bn] Remember the faithful promises you made to your servant David!”

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 6:13 tn Heb “5 cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the length would have been 7.5 feet (2.25 m).
  2. 2 Chronicles 6:13 tn Heb “5 cubits.”
  3. 2 Chronicles 6:13 tn Heb “3 cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the height would have been 4.5 feet (1.35 m).
  4. 2 Chronicles 6:14 tn Heb “said.”
  5. 2 Chronicles 6:14 tn Heb “one who keeps the covenant and the loyal love.”
  6. 2 Chronicles 6:14 tn Heb “who walk before you with all their heart.”
  7. 2 Chronicles 6:15 tn Heb “[you] who kept to your servant David my father that which you spoke to him.”
  8. 2 Chronicles 6:15 tn Heb “you spoke by your mouth and by your hand you fulfilled, as this day.”
  9. 2 Chronicles 6:16 tn Heb “there will not be cut off from you a man from before me sitting on the throne of Israel.”
  10. 2 Chronicles 6:16 tn Heb “guard their way by walking in my law as you have walked before me.”
  11. 2 Chronicles 6:17 tn Or “prove to be reliable.”
  12. 2 Chronicles 6:18 tn Heb “Indeed, can God really live with mankind on the earth?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course not,” the force of which is reflected in the translation “God does not really live with mankind on the earth.”
  13. 2 Chronicles 6:19 tn Heb “turn to.”
  14. 2 Chronicles 6:19 tn Heb “by listening to.”
  15. 2 Chronicles 6:19 tn Heb “the loud cry and the prayer.”
  16. 2 Chronicles 6:19 tn Heb “praying before you.”
  17. 2 Chronicles 6:20 tn Heb “so your eyes might be open toward this house night and day, toward the place about which you promised to place your name there.”
  18. 2 Chronicles 6:20 tn Heb “by listening to the prayer which your servant is praying concerning this place.”
  19. 2 Chronicles 6:21 tn Heb “listen to the requests of your servant and your people Israel which they are praying concerning this place.”
  20. 2 Chronicles 6:21 tn Heb “hear and forgive.”
  21. 2 Chronicles 6:22 tn Heb “and if the man who sins against his neighbor when one takes up against him a curse to curse him and the curse comes before your altar in this house.”
  22. 2 Chronicles 6:23 tn Heb “and you, hear [from] heaven and act and judge your servants by repaying the guilty, to give his way on his head, and to declare the innocent to be innocent, to give to him according to his innocence.”
  23. 2 Chronicles 6:24 tn Or “are struck down before an enemy.”
  24. 2 Chronicles 6:24 tn Heb “confess [or perhaps, “praise”] your name.”
  25. 2 Chronicles 6:24 tn Heb “and they pray and ask for help.”
  26. 2 Chronicles 6:25 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 31, 38).
  27. 2 Chronicles 6:26 tn Heb “when.” In the Hebrew text vv. 26-27a actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided into two sentences for stylistic reasons.
  28. 2 Chronicles 6:26 tn Or “heavens” (also in v. 12). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
  29. 2 Chronicles 6:26 tn Heb “they.”
  30. 2 Chronicles 6:26 tn Heb “confess [or perhaps, “praise”] your name.”
  31. 2 Chronicles 6:26 tn The Hebrew text reads “because you answer them,” as if the verb is from עָנָה (ʿanah, “answer”). However, this reference to a divine answer is premature, since the next verse asks for God to intervene in mercy. It is better to revocalize the consonantal text as תְעַנֵּם (teʿannem, “you afflict them”), a Piel verb form from the homonym עָנָה (“afflict”).
  32. 2 Chronicles 6:27 tn The present translation understands כִּי (ki) in an emphatic or asseverative sense (“Certainly”). Other translations have “indeed” (NASB), “when” (NRSV), “so” (NEB), or leave the word untranslated (NIV).
  33. 2 Chronicles 6:27 tn Heb “the good way in which they should walk.”
  34. 2 Chronicles 6:27 tn Or “for an inheritance.”
  35. 2 Chronicles 6:28 tn Actually two Hebrew words appear here, both of which are usually (but not always) taken as referring to locusts. Perhaps different stages of growth or different varieties are in view, but this is uncertain. NEB has “locusts new-sloughed or fully grown”; NASB has “locust or grasshopper”; NIV has “locusts or grasshoppers”; NRSV has “locust, or caterpillar.”
  36. 2 Chronicles 6:28 tn Heb “in the land, his gates.”
  37. 2 Chronicles 6:29 tn Heb “every prayer, every request for help which will be to all the people, to all your people Israel.”
  38. 2 Chronicles 6:29 tn Heb “which they know, each his pain and his affliction.”
  39. 2 Chronicles 6:30 tn The words “their sin” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarification.
  40. 2 Chronicles 6:30 tn Heb “and give to each one according to all his ways because you know his heart.” In the Hebrew text vv. 28-30a actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided up for stylistic reasons.
  41. 2 Chronicles 6:30 tn Heb “Indeed you know, you alone, the heart of the sons of mankind.”
  42. 2 Chronicles 6:31 tn Heb “fear.”
  43. 2 Chronicles 6:31 tn Heb “by walking in your ways.”
  44. 2 Chronicles 6:31 tn Heb “all the days [in] which.”
  45. 2 Chronicles 6:32 tn Heb “your great name.” The word “name” sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor (thus the translation here, “your great reputation”).
  46. 2 Chronicles 6:32 tn Heb “and your strong hand and your outstretched arm.”
  47. 2 Chronicles 6:33 tn Heb “and do all which the foreigner calls to [i.e., “requests of”] you.”
  48. 2 Chronicles 6:33 tn Heb “name.” See the note on “reputation” in v. 32.
  49. 2 Chronicles 6:33 tn Heb “fear.”
  50. 2 Chronicles 6:33 tn Heb “that your name is called over this house which I built.” The Hebrew idiom “call the name over” indicates ownership. See 2 Sam 12:28.
  51. 2 Chronicles 6:34 tn Heb “When your people go out for battle against their enemies in the way which you send them.”
  52. 2 Chronicles 6:34 tn Heb “toward this city which you have chosen and the house which I built for your name.”
  53. 2 Chronicles 6:35 tn Heb “their prayer and their request for help.”
  54. 2 Chronicles 6:35 tn Heb “and accomplish their justice.”
  55. 2 Chronicles 6:36 tn Heb “they”; the referent (God’s people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  56. 2 Chronicles 6:37 tn Heb “they”; the referent (God’s people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  57. 2 Chronicles 6:37 tn Or “stop and reflect”; Heb “bring back to their heart.”
  58. 2 Chronicles 6:37 tn Or “done wrong.”
  59. 2 Chronicles 6:38 tn Or “soul.”
  60. 2 Chronicles 6:38 tn Heb “your name.” The word “name” sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor (thus the translation here, “your honor”).
  61. 2 Chronicles 6:39 tn Heb “their prayer and their requests for help.”
  62. 2 Chronicles 6:39 tn Heb “and accomplish their justice.”
  63. 2 Chronicles 6:40 tn Heb “May your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayer of this place.”
  64. 2 Chronicles 6:41 tn Heb “be clothed with deliverance.”
  65. 2 Chronicles 6:41 tn Heb “and may your loyal ones rejoice in good.”
  66. 2 Chronicles 6:42 tc Heb “do not turn away the face of your anointed ones.” Many medieval Hebrew mss, as well as the ancient versions, read the singular, “your anointed,” which would probably refer to Solomon specifically, rather than the people.
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2 Chronicles 6:12-42
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication

12 Then Solomon[a] stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands.(A) 13 Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high and had set it in the court, and he stood on it. Then he knelt on his knees in the presence of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.(B) 14 He said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and steadfast love with your servants who walk before you with all their heart(C)— 15 you who have kept for your servant, my father David, what you promised to him. Indeed, you promised with your mouth and this day have fulfilled with your hand.(D) 16 Therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant my father David that which you promised him, saying, ‘There shall never fail you a successor before me to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children keep to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.’(E) 17 Therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed that you promised to your servant David.

18 “But will God indeed dwell with mortals on earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built!(F) 19 Regard your servant’s prayer and his plea, O Lord my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you. 20 May your eyes be open day and night toward this house, the place where you promised to set your name, and may you heed the prayer that your servant prays toward this place. 21 And hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place; may you hear from heaven your dwelling place; hear and forgive.(G)

22 “If someone sins against a neighbor and is required to take an oath and comes and swears before your altar in this house,(H) 23 may you hear from heaven, and act, and judge your servants, repaying the guilty by bringing their conduct on their own heads and vindicating the righteous by rewarding them according to their righteousness.

24 “When your people Israel, having sinned against you, are defeated before an enemy but turn again to you, confess your name, pray and plead with you in this house,(I) 25 then hear from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them again to the land that you gave to them and to their ancestors.

26 “When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you and then they pray toward this place, confess your name, and turn from their sin because you punish them,(J) 27 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk, and grant rain on your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.

28 “If there is famine in the land, if there is plague, blight, mildew, locust, or caterpillar; if their enemies besiege them in any of the settlements of the lands; whatever suffering, whatever sickness there is;(K) 29 whatever prayer, whatever plea there is from any individual or from all your people Israel, all knowing their own suffering and their own sorrows so that they stretch out their hands toward this house; 30 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, forgive, and render to all whose hearts you know, according to all their ways, for only you know the human heart.(L) 31 Thus may they fear you and walk in your ways all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our ancestors.

32 “Likewise when foreigners, who are not of your people Israel, come from a distant land because of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, when they come and pray toward this house,(M) 33 then hear from heaven your dwelling place and do whatever the foreigners ask of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and so they may know that your name has been invoked on this house that I have built.(N)

34 “If your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to you toward this city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, 35 then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea and maintain their cause.

36 “If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to a land far off or near,(O) 37 then if they come to their senses in the land to which they have been taken captive and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned and have done wrong; we have acted wickedly,’(P) 38 if they repent with all their heart and soul in the land of their captivity, to which they were taken captive, and pray toward their land that you gave to their ancestors, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name, 39 then hear from heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their pleas, maintain their cause, and forgive your people who have sinned against you. 40 Now, O my God, let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to prayer from this place.(Q)

41 Now rise up, O Lord God, and go to your resting place,
    you and the ark of your might.
Let your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation,
    and let your faithful rejoice in your goodness.(R)
42 O Lord God, do not reject your anointed one.
    Remember your steadfast love for your servant David.”

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Footnotes

  1. 6.12 Heb he
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