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.”
Footnotes
- 6.12 Heb he
2 Chronicles 6:12-42
Evangelical Heritage Version
12 Then Solomon stood in front of the altar of the Lord, in the presence of the whole assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands.
13 Solomon had made a bronze platform and had placed it in the middle of the courtyard. It was seven and a half feet by seven and a half feet square, and four and a half feet tall. He stood on it. Then he knelt in the presence of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven, 14 and said:
O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in the heavens above and on the earth below. You keep the covenant of mercy and faithfulness with your servants who walk before you with all their heart. 15 You have kept the word which you spoke to your servant, my father David. What you have said with your mouth, you have fulfilled with your hand, as can be seen today.
16 Now, Lord God of Israel, guard for your servant, my father David, the promise you made to him when you said, “You will never fail to have a man sitting on the throne of Israel in my presence, if your sons guard their ways by walking in my law just as you have walked before me.”
17 Now, O God of Israel, let the words which you spoke to your servant, my father David, be confirmed.
18 But will God really dwell with man on the earth? Truly, the heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you! How much less this house which I have built! 19 But turn your face toward the prayer of your servant and to his plea for mercy. O Lord my God, listen to the cry and to the prayer that your servant offers before you.
20 Let your eyes be open toward this house day and night, toward the place where you have promised to set your Name and to listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place.
21 When you hear your servant’s pleas for mercy and those of your people Israel when they pray toward this place, then hear in your dwelling place in heaven—hear and forgive.
The Petitions[a]
22 If a man sins against his neighbor, and his neighbor places him under an oath, and the oath is presented before your altar in this house, 23 then hear from heaven and take action. Provide justice for your servants by repaying the guilty person and bringing his ways down on his own head, and by declaring the righteous person innocent and dealing with him according to his righteousness.
24 If your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they sinned against you, and they return to you and praise your Name and pray and seek your favor in this house, 25 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land which you gave to them and to their fathers.
26 When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they sinned against you, and then they pray toward this place, praise your Name, and turn from their sin because you have humbled them, 27 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and your people Israel, for you teach them the good way in which they are to walk. Provide rain upon our land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.
28 When there is famine in the land, when there is plague, when there is blight or mildew, or locusts or grasshoppers, or when their enemies are in the land besieging their gates, or when any disease or any sickness is present, 29 hear every prayer and every plea for mercy from each individual and from your whole people Israel, because each person knows his own affliction and his own sorrow. When he stretches out his hands toward this house, 30 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and give to each man according to his ways,[b] since you know his heart. You alone know the heart of everyone, 31 so that they fear you and walk in your ways all the days they live on the soil that you gave to our fathers.
32 Also for the foreigner, who is not one of your people Israel, but who comes from a distant land because of your great Name, your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm, and who comes and prays toward this house, 33 for that foreigner, hear in heaven, which is your dwelling place, and do everything for which that foreigner cries out to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your Name and fear you, just as your people Israel do, because they know that your Name is proclaimed in this house that I have built.
34 When your people go out for battle against their enemies on whatever way you send them, and they pray to you, facing toward this city which you have chosen and toward the house which I have built for your Name, 35 then from heaven hear their prayer and their plea for mercy, and provide justice for them.
36 When they sin against you (for there is no one who does not sin), and you become angry with them, and you give them up to an enemy, and they are taken captive to a land whether far or near, 37 when they come to their senses in the land to which they were carried, and they repent and plead to you for mercy in the land where they were exiled, and they say, “We have sinned. We have been guilty, and we have done evil,” 38 and they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land where they are exiled, and they pray toward their land which you gave to their fathers, and toward the city which you have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for your Name, 39 then from heaven, from your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea for mercy and provide justice for them, and forgive your people, who have sinned against you.
40 Now please, my God, I ask that your eyes will be open and your ears attentive to prayer offered at this place.
41 Now arise, Lord God, to enter your resting place—you and the ark of your power. May your priests, Lord God, be clothed with salvation. May your faithful ones rejoice in goodness. 42 Lord God, you will not turn away the face of your anointed one. Remember the mercy promised to your servant David.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 6:22 The Hebrew verb forms in the section may be translated as prophecy (you will forgive) or as prayer (forgive). The context favors prayer.
- 2 Chronicles 6:30 Or what is right for his situation
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.