1 Kings 8:22-61

Wycliffe Bible

²² And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord, in the sight of the church of Israel; and he held forth his hands against heaven, (And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord, before the congregation of Israel; and he held forth his hands toward heaven,)

²³ and said, Lord God of Israel, no God in heaven above, neither on earth beneath, is like thee, which keepest covenant and mercy to thy servants, that go before thee in all their heart; (and said, Lord God of Israel, there is no god like thee, in heaven above, or on the earth beneath, which keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants, who go before thee with all their heart;)

²⁴ and thou keepest to David, my father, thy servant, those things which thou hast spoken to him (and thou hast kept thy promise to thy servant David, my father); by mouth thou hast spoken (it), and by hands thou hast fulfilled (it), as this day proveth.

²⁵ Now therefore, Lord God of Israel, keep thou to thy servant David, my father, those things which thou spakest to him, and saidest, A man of thee shall not be taken away (from) before me, which man shall sit on the throne of Israel, so nevertheless if thy sons keep thy way (as long as thy sons obey thy ways), (so) that they go before me, as thou wentest in my sight.

²⁶ And now, Lord God of Israel, thy words be made steadfast, which thou spakest to thy servant David, my father.

²⁷ Therefore whether it is to guess, that God dwelleth verily on earth; for if heaven, and (the) heaven of heavens be not able to take thee, how much more this house, that I have builded to thee. (And so, is it only a guess, that truly God liveth not on the earth? for if heaven, and the heaven of heavens be not able to hold thee, then how much less this House, that I have built for thee?)

²⁸ But, my Lord God, behold thou to the prayer of thy servant, and to the beseechings of him; hear thou the hymn, either praising, and [the] prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee today;

²⁹ that thine eyes be opened on this house by night and day, on the house of which thou saidest, My name shall be there; that thou hear the prayer, which thy servant prayeth to thee in this place;

³⁰ that thou hear the beseeching of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, whatever thing he prayeth in this place, and hear thou in the place of thy dwelling in heaven; and when thou hast heard, thou shalt be merciful. (that thou hear the beseeching of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, whatever thing they prayeth in this place, and hear thou in heaven, in thy dwelling place; and that when thou hast heard, thou shalt be merciful.)

³¹ If a man sinneth against a man, and hath any oath, by which he is holden bound, and cometh for the oath into thine house, before thine altar (and cometh for the oath before thy altar in thy House),

³² (then) thou shalt hear in heaven, and thou shalt do, and thou shalt deem thy servants; and thou shalt condemn the wicked man, and shalt yield his way on(to) his head, and thou shalt justify the just man, and shalt yield to him after his rightfulness.

³³ If thy people Israel fleeth his enemies, for he shall do sin to thee (When thy people Israel fleeth their enemies, for they have sinned against thee), and they do penance, or repent their sin, and acknowledge to thy great name, and come, and worship, and beseech thee in this house,

³⁴ (then) hear thou in heaven, and forgive thou the sin of thy people [Israel]; and thou shalt lead them again into the land, which thou hast given to the fathers of them.

³⁵ If heaven is closed (When the heavens be closed up), and (it) raineth not for the sins of them, and they pray in this place, and do penance to thy name, and be converted, or altogether turned, from their sins for their torment,

³⁶ (then) hear thou them in heaven, and forgive thou the sins of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, and show thou to them a good way, by which they shall go, and give thou rain to them upon the land, which thou hast given to them into possession (which thou hast given to them for a possession).

³⁷ If hunger riseth in the land, either pestilence is, either corrupt air is (If famine riseth in the land, or pestilence, or corrupt air), either rust, either locust, either mildew, and if his enemy tormenteth him, and besiegeth the gates of him, and (bringeth in) all wound, all sickness,

³⁸ all cursing, and all wishing of evil, that befalleth to each man of thy people Israel, if any man knoweth the wound of his heart, and holdeth forth his hands in this house,

³⁹ thou shalt hear in heaven, in the place of thy dwelling (then thou shalt hear in heaven, in thy dwelling place), and thou shalt do mercy, and thou shalt do that thou give to each man after all his ways, as thou seest his heart; for thou alone knowest the heart of all the sons of men,

⁴⁰ that they dread thee in all days in which they live on the face of the land, which thou hast given to our fathers. (that they fear thee/that they revere thee all the days in which they live on this land, which thou hast given to our forefathers.)

⁴¹ Furthermore and when an alien, that is not of thy people Israel, cometh from a far land for thy name; (And furthermore when a foreigner, who is not of thy people Israel, cometh from a far land because of thy fame;)

⁴² for thy great name, and thy strong hand, and thine arm stretched out (and thy outstretched arm), shall be heard (of) everywhere; therefore when he cometh, and prayeth in this place,

⁴³ thou shalt hear in heaven, in the firmament of thy dwelling place, and thou shalt do all things, for which the alien calleth thee; that all peoples of lands learn to dread thy name, as thy people Israel doeth, and prove [they], that thy name is called on this house, which I [have] builded. (thou shalt hear in heaven, in the firmament of thy dwelling place, and thou shalt do all the things, for which the foreigner calleth thee; so that all the peoples of the lands learn to fear thy name/learn to revere thy name, as thy people Israel doeth, and they learn that this House, which I have built, is called by thy name.)

⁴⁴ If thy people goeth out to battle against his enemies, by the way whither ever thou sendest them, they shall pray (to) thee against the way of the city which thou hast chosen, and over against the house that I have builded to thy name, (If thy people goeth out to battle against their enemies, by the way wherever thou sendest them, they shall pray to thee toward the way of the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the House that I have built in honour of thy name,)

⁴⁵ and (then) thou shalt hear in heaven the prayers of them, and the beseechings of them, and thou shalt make the doom of them (and thou shalt grant them justice).

⁴⁶ That if they sin to thee (But when they sin against thee), for no man is that sinneth not, and thou art wroth, and betakest them to their enemies, and they be led prisoners into the land of (their) enemies, far either nigh,

⁴⁷ and (if) they do penance in their heart in the place of their imprisoning, and be converted, or altogether turned, and beseech (thee) in their imprisoning, and say, We have sinned, we have done wickedly, we have done unfaithfully;

⁴⁸ and they turn again to thee in all their heart, and in all their soul, in the land of their enemies, to which they be led prisoners, and they pray (to) thee over against the way of their land, which thou hast given to their fathers, and of the city which thou hast chosen, and of the temple which I [have] builded to thy name, (and they return to thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, to which they be led prisoners, and they pray to thee toward the way of their land, which thou hast given to their forefathers, and the city which thou hast chosen, and the Temple which I have built in honour of thy name,)

⁴⁹ thou shalt hear in heaven, in the firmament of thy seat, the prayers of them, and the beseechings of them, and thou shalt make the doom of them; (then thou shalt hear in heaven, in the firmament of thy dwelling place, their prayers, and their beseechings, and thou shalt grant them justice;)

⁵⁰ and thou shalt be merciful to thy people, that have sinned to thee, and to all the wickednesses, by which they have trespassed against thee; and thou shalt do mercy before those men, that had them prisoners, that those men do mercy to them. (and thou shalt be merciful to thy people, who have sinned against thee, and all the wickednesses, by which they have trespassed against thee; and thou shalt give them mercy before those who took them prisoners, so that those men also do mercy to them.)

⁵¹ For it is thy people, and thine heritage, which thou leddest out of the land of Egypt (whom thou leddest out of the land of Egypt), from the midst of the iron furnace;

⁵² that thine eyes (may) be open to the beseeching of thy servant, and of thy people Israel; and thou shalt hear them in all things, for which they call thee.

⁵³ For thou hast separated them to thee into (thine) heritage from all the peoples of [the] earth, as thou spakest by Moses, thy servant, when thou, Lord God, leddest our fathers out of Egypt.

⁵⁴ Forsooth it was done, when Solomon, praying the Lord, had filled all this prayer and beseeching, he rose up from [the] sight of the altar of the Lord; for he had set fast ever either knee to the earth, and he had held forth his hands to heaven. (And it was done, when Solomon, praying to the Lord, had finished all this prayer and beseeching, he rose up from before the altar of the Lord; for he had set both of his knees upon the ground, and he had held forth his hands toward heaven.)

⁵⁵ Therefore he stood, and blessed all the church of Israel, and said with [a] great voice, (And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel, and said with a loud voice,)

⁵⁶ Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, that hath given rest to his people Israel (who hath given peace to his people Israel), (as) by all things which he spake; a word felled not down, soothly neither one, of all [the] goods/of all the good things which he spake by Moses, his servant.

⁵⁷ Our Lord God be with us, as he was with our fathers, and forsake not us (and desert us not), neither cast us away;

⁵⁸ but bow he our hearts to himself, that we go in all his ways, and keep his commandments, and ceremonies, and dooms, whichever he commanded to our fathers. (but bow he our hearts to himself, so that we go in all his ways, and obey his commandments, and statutes, and judgements, whatever he commanded to our forefathers.)

⁵⁹ And these words of me, by which I have prayed before the Lord, be they nighing to our Lord God by day and night, that he make doom to me his servant, and to his people Israel by all days; (And these words of mine, with which I have prayed before the Lord, be they close to the Lord our God day and night, so that he may grant justice to me his servant, and to his people Israel by all days;)

⁶⁰ and (so that) all the peoples of [the] earth know, that the Lord himself is God, and [there is] none other without him (and there is no one else but him).

⁶¹ Also our heart be perfect with our Lord God, that we go in his dooms, and keep his commandments, as also today. (And let our hearts be perfect with the Lord our God, so that we walk in his judgements, and obey his commandments, as we do this day.)