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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
International Standard Version

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication(A)

12 Then Solomon[a] took his place in front of the Lord’s altar in the presence of the entire congregation of Israel and spread out his hands. 13 Solomon had a bronze platform constructed five cubits[b] square and three cubits[c] high. He had it erected in the middle of the courtyard, and stood on it. Then he knelt down on his knees in front of the entire congregation of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven, 14 and said:

“Lord God of Israel, there is no one like you, God of heaven and earth, who watches over[d] his covenant, showing gracious love to your servants who live their lives in your presence[e] with all their hearts. 15 It is you, Lord God,[f] who has kept your promise to my father, your servant David, that you made to him. Indeed, you made a commitment[g] to my father David and then personally fulfilled[h] what you had promised today.

16 “Now therefore, Lord God of Israel, keep your promise that you made[i] to my father, your servant David, when you said, ‘You are to not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel,[j] if only your descendants will watch their lives,[k] to live according to my Law, just as you have lived[l] in my presence.’[m]

17 “Now therefore, Lord God of Israel, may your promise that you made[n] to your servant David be fulfilled… 18 and yet, will God truly reside on earth with human beings? Look! Neither the sky nor the highest heaven can contain you! How much less this Temple that I have built! 19 Pay attention to the prayer of your servant and to his request, Lord my God, and listen to the cry and prayer that your servant is praying in your presence. 20 Let your eyes always look toward this Temple day and night, toward the location where you have said you would place your name. Listen to the prayer that your servant prays in this direction.[o] 21 Listen to the requests from your servant and from your people Israel as they pray in this direction,[p] and listen from the place where you reside—from heaven!—then hear and forgive.

22 “If a man sins against his neighbor and he is required to take an oath, and he then comes to take an oath in front of your altar in this Temple, 23 then listen from heaven, act, and judge your servants, recompensing the wicked by bringing back to him the consequences of his choices[q] and by justifying the righteous by recompensing him according to his righteousness.

24 “If your people Israel are defeated in a battle with[r] their enemy because they have sinned against you, when they return to you[s] and confess to you,[t] pray, and in this Temple they ask you to show grace to them, 25 then hear from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and return them to the soil[u] that you gave to them and to their ancestors.

26 “When the skies remain closed, and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, and they pray in the direction of this place, confessing your name and turning from their sin when you afflict them,[v] 27 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Israel. Indeed, teach them the best way to live and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as an inheritance.

28 “If a famine comes to the land, or if there comes plant diseases, mildew, locusts, or grasshoppers,[w] or if their enemies attack them in their settlements of the land, no matter what the epidemic or illness is, 29 whatever prayer or request is made, no matter whether it’s made by a single man or by all of your people Israel, each praying out of his own illness and anguish and stretching out their hands toward this Temple, 30 then hear from heaven, the place where you reside, and forgive, repaying each person according to all of his ways, since you know their hearts—for you alone know the hearts of human beings— 31 so they will fear you and live life[x] your way as long as they live in the land that you have given to our ancestors.

32 “Now concerning the foreigner who is not from your people Israel, when he comes from a land far away for the sake of your great name, your mighty acts,[y] and your obvious power,[z] when they come and pray in the direction of this Temple, 33 then hear from heaven where you reside, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the people of the earth may know your name, fear you as do your people Israel, and so they may know that this Temple that I have built is called by your name.

34 “When your people go out to war against their enemies, no matter what way you send them, and they pray to you in the direction of this city that you have chosen and in the direction of the Temple that I have built for your name, 35 then hear their prayer and their request from heaven, and fight for their cause.

36 “When they sin against you—because there isn’t a single human being who doesn’t sin—and you become angry with them and deliver them over to their enemy, who takes them away captive to a land that’s near or far away, 37 if they turn their hearts back to you[aa] in the land where they have been taken captive, repent, and pray to you—even if they do so in the land where they have been taken captive—confessing, ‘We have sinned, we have committed abominations, and practiced wickedness,’ 38 if they return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land where they have been taken captive, as they pray in the direction of their land that you have given to their ancestors and to the city that you have chosen, and to the Temple that I have built for your name, 39 then hear their prayer and requests from heaven, where you reside, and fight for their cause, forgiving your people who have sinned against you.

40 “And now, my God, please let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayers that are uttered in[ab] this place.

41 “And now may the Lord God arise, to your place of rest, you, and the ark of your power! Let your priests, Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and cause your godly ones to find their joy in what is good.

42 “Lord God, do not turn your face away from your anointed one.[ac] Remember your gracious love to your servant David.”

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 6:12 Lit. he
  2. 2 Chronicles 6:13 I.e. about seven and a half feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  3. 2 Chronicles 6:13 I.e. about four and a half feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
  4. 2 Chronicles 6:14 Or who keeps
  5. 2 Chronicles 6:14 Lit. who walk before you
  6. 2 Chronicles 6:15 The Heb. lacks It is you, Lord God
  7. 2 Chronicles 6:15 Lit. you spoke by your mouth
  8. 2 Chronicles 6:15 Lit. and by your hand full
  9. 2 Chronicles 6:16 Lit. spoke
  10. 2 Chronicles 6:16 Cf. 1King 2:4; 2Chr 7:18
  11. 2 Chronicles 6:16 Lit. ways
  12. 2 Chronicles 6:16 Lit. walked
  13. 2 Chronicles 6:16 Or have walked before me
  14. 2 Chronicles 6:17 Lit. spoke
  15. 2 Chronicles 6:20 Lit. prays toward this place
  16. 2 Chronicles 6:21 Lit. pray toward this place
  17. 2 Chronicles 6:23 Lit. by bringing his way upon his head
  18. 2 Chronicles 6:24 Lit. defeated before
  19. 2 Chronicles 6:24 The Heb. lacks to you
  20. 2 Chronicles 6:24 Lit. confess your name
  21. 2 Chronicles 6:25 Or land
  22. 2 Chronicles 6:26 So MT; LXX reads you bring them low
  23. 2 Chronicles 6:28 Or caterpillars
  24. 2 Chronicles 6:31 Lit. and walk in
  25. 2 Chronicles 6:32 Lit. hand
  26. 2 Chronicles 6:32 Lit. your outstretched arm
  27. 2 Chronicles 6:37 The Heb. lacks back to you
  28. 2 Chronicles 6:40 The Heb. lacks that are uttered in
  29. 2 Chronicles 6:42 Or your Messiah
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