2 Chronicles 6

6 ¹ Then Solomon said, "Our Father has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. ² But I have built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever."

³ Then the king turned around and blessed the whole assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. ⁴ He said, "Blessed be our Father, the God of Israel, who with his own hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to my father David, saying,

⁵ 'Since the day I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house for my name to be there, nor did I choose any man to be ruler over my people Israel. ⁶ But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name may be there, and I have chosen David to lead my people Israel.'

⁷ Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of our Father, the God of Israel.

⁸ But our Father said to David my father, 'Because it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well to have this in your heart. ⁹ Nevertheless, you will not build the house, but your son who will come from your own body—he will build the house for my name.'

¹⁰ Now our Father has fulfilled the word that he spoke, for I have taken the place of David my father and sit on the throne of Israel, as he promised, and I have built the house for the name of our Father, the God of Israel. ¹¹ And there I have set the ark, in which is the covenant of our Father that he made with the people of Israel."

Solomon Dedicates the Father's House in Prayer

¹² Then Solomon stood before the altar of our Father in the presence of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. ¹³ Solomon had made a bronze platform about seven and a half feet long, seven and a half feet wide, and four and a half feet high, and had set it in the middle of the court. He stood on it, then knelt down on his knees before the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven. ¹⁴ He said, "O my Father, the God of Israel, there is no Father like you in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing loyal love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart. ¹⁵ You have kept with your servant David my father what you promised him; with your mouth you spoke it, and with your hand you have fulfilled it this day.

¹⁶ Now therefore, O my Father, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you promised him, saying, 'You will always have a man sitting on the throne of Israel before me, if only your sons are careful to follow my law, as you have walked before me.' ¹⁷ And now, O my Father, the God of Israel, let the word you spoke to your servant David come true.

¹⁸ But will our Father indeed live among people on earth? Why, even the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built. ^a a v18 Solomon marvels that our Father would make his home with people on earth—a longing fully answered when the Son came to dwell among us, and finally when our Father dwells with his children forever. ¹⁹ Yet hear the prayer of your servant and his plea, O my Father, and hear the cry and prayer that your servant prays before you, ²⁰ that your eyes may be open toward this house day and night, toward the place where you promised to put your name, to listen to the prayer that your servant prays toward this place. ²¹ And listen to the pleas of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive.

²² If a man sins against his neighbor and is required to swear an oath, and he comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, ²³ then hear from heaven and act, and judge your servants, repaying the guilty for what they have done, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding them according to their righteousness.

²⁴ If your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you, and they turn back and praise your name and pray and plead with you in this house, ²⁵ then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land that you gave to them and to their ancestors.

²⁶ When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and praise your name and turn from their sin when you afflict them, ²⁷ then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk, and send 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 within their own towns—whatever plague, whatever sickness there is ²⁹ —whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by anyone or by all your people Israel, each one knowing his own affliction and his own pain and spreading out his hands toward this house, ³⁰ then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and forgive, and repay each one according to all his ways, since you know his heart—for you alone know the hearts of all people ³¹ —so that they may fear you and walk in your ways as long as they live on the land that you gave to our ancestors.

³² Likewise, when a foreigner who is not of your people Israel comes from a distant land for the sake of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this house, ³³ then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and may know that this house I have built is called by your name.

³⁴ If your people go out to battle against their enemies wherever you send them, and they pray to you toward this city that you have chosen and the house I have built for your name, ³⁵ then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold 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 over to an enemy who takes them captive to a land far or near, ³⁷ yet if they take it to heart in the land where they are held captive, and turn back and plead with you in the land of their captivity, saying, 'We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly,' ³⁸ if they turn back to you with all their heart and all their soul in the land of their captivity where they were taken, and pray toward their land that you gave to their ancestors, the city you have chosen, and the house I have built for your name, ³⁹ then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, their prayer and their pleas, and uphold their cause, and forgive your people who have sinned against you.

⁴⁰ Now, my Father, let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place. ⁴¹ And now arise, my Father, and come to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. Let your priests, my Father, be clothed with salvation, and let your faithful ones rejoice in your goodness. ⁴² My Father, do not reject your anointed one. Remember your covenant love for David your servant."