2 Chronicles
6:1 Then said Solomon, The LORD hath said that he would dwell in the thick
darkness.
6:2 But I have built an house of habitation for thee, and a place for thy
dwelling for ever.
6:3 And the king turned his face, and blessed the whole congregation of
Israel: and all the congregation of Israel stood.
6:4 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who hath with his hands
fulfilled that which he spake with his mouth to my father David, saying,
6:5 Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt I
chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build an house in, that
my name might be there; neither chose I any man to be a ruler over my
people Israel:
6:6 But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have
chosen David to be over my people Israel.
6:7 Now it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the
name of the LORD God of Israel.
6:8 But the LORD said to David my father, Forasmuch as it was in thine heart
to build an house for my name, thou didst well in that it was in thine
heart:
6:9 Notwithstanding thou shalt not build the house; but thy son which shall
come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house for my name.
6:10 The LORD therefore hath performed his word that he hath spoken: for I am
risen up in the room of David my father, and am set on the throne of
Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of
the LORD God of Israel.
6:11 And in it have I put the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD, that
he made with the children of Israel.
6:12 And he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the
congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands:
6:13 For Solomon had made a brasen scaffold of five cubits long, and five
cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the
court: and upon it he stood, and kneeled down upon his knees before all
the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven,
6:14 And said, O LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee in the heaven,
nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and shewest mercy unto thy
servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts:
6:15 Thou which hast kept with thy servant David my father that which thou
hast promised him; and spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it
with thine hand, as it is this day.
6:16 Now therefore, O LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my
father that which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail
thee a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel; yet so that thy
children take heed to their way to walk in my law, as thou hast walked
before me.
6:17 Now then, O LORD God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou
hast spoken unto thy servant David.
6:18 But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven
and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house
which I have built!
6:19 Have respect therefore to the prayer of thy servant, and to his
supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and the prayer
which thy servant prayeth before thee:
6:20 That thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the
place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy name there; to
hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth toward this place.
6:21 Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy
people Israel, which they shall make toward this place: hear thou from
thy dwelling place, even from heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive.
6:22 If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to make
him swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house;
6:23 Then hear thou from heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, by requiting
the wicked, by recompensing his way upon his own head; and by justifying
the righteous, by giving him according to his righteousness.
6:24 And if thy people Israel be put to the worse before the enemy, because
they have sinned against thee; and shall return and confess thy name,
and pray and make supplication before thee in this house;
6:25 Then hear thou from the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy people
Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest to them and
to their fathers.
6:26 When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have
sinned against thee; yet if they pray toward this place, and confess thy
name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them;
6:27 Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of
thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them the good way, wherein they
should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy
people for an inheritance.
6:28 If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be
blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillers; if their enemies besiege
them in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness
there be:
6:29 Then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of any man,
or of all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore and
his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house:
6:30 Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render
unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest;
(for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:)
6:31 That they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as they live in
the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.
6:32 Moreover concerning the stranger, which is not of thy people Israel, but
is come from a far country for thy great name's sake, and thy mighty
hand, and thy stretched out arm; if they come and pray in this house;
6:33 Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, and do
according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all people
of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as doth thy people
Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called by thy
name.
6:34 If thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that thou
shalt send them, and they pray unto thee toward this city which thou
hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name;
6:35 Then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and
maintain their cause.
6:36 If they sin against thee, (for there is no man which sinneth not,) and
thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and
they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near;
6:37 Yet if they bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried
captive, and turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity,
saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly;
6:38 If they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in
the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives,
and pray toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and
toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I
have built for thy name:
6:39 Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, their
prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive
thy people which have sinned against thee.
6:40 Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears
be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.
6:41 Now therefore arise, O LORD God, into thy resting place, thou, and the
ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O LORD God, be clothed with
salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness.
6:42 O LORD God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the
mercies of David thy servant.
