THE SECOND BOOK OF THE
CHRONICLES
2 Chronicles 6 ©
Solomon, seeing the token of God’s presence in the temple, praises and thanks God that He had fulfilled His promise made to David, his father, 4. Makes an excellent prayer, wherein he shows the right use of the temple, 12.
THEN said Solomon, 1The LORD hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
But I have built an house of habitation for thee, and a place for thy dwelling 2for ever.
Anda the king 3turned his face, and 4blessed the whole congregation of Israel: and all the congregation of Israel 5stood.
And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who hath with his hands 6fulfilled that which he spake with his mouth to my father David, saying,
Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt I 7chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build an house in, 8that my name might be there; 9neither chose I any man to be a ruler over my people Israel:
But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel.
Now itb10was in the heart of David my father to build an house for 11the name of the LORD God of Israel.
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:
Notwithstanding thou shalt not build the house; but thy son which shall come forth 12out of thy loins, he shall build the house for my name.
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.
And in it have I put the ark, wherein is 13the covenant of the LORD, that he made with the children of Israel.
¶And he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands:
For Solomon had made a 14brasen scaffold, of five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst 15of the court: and upon it he stood, and 16kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and 17spread forth his hands toward heaven,
And said, O LORD God of Israel, there is noc God like thee in the heaven, nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and shewest mercy unto thy servants, that walk before thee withd all their hearts:
Thou which hast kept with thy servant David my father thate which thou hast promised him; and spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is 18this day.
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 19af man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel; yet so that thy children take heed to 20their way to walk 21in my law, as thou hast walked before me.
Now then, O LORD God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David.
But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold,g heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built!
Have respect therefore 22to 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:
That thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy 23name there; to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth toward this place.
Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, 24which they shall make toward this place: hear thou from thy dwelling place, even from heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive.
¶Ifh 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;
Then hear thou from heaven, and 25do, and judge thy servants, by requiting the wicked, by recompensing his way upon his own head; and by justifying the righteous, by giving him 26according to his righteousness.
¶And ifi 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;
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.
¶Whenj the 27heaven 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, 28when thou dost afflict them;
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.
¶Ifk there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillers; if their enemies besiege them 29in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be:
Then whatl 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 30in this house:
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 31of the children of men:)
That they may fear thee, 32to walk in thy ways, so long as they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.
¶Moreoverm 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 33thy stretched out arm; if they come and pray in this house;
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 34know thy name, and fear thee, as doth 35thy people Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called by thy 36name.
Ifn 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;
Then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
If they sin against thee, (for there is no man which sinneth not,)o 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;
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;
If they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither 37they have carried them captives, and pray 38toward 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:
Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people 39which have sinned against thee.
Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, 40thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attentp unto the prayer that is made 41in this place.
Now therefore arise, O LORD God, 42into thy resting place, thou, and the ark 43of thy strength: let thy priests, O LORD God, be clothed with 44salvation, and let thy 45saints rejoice 46in goodness.
O LORD God, 47turn not away 48the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies 49of David thy servant.