2 Chronicles 6

Then said Solomon, The LORD hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

1Then Solomon said, "The LORD said he would live in the thick dark cloud."

Note"Thick darkness" is a thick, dark cloud. In earlier stories, God appeared inside a cloud like this.

2But I have built an house of habitation for thee, and a place for thy dwelling for ever.

2"But I have built you a grand house. It is a place for you to live forever."

3And the king turned his face, and blessed the whole congregation of Israel: and all the congregation of Israel stood.

3All the people of Israel were standing there. The king turned around and blessed them.

4And 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,

4He said, "Praise the LORD, the God of Israel. He promised something to my father David. Now he has done it with his own hand."

5Since 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:

5"God said, 'I brought my people out of Egypt. Since that day I have not picked a city in Israel to build a house for my name. I have not picked a man to lead my people either.'"

6But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel.

6"'But now I have chosen Jerusalem, so my name will be there. And I have chosen David to lead my people Israel.'"

7Now it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

7"My father David really wanted to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel."

8But 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:

8"But the LORD said to my father David, 'You wanted to build a house for my name. It was good that you wanted this.'"

9Notwithstanding 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.

9"'But you are not the one who will build it. Your own son will build the house for my name.'"

10The 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.

10"The LORD has now done what he said. I have taken my father David's place. I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the LORD promised. And I have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel."

11And in it have I put the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD, that he made with the children of Israel.

11"I have put the ark in it. Inside the ark is the agreement the LORD made with the people of Israel."

NoteThe ark was a special gold-covered box. Inside were the stone tablets with God's agreement written on them.

12And he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands:

12Solomon stood in front of the LORD's altar. All the people of Israel were watching. He spread out his hands.

13For 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,

13Solomon had made a bronze platform. It was about seven and a half feet on each side. It was about four and a half feet high. He had put it in the middle of the courtyard. He stood on it, then knelt down in front of everyone. He spread out his hands toward the sky.

NoteA cubit was about eighteen inches, roughly the length of a grown-up's forearm.

14And 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:

14He said, "LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you. Not in heaven, not on earth. You keep your promises. You show love to your servants who follow you with their whole heart."

15Thou 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.

15"You kept your promise to your servant David, my father. You said it with your mouth. Today you have done it with your hand."

16Now 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.

16"So now, LORD, God of Israel, keep the rest of your promise to David. You said, 'One of your family will always sit on the throne of Israel. But your children must be careful to obey my law, just as you have.'"

17Now then, O LORD God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David.

17"So now, LORD, God of Israel, please make your promise to David come true."

18But 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!

18"But will God really live with people on the earth? The sky and the highest heavens are not big enough to hold you. This house I built is much too small!"

19Have 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:

19"Still, please listen to my prayer. I am your servant, LORD my God. Hear me when I cry out and ask you for help."

20That 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.

20"Watch over this house day and night. This is the place where you said you would put your name. Listen when I pray facing this place."

21Hearken 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.

21"Listen when I pray, and when your people Israel pray toward this place. Hear them from heaven, where you live. And when you hear, please forgive."

22If 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;

22"Suppose someone hurts his neighbor. He is told to make a promise before you. He comes and makes that promise at your altar in this house."

23Then 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.

23"Then hear from heaven and act. Judge between them. Punish the one who did wrong, so his own actions come back on him. Show that the one who did right is right, and give him what he deserves."

24And 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;

24"Suppose your people Israel lose a battle because they sinned against you. Then they come back to you and say your name. They pray and beg you in this house."

25Then 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.

25"Then hear from heaven. Forgive the sin of your people Israel. Bring them back to the land you gave them and their fathers."

26When 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;

26"Suppose the sky stays shut and no rain falls, because they sinned against you. Then they pray toward this place and say your name. They turn away from their sin, because you made them suffer."

27Then 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.

27"Then hear from heaven and forgive them. They are your servants and your people Israel. Teach them the good way to live. Send rain on your land, the land you gave your people to keep."

28If 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:

28"Suppose the land has no food, or a sickness spreads. Or crops dry up or rot. Or locusts and grasshoppers eat the plants. Or enemies surround their cities. Any trouble or sickness may come."

29Then 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:

29"Then anyone may pray, or all your people Israel may pray. Each person knows his own pain and sadness. They spread out their hands toward this house."

30Then 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:)

30"Then hear from heaven, where you live. Forgive them. Give each person what fits how he has lived. You know what is in his heart. Only you know what is inside people."

31That they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

31"Then they will respect you and follow your ways. They will do this all their lives in the land you gave our fathers."

32Moreover 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;

32"Also think of the foreigner, who is not one of your people Israel. He comes from a faraway land because he has heard how great you are. He has heard of your strong hand and your powerful arm. When he comes and prays at this house,"

33Then 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.

33"then hear from heaven, where you live. Do what he asks you for. Then everyone on earth will know your name. They will respect you, as your people Israel do. And they will know that this house I built carries your name."

34If 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;

34"Suppose your people go out to fight their enemies, wherever you send them. And they pray to you facing this city you chose, and this house I built for your name."

35Then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

35"Then hear their prayer from heaven. Hear them beg you, and help them win their case."

36If 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;

36"Suppose they sin against you. Everybody sins. So you get angry and hand them over to enemies. The enemies take them away to a land far off or nearby."

37Yet 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;

37"But then they think it over in that far land. They turn back and pray to you there. They say, 'We have sinned. We did wrong. We acted in a bad way.'"

38If 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:

38"Suppose they come back to you with their whole heart. They do it in the land where they were taken. They pray facing the land you gave their fathers. They pray toward the city you chose, and the house I built for your name."

39Then 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.

39"Then hear from heaven, where you live. Hear their prayer and their begging. Help them, and forgive your people who sinned against you."

40Now, 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.

40"Now, my God, please keep your eyes open. Please listen closely to the prayers made in this place."

41Now 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.

41"Now stand up, LORD God, and come to your resting place. Come with the ark that shows your strength. Let your priests wear your saving help like clothes. Let your faithful people be glad for all your goodness."

42O LORD God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant.

42"LORD God, do not turn away the king you chose. Remember your faithful love for your servant David."

Note"Anointed" means someone chosen by God for a job. Oil was poured on his head to show it. Here Solomon means himself, the king.