“1 Then said Solomon, The LORD hath said that he would dwell in the
thick darkness. 2 But I have built an house of habitation for thee, and
a place for thy dwelling for ever. 3 And the king turned his face, and
blessed the whole congregation of Israel: and all the congregation of
Israel stood. 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, 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 But I have chosen Jerusalem, that
my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people
Israel. 7 Now it was in the heart of David my father to build an house
for the name of the LORD God of Israel. 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: 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. 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. 11 And in it have I put the ark, wherein [is] the covenant of
the LORD, that he made with the children of Israel.”
“12 And he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all
the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands: 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, 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: 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. 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. 17 Now then, O LORD God
of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken unto thy
servant David. 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! 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: 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.
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.
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; 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. 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; 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.
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; 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. 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]: 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: 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:) 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. 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; 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. 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; 35 Then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and
their supplication, and maintain their cause. 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; 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; 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: 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. 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. 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. 42 O LORD God, turn not away the
face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant.” (2
Chronicles 6:1-42 AV)
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