Chapter 6
1 Then Solomon said, " The LORD has said that he would dwell in the thick darkness .
2 But I have built you a house and home , a place for you to dwell in forever ."
3 The king turned his face , and blessed all the assembly of Israel ; and all the assembly of Israel stood .
4 He said , " Blessed be the LORD , the God of Israel , who spoke with his mouth to David my father, and has with his hands fulfilled it , saying ,
5 ‘ Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt , I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house in , that my name might be there , and I chose no man to be prince over my people Israel ;
6 but now I have chosen Jerusalem , that my name might be there ; and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel .’
7 Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD , the God of Israel .
8 But the LORD said to David my father, ‘ Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name , you did well that it was in your heart ;
9 nevertheless you shall not build the house , but your son who will come out of your body, he shall build the house for my name .’
10 " The LORD has performed his word that he spoke ; for I have risen up in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel , as the LORD promised , and have built the house for the name of the LORD , the God of Israel .
11 There I have set the ark, in which is the LORD ’s covenant , which he made with the children of Israel ."
12 He stood before the LORD ’s altar in the presence of all the assembly of Israel , and spread out his hands
13 ( for Solomon had made a bronze platform , five cubits long , five cubits wide , and three cubits high , and had set it in the middle of the court ; and he stood on it , and knelt down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel , and spread out his hands towards heaven ).
14 Then he said, " LORD , the God of Israel , there is no God like you in heaven or on earth — you who keep covenant and loving kindness with your servants who walk before you with all their heart ;
15 who have kept with your servant David my father that which you promised him . Yes, you spoke with your mouth , and have fulfilled it with your hand , as it is today .
16 " Now therefore , LORD , the God of Israel , keep with your servant David my father that which you have promised him , saying , ‘ There shall not fail you a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel , if only your children take heed to their way , to walk in my law as you have walked before me .’
17 Now therefore , LORD , the God of Israel , let your word be verified, which you spoke to your servant David .
18 " But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth ? Behold , heaven and the heaven of heavens can ’t contain you ; how much less this house which I have built !
19 Yet have respect for the prayer of your servant and to his supplication , LORD my God , to listen to the cry and to the prayer which your servant prays before you ;
20 that your eyes may be open towards this house day and night , even towards the place where you have said that you would put your name , to listen to the prayer which your servant will pray towards this place .
21 Listen to the petitions of your servant and of your people Israel , when they pray towards this place . Yes, hear from your dwelling place , even from heaven ; and when you hear , forgive .
22 " If a man sins against his neighbour , and an oath is laid on him to cause him to swear , and he comes and swears before your altar in this house ,
23 then hear from heaven , act , and judge your servants , bringing retribution to the wicked , to bring his way on his own head ; and justifying the righteous , to give him according to his righteousness .
24 " If your people Israel are struck down before the enemy because they have sinned against you , and they turn again and confess your name , and pray and make supplication before you in this house ,
25 then hear from heaven , and forgive the sin of your people Israel , and bring them again to the land which you gave to them and to their fathers.
26 " When the sky is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you , if they pray towards this place and confess your name , and turn from their sin when you afflict them ,
27 then hear in 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 for an inheritance .
28 " If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence , if there is blight or mildew , locust or caterpillar ; if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities ; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is —
29 whatever prayer and supplication is made by any man , or by all your people Israel , who will each know his own plague and his own sorrow , and shall spread out his hands towards this house ,
30 then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive , and give to every man according to all his ways , whose heart you know ( for you , even you only , know the hearts of the children of men ),
31 that they may fear you , to walk in your ways as long as they live in the land which you gave to our fathers.
32 " Moreover , concerning the foreigner , who is not of your people Israel , when he comes from a far country for your great name ’s sake and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm , when they come and pray towards this house ,
33 then hear from heaven , even from your dwelling place , and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you for ; that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you , as do your people Israel , and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by your name .
34 " If your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way you send them , and they pray to you towards this city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name ;
35 then hear from heaven their prayer and their supplication , and maintain their cause .
36 " If they sin against you ( for there is no man who doesn’t sin ), and you are angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive to a land far off or near ;
37 yet if they come to their senses in the land where they are carried captive , and turn again , and make supplication to you in the land of their captivity , saying, ‘ We have sinned , we have done perversely , and have dealt wickedly ;’
38 if they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity , where they have been taken captive , and pray towards their land which you gave to their fathers, and the city which you have chosen, and towards the house which I have built for your name ;
39 then hear from heaven , even from your dwelling place , their prayer and their petitions, and maintain their cause , and forgive your people who have sinned against you .
40 " Now , my God, let , I beg you , your eyes be open , and let your ears be attentive to the prayer that is made in this place .
41 " Now therefore arise , LORD God , into your resting place, you , and the ark of your strength . Let your priests , LORD God , be clothed with salvation , and let your saints rejoice in goodness .
42 " LORD God , don’t turn away the face of your anointed . Remember your loving kindnesses to David your servant ."