2 Chronicles 6:1-19

6:1 Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he lives in thick darkness. 6:2 O Lord, ¹  I have built a lofty temple for you, a place where you can live permanently.” 6:3 Then the king turned around ²  and pronounced a blessing over the whole Israelite assembly as they stood there. ³  6:4 He said, “The Lord God of Israel is worthy of praise because he has fulfilled ⁴  what he promised ⁵  my father David. 6:5 He told David, ⁶  ‘Since the day I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a temple in which to live. ⁷  Nor did I choose a man as leader of my people Israel. 6:6 But now I have chosen Jerusalem as a place to live, ⁸  and I have chosen David to lead my people Israel.’ 6:7 Now my father David had a strong desire to build a temple to honor the Lord God of Israel. ⁹  6:8 The Lord told my father David, ‘It is right for you to have a strong desire to build a temple to honor me. ¹⁰  6:9 But you will not build the temple; your very own son will build the temple for my honor.’ ¹¹  6:10 The Lord has kept the promise he made. I have taken my father David’s place and have occupied the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised. I have built this temple for the honor of the Lord God of Israel 6:11 and set up in it a place for the ark containing the covenant the Lord made with the Israelites.”

6:12 He stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. 6:13 Solomon had made a bronze platform and had placed it in the middle of the enclosure. It was seven and one-half feet ¹²  long, seven and one-half feet ¹³  wide, and four and one-half feet ¹⁴  high. He stood on it and then got down on his knees in front of the entire assembly of Israel. He spread out his hands toward the sky, 6:14 and prayed: ¹⁵  “O Lord God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven or on earth! You maintain covenantal loyalty ¹⁶  to your servants who obey you with sincerity. ¹⁷  6:15 You have kept your word to your servant, my father David; ¹⁸  this very day you have fulfilled what you promised. ¹⁹  6:16 Now, O Lord God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David, when you said, ‘You will never fail to have a successor ruling before me on the throne of Israel, ²⁰  provided that your descendants watch their step and obey my law as you have done.’ ²¹  6:17 Now, O Lord God of Israel, may the promise you made to your servant David be realized. ²² 

6:18 “God does not really live with humankind on the earth! ²³  Look, if the sky and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built! 6:19 But respond favorably to ²⁴  your servant’s prayer and his request for help, O Lord my God. Answer ²⁵  the desperate prayer ²⁶  your servant is presenting to you. ²⁷ 

[6:2]  ¹ tn The words “O Lord” do not appear in the Hebrew text, but they are supplied in the translation for clarification; Solomon addresses the Lord in prayer at this point.

[6:3]  ² tn Heb “turned his face.”

[6:3]  ³ tn Heb “and he blessed all the assembly of Israel, and all the assembly of Israel was standing.”

[6:4]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text reads, “fulfilled by his hand,” but the phrase “by his hand” is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[6:4]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text reads, “promised by his mouth,” but the phrase “by his mouth” is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[6:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “saying.”

[6:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “to build a house for my name to be there.” Here “name” is used by metonymy for the Lord himself, and thus the expression “to be there” refers to his taking up residence there (hence the translation, “a temple in which to live”). In this case the temple is referred to as a “house” where the Lord himself can reside.

[6:6]  ⁸ tn Heb for my name to be there.” See also the note on the word “live” in v. 5.

[6:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “and it was with the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.”

[6:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Because it was with your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was with your heart.”

[6:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “your son, the one who came out of your body, he will build the temple for my name.”

[6:13]  ¹² tn Heb “five cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the length would have been 7.5 feet (2.25 m).

[6:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “five cubits.”

[6:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “three cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the height would have been 4.5 feet (1.35 m).

[6:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “said.”

[6:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “one who keeps the covenant and the loyal love.”

[6:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “who walk before you with all their heart.”

[6:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “[you] who kept to your servant David my father that which you spoke to him.”

[6:15]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “you spoke by your mouth and by your hand you fulfilled, as this day.”

[6:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “there will not be cut off from you a man from before me sitting on the throne of Israel.”

[6:16]  ²¹ tn Heb “guard their way by walking in my law as you have walked before me.”

[6:17]  ²² tn Or “prove to be reliable.”

[6:18]  ²³ tn Heb “Indeed, can God really live with mankind on the earth?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course not,” the force of which is reflected in the translation “God does not really live with mankind on the earth.”

[6:19]  ²⁴ tn Heb “turn to.”

[6:19]  ²⁵ tn Heb “by listening to.”

[6:19]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the loud cry and the prayer.”

[6:19]  ²⁷ tn Heb “praying before you.”