2 Chronicles 6:20

6:20 Night and day may you watch over this temple, the place where you promised you would live. ¹  May you answer your servant’s prayer for this place. ² 

2 Chronicles 6:26

6:26 “The time will come when ³  the skies ⁴  are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people ⁵  sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you, ⁶  and turn away from their sin because you punish ⁷  them,

2 Chronicles 20:12

20:12 Our God, will you not judge them? For we are powerless against this huge army that attacks us! We don’t know what we should do; we look to you for help.” ⁸ 

[6:20]  ¹ tn Heb “so your eyes might be open toward this house night and day, toward the place about which you said, ‘My name will be there.’”

[6:20]  ² tn Heb “by listening to the prayer which your servant is praying concerning this place.”

[6:26]  ³ tn Heb “when.” In the Hebrew text vv. 26-27a actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided into two sentences for stylistic reasons.

[6:26]  ⁴ tn Or “heavens” (also in v. 12). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[6:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “they.”

[6:26]  ⁶ tn Heb “confess [or perhaps, “praise”] your name.”

[6:26]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew text reads “because you answer them,” as if the verb is from עָנָה (’anah, “answer”). However, this reference to a divine answer is premature, since the next verse asks for God to intervene in mercy. It is better to revocalize the consonantal text as תְעַנֵּם (tÿ’annem, “you afflict them”), a Piel verb form from the homonym עָנָה (“afflict”).

[20:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “for [or “indeed”] upon you are our eyes.”