CHAPTER 6
and said:
“Blessed be
the LORD,
the God
of Israel,
who
has fulfilled
with His own hand
what He spoke
with His mouth
to
my father
David,
saying,
‘Since
the day
I brought My people
out
of Egypt,
I have not
chosen
a city
from any
tribe
of Israel
in which to build
a house
so that My Name
would be
there,
nor
have I chosen
anyone
to be
ruler
over
My people
Israel.
But I have chosen
Jerusalem
so that My Name
will be
there,
and I have chosen
David
to be
over
My people
Israel.’
Now it was
in
the heart
of my father
David
to build
a house
for the Name
of the LORD,
the God
of Israel.
But the LORD
said
to
my father
David,
‘Since
it was
in
your heart
to build
a house
for My Name,
you have done well
to have this
in
your heart.
Nevertheless,
you
are not
the one to build it;
but
your son,
your own offspring,
will build
the house
for My Name.’
Now the LORD
has fulfilled
the word
that
He spoke.
I have succeeded
my father
David,
and I sit
on
the throne
of Israel,
as
the LORD
promised.
I have built
the house
for the Name
of the LORD,
the God
of Israel.
And there I have provided
a place
for the ark,
which contains
the covenant
of the LORD
that
He made
with
the children
of Israel.”
Then Solomon stood
before
the altar
of the LORD
in front of
the whole
assembly
of Israel
and spread out
his hands.
Now
Solomon
had made
a bronze
platform
five
cubits
long,
five
cubits
wide,
and three
cubits
high,
and had placed it
in the middle
of the courtyard.
He stood
on it,
knelt down
before
the whole
assembly
of Israel,
spread out
his hands
toward heaven,
and said:
“O LORD,
God
of Israel,
there is no
God
like You
in heaven
or on earth,
keeping
Your covenant
of loving devotion
with Your servants
who walk
before You
with all
their hearts.
You have kept
Your promise
to Your servant,
my father
David.
What You spoke
with Your mouth
You have fulfilled
with Your hand
this
day.
Therefore now,
O LORD,
God
of Israel,
keep
for Your servant,
my father
David,
what
You promised
when You said:
‘You will never
fail
to have a man
to sit
before Me
on
the throne
of Israel,
if
only
your descendants
guard
their way
to walk
in My Law
as
you have walked
before Me.'
But
will God
indeed
dwell
with
man
upon
the earth?
Even
heaven,
the highest heaven,
cannot
contain You,
much less
this
temple
I have built.
Yet regard
the prayer
and
plea
of Your servant,
O LORD
my God,
so that You may hear
the cry
and the prayer
that
Your servant
is praying
before You.
May Your eyes
be
open
toward
this
temple
day
and night,
toward
the place
of which
You said
You would put
Your Name
there,
so that You may hear
the prayer
that
Your servant
prays
toward
this
place.
Hear
the plea
of Your servant
and Your people
Israel
when
they pray
toward
this
place.
May You
hear
from
heaven,
Your dwelling
place.
May You hear
and forgive.
When
a man
sins
against his neighbor
and is required
to take an oath,
and he comes
to take an oath
before
Your altar
in this
temple,
may You
hear
from
heaven
and act.
May You judge
Your servants,
condemning
the wicked man
by bringing
down on his own head
what he has done,
and justifying
the righteous man
by rewarding
him
according to his righteousness.
When
Your people
Israel
are defeated
before
an enemy
because
they have sinned against You,
and they return
to You
and confess
Your name,
praying
and pleading
before
You in this
house,
may You
hear
from
heaven
and forgive
the sin
of Your people
Israel.
May You restore
them to
the land
You gave
to them
and their fathers.
When the skies
are shut
and there is
no
rain
because
Your people have sinned
against You,
and they pray
toward
this
place
and confess
Your name,
and they turn
from their sins
because
You have afflicted them,
may You
hear
from heaven
and forgive
the sin
of Your servants,
Your people
Israel,
so that
You may teach them
the good
way
in which
they should walk.
May You send
rain
on
the land
that
You gave
Your people
as an inheritance.
When
famine
or
pestilence
comes
upon the land,
or
blight
or mildew
or locusts
or grasshoppers,
when
their enemies
besiege
them
in
their cities,
whatever
plague
or
sickness there is,
may whatever
prayer
or petition
Your people
Israel
make—
each
knowing
his own
afflictions
and spreading out
his hands
toward
this
house—
be heard
by You
from
heaven,
Your dwelling
place.
And may You forgive
and repay
each man
according to all
his ways,
since
You know
his heart—
for
You
alone
know
the hearts
of men—
so that
they may fear You
and walk
in Your ways
all
the days
they
live
in
the land
You gave
to our fathers.
And
as for
the foreigner
who
is not
of Your people
Israel
but has come
from a distant
land
because of
Your great
name
and Your mighty
hand
and outstretched
arm—
when he comes
and prays
toward
this
house,
may You
hear
from
heaven,
Your dwelling
place,
and do
according to all
for which
the foreigner
calls
to You.
Then
all
the peoples
of the earth
will know
Your name
and fear
You,
as do Your people
Israel,
and they will know
that
this
house
I have built
is called
by Your Name.
When
Your people
go
to war
against
their enemies,
wherever
You send them,
and when they pray
to You
in the direction
of the city
You have chosen
and the house
I have built
for Your Name,
When
they sin
against You—
for
there is no
one
who
does not
sin—
and You become angry
with them
and deliver them
to
an enemy
who takes them
as captives
to
a land
far
or
near,
and when they come
to
their senses
in the land
to which
they were taken,
and they repent
and plead
with You
in the land
of their captors,
saying,
‘We have sinned
and done wrong;
we have acted wickedly,’
and when they return
to You
with all
their heart
and
soul
in the land
of the enemies
who
took them captive,
and when they pray
in the direction
of the land
that
You gave
to their fathers,
the city
You have chosen,
and the house
I have built
for Your Name,
may You hear
from
heaven,
Your dwelling
place,
their prayer
and petition,
and may You uphold
their cause.
May You forgive
Your people
who
sinned against You.
Now therefore,
arise,
O LORD
God,
and enter Your resting place,
You
and the ark
of Your might.
May Your priests,
O LORD
God,
be clothed
with salvation,
and may Your godly ones
rejoice
in goodness.
O LORD
God,
do not
reject
Your anointed one.
Remember
Your loving devotion
to Your servant
David.”