|
Chapter 6 |
| 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 brazen 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 showest 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 neighbor, 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
caterpillars; 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. |
