II Chronicles 6 · דברי הימים ב

Then said Shelomo, The Lord has said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

But I have built a house of habitation for Thee, and a place for Thee to dwell in for ever.

And the king turned his face, and blessed the whole congregation of Yisra᾽el: (and all the congregation of Yisra᾽el stood:)

and he said, Blessed is the Lord God of Yisra᾽el, who has with his hands fulfilled that which he spoke with his mouth to my father David, saying,

Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Miżrayim I chose no city among all the tribes of Yisra᾽el to build a house in, that my name might be there; nor did I choose any man to be a ruler over my people Yisra᾽el:

but I have chosen Yerushalayim, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Yisra᾽el.

Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord God of Yisra᾽el.

But the Lord said to David my father, Since it was in thy heart to build a house for my name, thou didst well in that it was in thy heart:

Yet thou shalt not build the house; but thy son who shall come out of thy loins, he shall build the house for my name.

The Lord has performed his word which he has spoken: for I am risen up in the place of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Yisra᾽el, as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord God of Yisra᾽el.

And in it I have put the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord, that he made with the children of Yisra᾽el.

And he stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Yisra᾽el, and spread out his hands:

for Shelomo had made a bronze scaffold, 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 Yisra᾽el, and spread out his hands towards heaven,

and said, O Lord God of Yisra᾽el, there is no God like Thee in the heaven, or on the earth; who keepest covenant and troth with Thy servants, who walk before Thee with all their hearts:

Thou who hast kept with Thy servant David my father that which Thou hast promised him; and hast spoken with Thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with Thy hand, as it is this day.

Now therefore, O Lord God of Yisra᾽el, keep with Thy servant David my father that which Thou didst promise him, saying, There shall never fail thee a man before me to sit upon the throne of Yisra᾽el; if only thy sons take heed to their way to walk in my Tora, as thou hast walked before me.

Now then, O Lord God of Yisra᾽el, let Thy word be verified, which Thou hast spoken to Thy servant David.

But will God indeed dwell with mankind on earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee: how much less this house which I have built!

Have consideration therefore to the prayer of Thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken to the cry and the prayer which Thy servant prays before Thee:

that Thy eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place of which Thou hast said that Thou wouldst put Thy name there; to hearken to the prayer which Thy servant prays towards this place.

Hearken therefore to the supplications of Thy servant, and of Thy people Yisra᾽el, which they shall make towards this place: hear from Thy dwelling place, from heaven; and when Thou hearest, forgive.

If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to make him swear, and the oath come before Thy altar in this house;

then hear 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 rewarding him according to his righteousness.

And if Thy people Yisra᾽el be smitten before the enemy, because they have sinned against Thee; and they return and confess Thy name, and pray and make supplication before Thee in this house;

then hear from the heavens, and forgive the sin of Thy people Yisra᾽el, and bring them back to the land which Thou didst give to them and to their fathers.

When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against Thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess Thy name, and turn from their sin, when Thou dost afflict them;

then hear from heaven, and forgive the sin of Thy servants, and Thy people Yisra᾽el, that Thou teach them the good way, in which they should walk; and send rain upon Thy land, which Thou hast given to Thy people for an inheritance.

If there should be dearth in the land, if there should be pestilence, if there should be blight, or mildew, locust, or caterpillar; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land; whatever sore or whatever sickness there be:

then whatever prayer or whatever supplication shall be made by any man, or by all Thy people Yisra᾽el, (for everyone shall know his own trouble and his own grief,) and he spread out his hands towards this house:

then hear from heaven Thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render to every man, whose heart Thou knowst, according to all his ways, (for Thou alone knowst the hearts of the children of men:)

that they may fear Thee, to walk in Thy ways, so long as they live on the land which Thou didst give to our fathers.

Likewise concerning the stranger who is not of Thy people Yisra᾽el, but is come from a far country for Thy great name’s sake, and Thy mighty hand, and Thy outstretched arm; if they come and pray in this house;

then hear from the heavens, from Thy dwelling place, and do according to all for which the stranger calls to Thee; that all peoples of the earth may know Thy name, and fear Thee, as do Thy people Yisra᾽el, and may know that this house which I have built is called by Thy name.

If Thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that Thou shalt lend them, and they pray to Thee towards this city which Thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for Thy name;

then hear from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

If they sin against Thee, (for there is no man who does not sin) and Thou art angry with them, and deliver them over to the enemy, and they carry them away captives to a land far off or near;

yet if they take thought in the land where they are carried captive, and turn and pray to Thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly;

if they return to Thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been carried away captives, and pray towards their land, which Thou didst give to their fathers, and towards the city which Thou hast chosen, and towards the house which I have built for Thy name:

then hear from the heavens, from Thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive Thy people who have sinned against Thee.

Now, my God, let Thy eyes, I pray Thee, be open, and Thy ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.

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 victory, and let thy pious ones rejoice in goodness.

O Lord God, do not turn away the face of Thy anointed: remember the faithful love of David Thy servant.