NET Bible

New American Standard Bible 1995

1Then Solomon said, "The LORD has said that he lives in thick darkness.

1Then Solomon said, "The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud.

2O LORD, I have built a lofty temple for you, a place where you can live permanently."

2"I have built You a lofty house, And a place for Your dwelling forever."

3Then the king turned around and pronounced a blessing over the whole Israelite assembly as they stood there.

3Then the king faced about and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing.

4He said, "The LORD God of Israel is worthy of praise because he has fulfilled what he promised my father David.

4He said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David and has fulfilled it with His hands, saying,

5He told David, '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. Nor did I choose a man as leader of my people Israel.

5Since the day that I brought My people from the land of Egypt, I did not choose a city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house that My name might be there, nor did I choose any man for a leader over My people Israel;

6But now I have chosen Jerusalem as a place to live, and I have chosen David to lead my people Israel.'

6but I have chosen Jerusalem that My name might be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.'

7Now my father David had a strong desire to build a temple to honor the LORD God of Israel.

7"Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

8The LORD told my father David, 'It is right for you to have a strong desire to build a temple to honor me.

8"But the LORD said to my father David, 'Because it was in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it was in your heart.

9But you will not build the temple; your very own son will build the temple for my honor.'

9'Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who will be born to you, he shall build the house for My name.'

10The 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

10"Now the LORD has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for I have risen in the place of my father David and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

11and set up in it a place for the ark containing the covenant the LORD made with the Israelites."

11"There I have set the ark in which is the covenant of the LORD, which He made with the sons of Israel."

12He stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the entire assembly of Israel and spread out his hands.

12Then he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands.

13Solomon had made a bronze platform and had placed it in the middle of the enclosure. It was seven and one-half feet long, seven and one-half feet wide, and four and one-half feet 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,

13Now Solomon had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court; and he stood on it, knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.

14and prayed: "O LORD God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven or on earth! You maintain covenantal loyalty to your servants who obey you with sincerity.

14He said, "O LORD, the God of Israel, there is no god like You in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart;

15You have kept your word to your servant, my father David; this very day you have fulfilled what you promised.

15who has kept with Your servant David, my father, that which You have promised him; indeed You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day.

16Now, 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, provided that your descendants watch their step and obey my law as you have done.'

16"Now therefore, O LORD, the God of Israel, keep with Your servant David, my father, that which You have promised him, saying, 'You shall not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons take heed to their way, to walk in My law as you have walked before Me.'

17Now, O LORD God of Israel, may the promise you made to your servant David be realized.

17"Now therefore, O LORD, the God of Israel, let Your word be confirmed which You have spoken to Your servant David.

18"God does not really live with humankind on the earth! Look, if the sky and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built!

18"But will God indeed dwell with mankind on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house which I have built.

19But respond favorably to your servant's prayer and his request for help, O LORD my God. Answer the desperate prayer your servant is presenting to you.

19"Yet have regard to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You;

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

20that Your eye may be open toward this house day and night, toward the place of which You have said that You would put Your name there, to listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place.

21Respond to the requests of your servant and your people Israel for this place. Hear from your heavenly dwelling place and respond favorably and forgive.

21"Listen to the supplications of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place; hear from Your dwelling place, from heaven; hear and forgive.

22"When someone is accused of sinning against his neighbor and the latter pronounces a curse on the alleged offender before your altar in this temple,

22"If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath, and he comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this house,

23listen from heaven and make a just decision about your servants' claims. Condemn the guilty party, declare the other innocent, and give both of them what they deserve.

23then hear from heaven and act and judge Your servants, punishing the wicked by bringing his way on his own head and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.

24"If your people Israel are defeated by an enemy because they sinned against you, then if they come back to you, renew their allegiance to you, and pray for your help before you in this temple,

24"If Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and they return to You and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication before You in this house,

25then listen from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their ancestors.

25then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You have given to them and to their fathers.

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

26"When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin when You afflict them;

27then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Certainly you will then teach them the right way to live and send rain on your land that you have given your people to possess.

27then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel, indeed, teach them the good way in which they should walk. And send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people for an inheritance.

28"The time will come when the land suffers from a famine, a plague, blight, and disease, or a locust invasion, or when their enemy lays siege to the cities of the land, or when some other type of plague or epidemic occurs.

28"If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight or mildew, if there is locust or grasshopper, if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities, whatever plague or whatever sickness there is,

29When all your people Israel pray and ask for help, as they acknowledge their intense pain and spread out their hands toward this temple,

29whatever prayer or supplication is made by any man or by all Your people Israel, each knowing his own affliction and his own pain, and spreading his hands toward this house,

30then listen from your heavenly dwelling place, forgive their sin, and act favorably toward each one based on your evaluation of their motives. (Indeed you are the only one who can correctly evaluate the motives of all people.)

30then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and render to each according to all his ways, whose heart You know for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men,

31Then they will honor you by obeying you throughout their lifetimes as they live on the land you gave to our ancestors.

31that they may fear You, to walk in Your ways as long as they live in the land which You have given to our fathers.

32"Foreigners, who do not belong to your people Israel, will come from a distant land because of your great reputation and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds; they will come and direct their prayers toward this temple.

32"Also concerning the foreigner who is not from Your people Israel, when he comes from a far country for Your great name's sake and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm, when they come and pray toward this house,

33Then listen from your heavenly dwelling place and answer all the prayers of the foreigners. Then all the nations of the earth will acknowledge your reputation, obey you like your people Israel do, and recognize that this temple I built belongs to you.

33then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, and fear You as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Your name.

34"When you direct your people to march out and fight their enemies, and they direct their prayers to you toward this chosen city and this temple I built for your honor,

34"When Your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way You shall send them, and they pray to You toward this city which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your name,

35then listen from heaven to their prayers for help and vindicate them.

35then hear from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

36"The time will come when your people will sin against you (for there is no one who is sinless!) and you will be angry at them and deliver them over to their enemies, who will take them as prisoners to their land, whether far away or close by.

36"When they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin) and You are angry with them and deliver them to an enemy, so that they take them away captive to a land far off or near,

37When your people come to their senses in the land where they are held prisoner, they will repent and beg for your mercy in the land of their imprisonment, admitting, 'We have sinned and gone astray, we have done evil!'

37if they take thought in the land where they are taken captive, and repent and make supplication to You in the land of their captivity, saying, 'We have sinned, we have committed iniquity and have acted wickedly';

38When they return to you with all their heart and being in the land where they are held prisoner and direct their prayers toward the land you gave to their ancestors, your chosen city, and the temple I built for your honor,

38if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been taken captive, and pray toward their land which You have given to their fathers and the city which You have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for Your name,

39then listen from your heavenly dwelling place to their prayers for help, vindicate them, and forgive your sinful people.

39then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, their prayer and supplications, and maintain their cause and forgive Your people who have sinned against You.

40"Now, my God, may you be attentive and responsive to the prayers offered in this place.

40"Now, O my God, I pray, let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place.

41Now ascend, O LORD God, to your resting place, you and the ark of your strength! May your priests, O LORD God, experience your deliverance! May your loyal followers rejoice in the prosperity you give!

41"Now therefore arise, O LORD God, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your might; let Your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation and let Your godly ones rejoice in what is good.

42O LORD God, do not reject your chosen ones! Remember the faithful promises you made to your servant David!"

42"O LORD God, do not turn away the face of Your anointed; remember Your lovingkindness to Your servant David."

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