2 Chronicles 6:12-42

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication

12 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands.

13 Now he had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high,^[a] and had placed it in the center of the outer court. He stood on the platform and then knelt down before the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.

14 He said: “LORD, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way.

15 You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today.

16 “Now, LORD, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me according to my law, as you have done.’

17 And now, LORD, the God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David come true.

18 “But will God really dwell on earth with humans? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!

19 Yet, LORD my God, give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence.

20 May your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, this place of which you said you would put your Name there. May you hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place.

21 Hear the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive.

22 “When anyone wrongs their neighbor and is required to take an oath and they come and swear the oath before your altar in this temple,

23 then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty and bringing down on their heads what they have done, and vindicating the innocent by treating them in accordance with their innocence.

24 “When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you and when they turn back and give praise to your name, praying and making supplication before you in this temple,

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

26 “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them,

27 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.

28 “When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when enemies besiege them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come,

29 and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel—being aware of their afflictions and pains, and spreading out their hands toward this temple—

30 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive, and deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know the human heart),

31 so that they will fear you and walk in obedience to you all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors.

32 “As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple,

33 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.

34 “When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to you toward this city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name,

35 then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.

36 “When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to a land far away or near;

37 and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong and acted wickedly’;

38 and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their captivity where they were taken, and pray toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and toward the temple I have built for your Name;

39 then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their pleas, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people, who have sinned against you.

40 “Now, my God, may your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.

41 “Now arise, LORD God, and come to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. May your priests, LORD God, be clothed with salvation, may your faithful people rejoice in your goodness.

42 LORD God, do not reject your anointed one. Remember the great love promised to David your servant.”

2 Chronicles 6:12-42 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 21

This chapter respects the priests, the sons of Aaron, and forbids their mourning for the dead, unless in some cases, Le 21:1-6; or their marriage with an whore or a divorced woman, Le 21:7,8; and the daughters of any of them to commit fornication, which is made punishable with death, Le 21:9; and it contains particular laws for the high priest to observe, who was not to mourn for any, even for his parents, Le 21:10,11; nor to go out of the sanctuary, Le 21:12; nor to marry any woman but a virgin, Le 21:13-15; and it also directs, that none of the priests having any blemish in them should be employed in divine service, though they might eat of the holy things, Le 21:16-24.

Cross References

• 1. Nehemiah 8:4
• 2. Psalms 95:6
• 3. S Exodus 8:10; Exodus 15:11
• 4. S Deuteronomy 7:9
• 5. S 1 Chronicles 22:10
• 6. S 2 Samuel 7:13,15; 1 Kings 2:4; 2 Chronicles 7:18; 2 Chronicles 23:3
• 7. Psalms 132:12
• 8. S Revelation 21:3
• 9. 2 Chronicles 2:6; Psalms 11:4; Isaiah 40:22; Isaiah 66:1; Acts 7:49
• 10. S Exodus 3:16; Psalms 34:15
• 11. Deuteronomy 12:11
• 12. 2 Chronicles 7:14; 2 Chronicles 30:20
• 13. Psalms 51:1; Isaiah 33:24; Isaiah 40:2; Isaiah 43:25; Isaiah 44:22; Isaiah 55:7; Micah 7:18
• 14. S Exodus 22:11
• 15. Isaiah 3:11; Isaiah 65:6; S Matthew 16:27
• 16. S Leviticus 26:17
• 17. Leviticus 26:19; S Deuteronomy 11:17; Deuteronomy 28:24; S 2 Samuel 1:21; 1 Kings 17:1
• 18. ver 30,39; 2 Chronicles 7:14
• 19. 2 Chronicles 20:9
• 20. S ver 27
• 21. S 1 Samuel 2:3; 1 Samuel 16:7; 1 Chronicles 28:9; Psalms 7:9; Psalms 44:21; Proverbs 16:2; Proverbs 17:3
• 22. S Deuteronomy 6:13; Psalms 34:7,9; Psalms 103:11,13; Proverbs 8:13
• 23. 2 Chronicles 9:6; John 12:20; Acts 8:27
• 24. S Exodus 3:19,20
• 25. S Exodus 12:43; 2 Chronicles 7:14
• 26. Deuteronomy 28:7
• 27. S 1 Chronicles 5:20
• 28. S 1 Kings 8:46; Job 11:12; Job 15:14; Psalms 143:2; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Jeremiah 9:5; Jeremiah 13:23; Jeremiah 17:9; S Romans 3:9; Ephesians 2:3; James 3:1; 1 John 1:8-10
• 29. S Leviticus 26:44
• 30. 1 Kings 8:48; 2 Chronicles 7:14; 2 Chronicles 12:6,12; 2 Chronicles 30:11; 2 Chronicles 33:12,19,23; 2 Chronicles 34:27; 2 Chronicles 36:12; Isaiah 58:3; Jeremiah 24:7; Jeremiah 29:13
• 31. S ver 27; 2 Chronicles 30:9
• 32. S 1 Kings 8:29,52; 2 Chronicles 7:15; Nehemiah 1:6,11; Psalms 17:1,6; Psalms 116:1; Psalms 130:2; Isaiah 37:17
• 33. Psalms 3:7; Psalms 7:6; Psalms 59:4; Isaiah 33:10
• 34. 1 Chronicles 28:2
• 35. Psalms 132:16
• 36. Psalms 13:6; Psalms 27:13; Psalms 116:12; Psalms 142:7
• 37. Psalms 2:2
• 38. Psalms 89:24,28; Isaiah 55:3

Footnotes

• [a] That is, about 7 1/2 feet long and wide and 4 1/2 feet high or about 2.3 meters long and wide and 1.4 meters high