Chapter 6

¹ Then Solomon said:

³ Then the king turned around and blessed the entire assembly of Israelites as they stood before him. ⁴ He said: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has fulfilled with his hand what he promised with his mouth to my father David, when he said: ⁵ ‘From the day I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from any of the tribes of Israel in which to have a temple built to honor my name, nor did I choose any man to be the ruler over my people Israel. ⁶ However, now I have chosen Jerusalem, where I shall be honored, and I have chosen David to rule my people Israel.’

⁷ “My father David was determined to build a temple to honor the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁸ However, the Lord said to him: ‘In wishing to build a temple in my honor, you did well. ⁹ But nevertheless you shall not build the temple. Rather, your son who shall be born to you shall be the one who will build the temple in my name.’

¹⁰ “Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have succeeded my father David and taken his place on the throne of Israel, as the Lord foretold. In addition, I have built the temple to honor the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹¹ There I have installed the Ark containing the covenant of the Lord that he made with the people of Israel.”

¹² Solomon’s Prayer.^[a] Then, in the presence of the whole assembly of Israel, Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord and spread out his hands. ¹³ Solomon had made a bronze platform, measuring five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, which he directed to be placed in the center of the courtyard, and he stood on it. Then he knelt down^[b] in the presence of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.

¹⁴ “Lord, God of Israel,” he said, “there is no God like you in heaven or on earth, as you keep your covenant and show steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart. ¹⁵ You have kept the promise you made to my father David. Indeed, what you promised him with your words you have fulfilled by your deeds.

¹⁶ “And now, Lord, God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant David, my father, when you said: ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to sit in my presence on the throne of Israel, provided that your sons are careful to keep to their ways and conform to my law, as you yourself have done.’ ¹⁷ Therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, let this promise be confirmed which you promised to your servant David.

¹⁸ “And yet, will God indeed dwell with the people on earth? If the heavens and even the highest heavens cannot contain you, how much less this temple which I have built! ¹⁹ Look with kindness on your servant’s prayer and his plea, O Lord, my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant makes before you.

²⁰ “May your eyes be forever on this house day and night, the place where you decreed that you would establish your name. Listen to the prayer that your servant offers in your presence. ²¹ Also hear the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel which they direct toward this place. Listen from your heavenly dwelling, and when you hear, grant us forgiveness.

²² “When anyone sins against his neighbor and is required to take an oath, and he comes forth and swears before your altar in this temple, ²³ then listen from heaven and take the necessary action. Judge your servants, requiting the guilty person and holding him responsible for his conduct, but absolving the innocent person and rewarding him in accordance with his righteousness.

²⁴ “Should your people Israel sin against you and as a result be defeated by an enemy, but then return to you and confess your name and pray and plead to you in this temple, ²⁵ listen to them and forgive the sin of your people Israel and then bring them back to the land that you gave to them and their ancestors.

²⁶ “When the heavens are shut and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, but then they pray toward this place, praise your name, and desist from sin because you have afflicted them, ²⁷ listen to their pleas in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Israel. Show them the path of righteousness along which they should walk and send down rain upon your land which you have given to your people as an inheritance.

²⁸ “Should there be famine afflicting the land, or plague, or blight, or mildew, or locusts, or caterpillars, or should enemies besiege your people in any of their cities, or should plague or sickness befall them, ²⁹ then mercifully listen to the prayer or supplication of everyone among your people Israel, each one knowing his own suffering and his own sorrows and stretching out his hands toward this temple. ³⁰ Listen from heaven, your dwelling place, as you grant forgiveness and deal with each man according to his deeds, since you alone know what is in each person’s heart.^{[c] 31} As a result, the people will fear you and walk in your ways throughout all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our ancestors.

³² “Likewise, when foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel come from a distant land because of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, and they approach and pray in your temple, ³³ listen from heaven, your dwelling place, and grant whatever they ask of you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may acknowledge your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built bears your name.

³⁴ “If your people go forth to engage in war against their enemies, wherever you choose to send them, and they pray to you, facing toward this city that you have chosen and toward this house that I have built to honor your name, ³⁵ then listen from heaven to their prayer and their supplication, and defend their cause.

³⁶ “When your people sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and in your anger against them you deliver them into the power of the enemy who will carry them away captive to a land far or near, ³⁷ and then, later on, if they come to their senses in the land to which they have been taken as captives and they repent, entreating you in the land of their captivity as they say: ‘We have sinned and done wrong; we have acted wickedly,’ ³⁸ and they repent with all their heart and soul in the land of their captivity to which they have been taken, and they pray, turning toward the land which you gave to their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built to honor your name, ³⁹ then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their pleas, uphold their cause, and forgive your people who have sinned against you.

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