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2 Chronicles Chapter Six

 

2 Chronicles 6 Outline of Contents

The Ark Brought into the Temple (v.1~2)

Solomon’s Speech upon Completion of the Work (v.3~11)

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication (v.12~42)

New King James Version (NKJV)

 

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 5 & 6

The words with which chapter five begins are the same with 1 Kings 7:51 and what is contained in that and chapter six is much the same with 1 Kings 8:1 on which see the notes; the blessing of Solomon on the people of Israel, which is there, is here omitted, and two verses are here added, much the same with Psalm 132:8.

 

2 Chronicles 6:1  Then Solomon spoke: “The Lord said He would dwell in the dark cloud.
   YLT 
1Then said Solomon, `Jehovah said -- to dwell in thick darkness,

Verses 1-42

See Introduction to Chapter 5

 

2 Chronicles 6:2  2 I have surely built You an exalted house, And a place for You to dwell in forever.”

   YLT  2and I -- I have built a house of habitation for Thee, and a fixed place for Thy dwelling to the ages.'

 

2 Chronicles 6:3  3 Then the king turned around and blessed the whole assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing.

   YLT  3And the king turneth round his face, and blesseth the whole assembly of Israel, and the whole assembly of Israel is standing,

 

2 Chronicles 6:4  4 And he said: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who has fulfilled with His hands what He spoke with His mouth to my father David, saying,

   YLT  4and he saith, `Blessed [is] Jehovah, God of Israel, who hath spoken with His mouth with David my father, and with His hands hath fulfilled [it], saying:

 

2 Chronicles 6:5  5 ‘Since the day that I brought My people out of the land of Egypt, I have chosen no city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house, that My name might be there, nor did I choose any man to be a ruler over My people Israel.

   YLT  5`From the day that I brought out My people from the land of Egypt, I have not fixed on a city out of any of the tribes of Israel to build a house for my name being there, and I have not fixed on a man to be leader over My people Israel;

 

2 Chronicles 6:6  6 Yet I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’

   YLT  6and I fix on Jerusalem for My name being there, and I fix on David to be over My people Israel.

 

2 Chronicles 6:7   7 Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a temple[a] for the name of the Lord God of Israel.

   YLT  7`And it is with the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of Jehovah God of Israel,

 

2 Chronicles 6:8  8 But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a temple for My name, you did well in that it was in your heart.

   YLT  8and Jehovah saith unto David my father, Because that it hath been with thy heart to build a house for My name, thou hast done well that it hath been with thy heart,

 

2 Chronicles 6:9  9 Nevertheless you shall not build the temple, but your son who will come from your body, he shall build the temple for My name.’

   YLT  9but thou dost not build the house, for thy son who cometh forth out from thy loins, he doth build the house for My name.

 

2 Chronicles 6:10  10 So the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke, and I have filled the position of my father David, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised; and I have built the temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel.

   YLT  10`And Jehovah doth establish His word that He spake, and I rise up in the stead of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as Jehovah spake, and I build the house for the name of Jehovah, God of Israel,

 

2 Chronicles 6:11  11 And there I have put the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord which He made with the children of Israel.”

   YLT  11and I place there the ark, where [is] the covenant of Jehovah that He made with the sons of Israel.'

 

2 Chronicles 6:12  12 Then Solomon[b] stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands

   YLT  12And he standeth before the altar of Jehovah, over-against all the assembly of Israel, and spreadeth out his hand, --

 

2 Chronicles 6:13  13 (for 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 down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven);

   YLT  13for Solomon hath made a scaffold of brass, and putteth it in the midst of the court, five cubits its length, and five cubits its breadth, and three cubits its height, and he standeth upon it, and kneeleth on his knees over-against all the assembly of Israel, and spreadeth forth his hands towards the heavens –

 

2 Chronicles 6:14  14 and he said: “Lord God of Israel, there is no God in heaven or on earth like You, who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts.

   YLT  14and saith, `O Jehovah God of Israel, there is not like Thee a god in the heavens and in the earth, keeping the covenant and the kindness for Thy servants who are walking before Thee with all their heart;

 

2 Chronicles 6:15  15 You have kept what You promised Your servant David my father; You have both spoken with Your mouth and fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day.

   YLT  15who hast kept for Thy servant David my father that which Thou didst speak to him; yea, Thou dost speak with Thy mouth, and with Thy hand hast fulfilled [it], as at this day.

 

2 Chronicles 6:16  16 Therefore, Lord God of Israel, now keep what You promised Your servant David my father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man sit before Me on the throne of Israel, only if your sons take heed to their way, that they walk in My law as you have walked before Me.’

   YLT  16`And now, O Jehovah, God of Israel, keep for Thy servant David my father that which Thou didst speak to him, saying, There is not cut off to thee a man from before Me, sitting on the throne of Israel, only, if thy sons watch their way to walk in My law, as thou hast walked before Me.

 

2 Chronicles 6:17  17 And now, O Lord God of Israel, let Your word come true, which You have spoken to Your servant David.

   YLT  17`And now, O Jehovah, God of Israel, is Thy word stedfast that Thou hast spoken to Thy servant, to David,

 

2 Chronicles 6:18  18 “But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple[c] which I have built!

   YLT  18(for is it true? -- God dwelleth with man on the earth! Lo, the heavens, and the heavens of the heavens, do not contain Thee, how much less this house that I have built?)

 

2 Chronicles 6:19  19 Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O Lord my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You:

   YLT  19`And Thou hast turned unto the prayer of Thy servant, and unto his supplication, O Jehovah my God, to hearken unto the cry and unto the prayer that Thy servant is praying before Thee,

 

2 Chronicles 6:20  20 that Your eyes may be open toward this temple day and night, toward the place where You said You would put Your name, that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes toward this place.

   YLT  20for Thine eyes being open towards this house by day and by night, towards the place that Thou hast said to put Thy name there, to hearken unto the prayer that Thy servant prayeth towards this place.

 

2 Chronicles 6:21  21 And may You 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.

   YLT  21`And Thou hast hearkened unto the supplications of Thy servant, and of Thy people Israel, that they pray towards this place, and Thou dost hear from the place of Thy dwelling, from the heavens, and hast hearkened, and forgiven.

 

2 Chronicles 6:22  22 “If anyone sins against his neighbor, and is forced to take an oath, and comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this temple,

   YLT  22`If a man doth sin against his neighbour, and he hath lifted up on him an oath to cause him to swear, and the oath hath come in before Thine altar in this house –

 

2 Chronicles 6:23  23 then hear from heaven, and act, and judge Your servants, bringing retribution on the wicked by bringing his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.

   YLT  23then Thou dost hear from the heavens, and hast done, and hast judged Thy servants, to give back to the wicked, to put his way on his head, and to declare righteous the righteous, to give to him according to his righteousness.

 

2 Chronicles 6:24  24 “Or if Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and return and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication before You in this temple,

   YLT  24`And if Thy people Israel is smitten before an enemy, because they sin against Thee, and they have turned back and confessed Thy name, and prayed and made supplication before Thee in this house –

 

2 Chronicles 6:25  25 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to them and their fathers.

   YLT  25then Thou dost hear from the heavens, and hast forgiven the sin of Thy people Israel, and caused them to turn back unto the ground that Thou hast given to them, and to their fathers.

 

2 Chronicles 6:26  26 “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, when they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin because You afflict them,

   YLT  26`In the heavens being restrained, and there is no rain, because they sin against Thee, and they have prayed towards this place, and confessed Thy name -- from their sin they turn back because Thou dost afflict them –

 

2 Chronicles 6:27  27 then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.

   YLT  27then Thou dost hear in the heavens, and hast forgiven the sin of Thy servants, and of Thy people Israel, because Thou directest them unto the good way in which they walk, and hast given rain on Thy land that Thou hast given to Thy people for an inheritance.

 

2 Chronicles 6:28  28 “When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is;

   YLT  28`Famine, when it is in the land, pestilence, when it is, blasting, and mildew, locust, and caterpillar, when they are, when its enemies have distressed it in the land -- its gates, any plague and any sickness;

 

2 Chronicles 6:29  29 whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, when each one knows his own burden and his own grief, and spreads out his hands to this temple:

   YLT  29any prayer, any supplication that is for any man, and for all Thy people Israel, when they know each his own plague, and his own pain, and he hath spread out his hands towards this house:

 

2 Chronicles 6:30  30 then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men),

   YLT  30then Thou dost hear from the heavens, the settled place of Thy dwelling, and hast forgiven, and hast given to each according to all his ways (because Thou knowest his heart, for Thou -- Thou only -- hast known the heart of the sons of men),

 

2 Chronicles 6:31  31 that they may fear You, to walk in Your ways as long as they live in the land which You gave to our fathers.

   YLT  31so that they fear Thee, to walk in Thy ways, all the days that they are living on the face of the ground that Thou hast given to our fathers.

 

2 Chronicles 6:32  32 “Moreover, concerning a foreigner, who is not of Your people Israel, but has come from a far country for the sake of Your great name and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm, when they come and pray in this temple;

   YLT  32`And also, unto the stranger who is not of Thy people Israel, and he hath come from a land afar off for the sake of Thy great name, and Thy strong hand, and Thy stretched-out arm, and they have come in and prayed towards this house:

 

2 Chronicles 6:33  33 then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, that all peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this temple which I have built is called by Your name.

   YLT  33then Thou dost hear from the heavens, from the settled place of Thy dwelling, and hast done according to all that the stranger calleth unto Thee for: so that all the peoples of the earth do know Thy name, so as to fear Thee, as Thy people Israel, and to know that Thy name is called on this house that I have built.

 

2 Chronicles 6:34  34 “When Your people go out to battle against their enemies, wherever You send them, and when they pray to You toward this city which You have chosen and the temple which I have built for Your name,

   YLT  34`When Thy people doth go out to battle against its enemies in the way that Thou dost send them, and they have prayed unto Thee the way of this city that Thou hast fixed on, and the house that I have built for Thy name:

 

2 Chronicles 6:35  35 then hear from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

   YLT  35then Thou hast heard from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and hast maintained their cause.

 

2 Chronicles 6:36  36 “When they sin against You (for there is no one who does not sin), and You become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them captive to a land far or near;

   YLT  36`When they sin against Thee -- for there is not a man who sinneth not -- and Thou hast been angry with them, and hast given them before an enemy, and taken them captive have their captors, unto a land far off or near;

 

2 Chronicles 6:37  37 yet when they come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to You in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, and have committed wickedness’;

   YLT  37and they have turned [it] back unto their heart in the land whither they have been taken captive, and have turned back, and made supplication unto Thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done perversely, and have done wickedly;

 

2 Chronicles 6:38  38 and when they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been carried captive, and pray toward their land which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen, and toward the temple which I have built for Your name:

   YLT  38yea, they have turned back unto Thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their captivity, whither they have taken them captive, and they have prayed the way of their land that Thou hast given to their fathers, and of the city that Thou hast chosen, and of the house that I have built for Thy name:

 

2 Chronicles 6:39  39 then hear from heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You.

   YLT  39then Thou hast heard from the heavens, from the settled place of Thy dwelling, their prayer and their supplications, and hast maintained their cause, and forgiven Thy people who have sinned against Thee.

 

2 Chronicles 6:40  40 Now, my God, I pray, let Your eyes be open and let Your ears be attentive to the prayer made in this place.

   YLT  40`Now, my God, let, I beseech Thee, Thine eyes be open, and Thine ears attentive, to the prayer of this place:

 

2 Chronicles 6:41  41 “Now therefore, Arise, O Lord God, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength. Let Your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, And let Your saints rejoice in goodness.

   YLT  41and now, rise, O Jehovah God, to Thy rest, Thou, and the ark of Thy strength; Thy priests, O Jehovah God, are clothed with salvation, and Thy saints rejoice in the goodness,

 

2 Chronicles 6:42  42 “O Lord God, do not turn away the face of Your Anointed; Remember the mercies of Your servant David.”[d]

   YLT  42O Jehovah God, turn not back the face of Thine anointed, be mindful of the kind acts of David Thy servant.'

 

──John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible

 

New King James Version (NKJV)

Footnotes:

  1. 2 Chronicles 6:7 Literally house, and so in verses 8–10
  2. 2 Chronicles 6:12 Literally he (compare 1 Kings 8:22)
  3. 2 Chronicles 6:18 Literally house
  4. 2 Chronicles 6:42 Compare Psalm 132:8–10