The Ark Enters the Temple (2 Chronicles 5:1–14)
1 UST Solomon then sent messengers to tell all the Israelite elders, tribal leaders, and clan leaders to come to Jerusalem. He wanted them to join him in a ceremony to move Yahweh’ s sacred chest from the City of David(the part of Jerusalem that people now call Zion){ into the temple that he had built}. BSB BSB: At that time Solomon assembled before him in Jerusalem the elders of Israel—all the tribal heads and family leaders of the Israelites—to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Zion, the City of David.
2 UST King Solomon asked the leaders to come during the Festival of Shelters, which the Israelites observed in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month of the year. So a very large crowd of Israelites also came to Jerusalem at that time to celebrate this festival. BSB BSB: And all the men of Israel came together to King Solomon at the feast in the seventh month, the month of Ethanim.
3 UST When the Israelite leaders had all arrived, the priests carried the sacred chest{ from the City of David} BSB BSB: When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark,
4 UST and brought it into the temple. The Levites{ who assisted the priests} helped them carry into the temple the sacred tent and all the special equipment that the priests used only in the tent. BSB BSB: and they brought up the ark of the LORD and the Tent of Meeting with all its sacred furnishings. So the priests and Levites carried them up.
5 UST King Solomon and that large crowd of Israelites walked ahead of Yahweh’ s sacred chest{ as the priests carried it to the temple}. They sacrificed a very large number of sheep and bulls. No one was able to count how many animals they sacrificed, because there were so many. BSB BSB: There, before the ark, King Solomon and the whole congregation of Israel who had assembled with him sacrificed so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.
6 UST The priests carried the sacred chest into the temple and put it where it belonged. That was in the Most Holy Place, the special room that Solomon’ s workers had made at the back of the temple. They placed the sacred chest under the wings of the statues of the winged creatures there. BSB BSB: Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, beneath the wings of the cherubim.
7 UST Then the wings of those statues extended over the sacred chest and over the poles that the priests used to carry it. BSB BSB: For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed the ark and its poles.
8 UST Those poles were so long that priests who were standing in the Holy Place at the entrance to the Most Holy Place could see their ends. But people standing outside the temple could not see them. Those poles are still there. BSB BSB: The poles extended far enough that their ends were visible from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are there to this day.
9 UST The only things that were in the sacred chest were the two stone tablets that Moses had put there at Mount Horeb. That was where Yahweh had made a covenant with the Israelites after they left Egypt. BSB BSB: There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the LORD had made a covenant with the Israelites after they had come out of the land of Egypt.
10 UST When the priests came out of the Holy Place{ after putting the sacred chest in the temple}, suddenly a cloud{ that represented Yahweh’ s presence} filled the temple. BSB BSB: And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the house of the LORD
11 UST The glorious presence of Yahweh, which the cloud expressed, filled the temple. As a result, the priests were not able to continue their work. BSB BSB: so that the priests could not stand there to minister because of the cloud. For the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.
Solomon Blesses the LORD (2 Chronicles 6:1–11)
12 UST Solomon{ looked at the temple and} said,“Yahweh said that he would live in a dark cloud.” BSB BSB: Then Solomon declared: “The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud.
13 UST { Then Solomon prayed to Yahweh,}“I have surely built a temple for you that you will always be able to live in.” BSB BSB: I have indeed built You an exalted house, a place for You to dwell forever.”
14 UST Then, while all the people stood there{ respectfully}, the king turned around and faced them, and he asked God to make good things happen for them. BSB BSB: And as the whole assembly of Israel stood there, the king turned around and blessed them all
15 UST Then he said,“Praise Yahweh, the God whom we Israelites worship! By his own power he has done what he promised to my father David. Yahweh told him, BSB BSB: and said: “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who has fulfilled with His own hand what He spoke with His mouth to my father David, saying,
16 UST ‘I rescued the Israelite people, who belong to me, from slavery in Egypt. But after that, I did not choose a city anywhere in their land and ask them to build a temple there where they would worship me. But I did choose you to be the king of Israel.’” BSB BSB: ‘Since the day I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house so that My Name would be there. But I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’
17 UST Then Solomon said,“My father David wanted very much to build a temple where we Israelite people could worship Yahweh our God. BSB BSB: Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel.
18 UST But Yahweh told him,‘You wanted to build a temple for me, and it was good that you wanted to do that. BSB BSB: But the LORD said to my father David, ‘Since it was in your heart to build a house for My Name, you have done well to have this in your heart.
19 UST However, you are not the one who is going to build it. Instead, one of your own sons will build a temple where the Israelites will worship me.’ BSB BSB: Nevertheless, you are not the one to build it; but your son, your own offspring, will build the house for My Name.’
20 UST And now Yahweh has done what he promised to do. I have succeeded my father David as the king of Israel, just as Yahweh promised. And I have built a temple where we Israelite people can worship Yahweh our God. BSB BSB: Now the LORD has fulfilled the word that He spoke. I have succeeded my father David, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised. I have built the house for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel.
21 UST I have provided a place within the temple for the sacred chest. It holds the two stone tablets that Moses put in it when Yahweh made a covenant with our ancestors when he rescued them from slavery in Egypt.” BSB BSB: And there I have provided a place for the ark, which contains the covenant of the LORD that He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”
Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication (2 Chronicles 6:12–42)
22 UST Then Solomon turned around again and faced the altar{ in the temple courtyard}. The Israelite people who had gathered for this occasion could see and hear him. He lifted his hands toward the sky{ to pray}, BSB BSB: Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven,
23 UST and he said,“Yahweh, you are the God whom we Israelite people worship. There is no god like you up in heaven or down here on the earth. You solemnly promised that you would be kind to us. And that is what you have always done for us when we have earnestly done what you wanted us to do. BSB BSB: and said: “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth below, keeping Your covenant of loving devotion with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts.
24 UST You promised my father David, who served you faithfully, that his son would build a temple for you. And we here today can all see that by your own power you have done what you promised. BSB BSB: You have kept Your promise to Your servant, my father David. What You spoke with Your mouth You have fulfilled with Your hand this day.
25 UST So now, Yahweh, the God whom we Israelites worship, I am asking you to do the further things you promised to my father David. You told him that you would make sure that one of his descendants would always be the king of Israel if they would conduct their lives as he did. He obeyed you carefully. BSB BSB: Therefore now, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for Your servant, my father David, what You promised when You said: ‘You will never fail to have a man to sit before Me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants guard their way to walk before Me as you have done.’
26 UST You are the God whom we Israelite people worship. So now please do what you promised to do for my father David. BSB BSB: And now, O God of Israel, please confirm what You promised to Your servant, my father David.
27 UST But you, God, will not really live on the earth. You are so great that the whole sky and even the spiritual realm beyond the sky are not a sufficient home for you. So this temple that I have built is certainly not sufficient for you to live in either. BSB BSB: But will God indeed dwell upon the earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.
28 UST Even so, Yahweh, my God, please grant the requests that I make as I pray to you today. I have come to your temple today to pray. Please do what I am earnestly asking you to do. BSB BSB: Yet regard the prayer and plea of Your servant, O LORD my God, so that You may hear the cry and the prayer that Your servant is praying before You today.
29 UST I pray that you will always regard this temple favorably. You said that when we Israelites built a temple, you would be pleased to have people worship you there. So as I face this temple{ to acknowledge you} as I pray, please answer my prayer. BSB BSB: May Your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place.
30 UST When I pray to you, or when Israelite people pray to you, we will face this temple{ to acknowledge you}. You will be faraway in heaven where you live, but please do what we ask and forgive us{ for the sins that we have committed}. BSB BSB: Hear the plea of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. May You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place. May You hear and forgive.
31 UST Suppose one person accuses another person of doing something wrong to him. Suppose the first person makes the other person stand in front of your altar outside this temple and swear,‘I did not do that. May God punish me if I am not telling the truth!’ BSB BSB: When a man sins against his neighbor and is required to take an oath, and he comes to take an oath before Your altar in this temple,
32 UST In that case, please pay attention in heaven and decide which of these people is telling the truth. Then punish the person who is guilty with the punishment that he deserves, and reward the person who is innocent for having done what is right. BSB BSB: then may You hear from heaven and act. May You judge Your servants, condemning the wicked man by bringing down on his own head what he has done, and justifying the righteous man by rewarding him according to his righteousness.
33 UST Suppose that the enemies of your Israelite people defeat their army in a battle because the Israelites have sinned against you. And suppose that the Israelites then admit that they have done wrong by sinning and that you are right to punish them for sinning. Suppose they stop acting in a sinful way. And suppose they face in the direction of this temple{ to acknowledge you} and plead with you to help them. BSB BSB: When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and they return to You and confess Your name, praying and pleading with You in this temple,
34 UST In that case, please pay attention in heaven, and please forgive your Israelite people for the sins that they have committed. Bring back to this land that you gave to our ancestors any prisoners whom the enemy army may have captured and taken away. BSB BSB: then may You hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel. May You restore them to the land You gave to their fathers.
35 UST Suppose that your Israelite people sin against you and, to punish them, you do not allow any rain to fall from the sky. Suppose that, because you are punishing them in this way, they face in the direction of this temple{ to acknowledge you}, and they pray. Suppose that they admit that you are right to punish them for sinning. Suppose they stop acting in a sinful way. BSB BSB: When the skies are shut and there is no rain because Your people have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and they turn from their sins because You have afflicted them,
36 UST In that case,{ by not allowing rain to fall,} you would have taught them that they needed to live differently. So then please pay attention in heaven to their prayer, and forgive your Israelite people for the sins they have committed. Then send rain on this land that you have decided will belong permanently to your people. BSB BSB: then may You hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, so that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk. May You send rain on the land that You gave Your people as an inheritance.
37 UST Suppose the people of Israel are not able to grow enough food to eat. Or suppose a deadly disease spreads among the people. Or suppose blight or mildew ruin their crops or locusts or grasshoppers eat up their crops. Or suppose a person is in great distress because an enemy army has surrounded the city where he lives and is attacking it. Or suppose a person gets sick, or many people get sick. BSB BSB: When famine or plague comes upon the land, or blight or mildew or locusts or grasshoppers, or when their enemy besieges them in their cities, whatever plague or sickness may come,
38 UST And suppose an Israelite person recognizes in his inner being that he is suffering because you are correcting him for sinning. And suppose that he pleads with you to help him, stretching out his hands toward this temple{ to acknowledge you}. BSB BSB: then may whatever prayer or petition Your people Israel make—each knowing his own afflictions and spreading out his hands toward this temple—
39 UST In that case, please pay attention to his prayer in heaven where you live. If he is truly sorry for his sins, forgive him and help him overcome the trouble he has. You are the only one who knows whether a person is truly sorry. So act toward each person as he deserves. BSB BSB: be heard by You from heaven, Your dwelling place. And may You forgive and act, and repay each man according to all his ways, since You know his heart—for You alone know the hearts of all men—
40 UST Do this so that all of the Israelites will deeply respect you throughout their lives as they live in this land that you gave to our ancestors. BSB BSB: so that they may fear You all the days they live in the land that You gave to our fathers.
41 UST Suppose a foreigner who does not belong to your Israelite people comes from a faraway country here to this temple because he has heard what a great God you are. BSB BSB: And as for the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of Your name—
42 UST I know that foreigners will hear about how great you are and what powerful things you have done for your people. Some of them may come to this temple to{ worship you and} pray to you. BSB BSB: for they will hear of Your great name and mighty hand and outstretched arm—when he comes and prays toward this temple,
43 UST In that case, please pay attention to their prayers in heaven where you live. Do for them what they ask you to do. Do that so that all the people groups in the world will know how great you are and revere you as we, your Israelite people, do. Then people all over the world will know that you are truly present in this temple that I have built. BSB BSB: then may You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You. Then all the peoples of the earth will know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and they will know that this house I have built is called by Your Name.
44 UST Suppose that you command your people to go and fight against one of their enemies. And suppose that the Israelite soldiers pray to you{ for help}. Suppose that{, to acknowledge you,} they face in the direction of this city of Jerusalem, which you have chosen as the place for this temple that I have built where we Israelites can worship you. BSB BSB: When Your people go to war against their enemies, wherever You send them, and when they pray to the LORD in the direction of the city You have chosen and the house I have built for Your Name,
45 UST In that case, please pay attention in heaven to their prayers for help, and enable them to defeat their enemies. BSB BSB: then may You hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and may You uphold their cause.
46 UST Suppose that your people sin against you, as everyone unfortunately does, and you become angry with them. Suppose that{ to punish them} you allow one of their enemies to defeat them and take many of them away as prisoners to their own country, perhaps even to a country that is far away. BSB BSB: When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and deliver them to an enemy who takes them as captives to his own land, whether far or near,
47 UST And suppose that, while your people are in that country to which their enemy took them as captives, they sincerely repent. Suppose they plead with you there and say,‘We confess that we have sinned by doing very wicked things.’ BSB BSB: and when they come to their senses in the land to which they were taken, and they repent and plead with You in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong; we have acted wickedly,’
48 UST Suppose that they start obeying you entirely again while they are still in the land of the enemy who captured them. Suppose that they pray to you for help while{ to acknowledge you} they face in the direction of this land that you gave to our ancestors. Suppose that{ to acknowledge you} they face in the direction of this city of Jerusalem, which you have chosen as the place for this temple that I have built where we Israelites can worship you. BSB BSB: and when they return to You with all their heart and soul in the land of the enemies who took them captive, and when they pray to You in the direction of the land that You gave to their fathers, the city You have chosen, and the house I have built for Your Name,
49 UST In that case, please pay attention to their prayers for help in heaven where you live, and please rescue them. BSB BSB: then may You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, their prayer and petition, and may You uphold their cause.
50 UST Forgive them for all the sins that they have committed against you. Cause their enemies to feel kindly toward them and to treat them with kindness{ and release them}. BSB BSB: May You forgive Your people who have sinned against You and all the transgressions they have committed against You, and may You grant them compassion in the eyes of their captors to show them mercy.
51 UST I feel that I can ask you to do all of these things because we Israelites are your people. We will always belong to you. You brought our ancestors out of Egypt, where they were greatly suffering as though they were in a blazing furnace. BSB BSB: For they are Your people and Your inheritance; You brought them out of Egypt, out of the furnace for iron.
52 UST And so I ask you always to pay attention to what I or any of your Israelite people may plead for you to do. When we cry out to you in prayer, please help us. BSB BSB: May Your eyes be open to the pleas of Your servant and of Your people Israel, and may You listen to them whenever they call to You.
53 UST Yahweh my Lord, we are your people because you chose us from all the other people groups in the world to belong to you always. That is what you told Moses, your servant, to tell our ancestors when you delivered them from slavery in Egypt.” BSB BSB: For You, O Lord GOD, have set them apart from all the peoples of the earth as Your inheritance, as You spoke through Your servant Moses when You brought our fathers out of Egypt.”
Solomon’s Benediction 54 UST During this prayer in which Solomon asked Yahweh to do these things, he had been kneeling facing the altar and lifting his hands toward the sky. When he finished praying, he{ lowered his hands and} stood up. BSB BSB: Now when Solomon had finished praying this entire prayer and petition to the LORD, he got up before the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven.
55 UST { He turned to face the crowd} and asked God to make good things happen for all the Israelite people. He said loudly, BSB BSB: And he stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying:
56 UST “Praise Yahweh, who has allowed us Israelite people, who belong to him, to live in safety. That is just what he promised he would do. He has done every one of the good things that he promised to us through Moses, his servant. BSB BSB: “Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel according to all that He promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises He made through His servant Moses.
57 UST I pray that Yahweh our God will always help us, just as he helped the Israelites in earlier times. I pray that he will never, ever leave us. BSB BSB: May the LORD our God be with us, as He was with our fathers. May He never leave us or forsake us.
58 UST I pray that he will enable us to serve him loyally, to conduct our lives as he wants us to, and to obey all of the laws that he gave to our ancestors. BSB BSB: May He incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep the commandments and statutes and ordinances He commanded our fathers.
59 UST I pray that Yahweh our God will always remember these things I have asked as I have pleaded for his help. I pray that he will always act mercifully toward me and toward us Israelite people. I pray that he will do for us what we need each day. BSB BSB: And may these words with which I have made my petition before the LORD be near to the LORD our God day and night, so that He may uphold the cause of His servant and of His people Israel as each day requires,
60 UST If you do that, all the people groups in the world will know that you, Yahweh, are the only one who actually is God, and that there is no other one who is God at all. BSB BSB: so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God. There is no other!
61 UST I pray that all of you Israelites will always commit yourselves fully to Yahweh and that you will always obey his laws, just as you are doing now.” BSB BSB: So let your heart be fully devoted to the LORD our God, as it is this day, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments.”
Sacrifices of Dedication (2 Chronicles 7:4–10)
62 UST Then King Solomon and all the Israelites who had come to Jerusalem for the temple dedication offered sacrifices to Yahweh. BSB BSB: Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the LORD.
63 UST They sacrificed 22, 000 cattle and 120, 000 sheep as fellowship sacrifices to Yahweh. In this way the king and all the Israelites who were there dedicated Yahweh’ s temple. BSB BSB: And Solomon offered as peace offerings to the LORD 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the house of the LORD.
64 UST The bronze altar in front of the temple was not big enough to hold all those sacrifices. So that day King Solomon temporarily made the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple a sacred place. There he and the people offered sacrifices that they burned completely on the altar, the accompanying offerings of flour, and the fat of the animals that were fellowship sacrifices. BSB BSB: On that same day the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard in front of the house of the LORD, and there he offered the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, since the bronze altar before the LORD was too small to contain all these offerings.
65 UST Then Solomon and all the Israelites who had come to Jerusalem celebrated the Festival of Shelters. They celebrated it for seven days. Since they had just celebrated the dedication of the temple for seven days, they celebrated together for a total of 14 days. There was a huge crowd of people there who had gathered in Yahweh’ s presence. They came from many different places in the land of Israel. BSB BSB: So at that time Solomon and all Israel with him—a great assembly of people from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt—kept the feast before the LORD our God for seven days and seven more days—fourteen days in all.
66 UST Once the Festival of Shelters was over, Solomon told the people they could go back to their homes. They asked God to make good things happen for him. As the people went home, they were very happy because of all the good things that Yahweh had done for David his servant and for the Israelite people, who belonged to him. BSB BSB: On the fifteenth day Solomon sent the people away. So they blessed the king and went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good things that the LORD had done for His servant David and for His people Israel.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.