2 Chronicleschapter 6

A.The LORD said He would dwell in thick darknessvv. 1-11

1 Then Solomon declared: “The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud; 2 and I have built You an exalted house, a place for You to dwell forever.” 3 And as the whole assembly of Israel stood there, the king turned around and blessed them all 4 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, 5 ‘Since the day I brought My people out of the land 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, nor have I chosen anyone to be ruler over My people Israel. 6 But now I have chosen Jerusalem for My Name to be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people 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. 8 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. 9 Nevertheless, you are not the one to build it; but your son, your own offspring, will build the house for My Name.’ 10 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. 11 And there I have provided a place for the ark, which contains the covenant of the LORD that He made with the children of Israel.”

B.Solomon kneels on the scaffold: hear from heaven, Thy dwelling placevv. 12-21

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 Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had placed it in the middle of the courtyard. He stood on it, knelt down before the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven, 14 and said: “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven or on earth, keeping Your covenant of loving devotion with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts. 15 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. 16 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 in My law as you have walked before Me.’ 17 And now, O LORD, God of Israel, please confirm what You promised to Your servant David. 18 But will God indeed dwell with man upon the earth? Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built. 19 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. 20 May Your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, toward the place where You said You would put Your Name, so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place. 21 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.

C.When they sin, when they are beaten, when the heavens are shutvv. 22-31

22 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, 23 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. 24 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 before You in this temple, 25 then may You hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel. May You restore them to the land You gave to them and their fathers. 26 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, 27 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. 28 When famine or plague comes upon the land, or blight or mildew or locusts or grasshoppers, or when their enemies besiege them in their cities, whatever plague or sickness may come, 29 then may whatever prayer or petition Your people Israel make—each knowing his own afflictions and spreading out his hands toward this temple— 30 be heard by You from heaven, Your dwelling place. And may You forgive and repay each man according to all his ways, since You know his heart—for You alone know the hearts of men— 31 so that they may fear You and walk in Your ways all the days they live in the land that You gave to our fathers.

D.The stranger, the captive, and arise into Thy resting placevv. 32-42

32 And as for the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of Your great name and Your mighty hand and outstretched arm—when he comes and prays toward this temple, 33 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. 34 When Your people go to war against their enemies, wherever You send them, and when they pray to You in the direction of the city You have chosen and the house I have built for Your Name, 35 then may You hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and may You 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 deliver them to an enemy who takes them as captives to a land far or near, 37 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,’ 38 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 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, 39 then may You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, their prayer and petition, and may You uphold their cause. May You forgive Your people who sinned against You. 40 Now, my God, may Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place. 41 Now therefore, arise, O LORD God, and enter Your resting place, You and the ark of Your might. May Your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and may Your godly ones rejoice in goodness. 42 O LORD God, do not reject Your anointed one. Remember Your loving devotion to Your servant David.”

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Chapter summary

Solomon's dedication prayer.

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Solomon's dedication prayer. He begins with the paradox ('Jehovah hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness; but I have built thee a house of habitation') blesses the assembly, and rehearses the promise to David now kept. Then he kneels on a brazen scaffold and spreads his hands toward heaven: 'But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have builded!' Seven petitions follow (for the wronged, the defeated, the drought-stricken, the famished, the captive) and one for the foreigner who comes from a far country for the sake of God's name.

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary and John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament.

Context

History · Ezra — 2 Chronicles overview

A. 1–11 The LORD said He would dwell in thick darkness
B. 12–21 Solomon kneels on the scaffold: hear from heaven, Thy dwelling place
C. 22–31 When they sin, when they are beaten, when the heavens are shut
D. 32–42 The stranger, the captive, and arise into Thy resting place

Top cross-references8 chapters ▾

1 Kings 86 verses
- 1 Kings 8:14And as the whole assembly of Israel stood there, the king turned around and blessed them all
- 1 Kings 8:18But 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.
- 1 Kings 8:28Yet 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.
- 1 Kings 8:35When 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,
- 1 Kings 8:41And as for the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of Your name—
- 1 Kings 8:54Now 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.
- Read 1 Kings 8 →
Psalms 1323 verses
- Psalms 132:1O LORD, remember on behalf of David all the hardships he endured,
- Psalms 132:12If your sons keep My covenant and the testimony I will teach them, then their sons will also sit on your throne forever and ever.”
- Psalms 132:13For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His home:
- Read Psalms 132 →
Daniel 93 verses
- Daniel 9:5we have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commandments and ordinances.
- Daniel 9:17So now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of Your servant. For Your sake, O Lord, cause Your face to shine upon Your desolate sanctuary.
- Daniel 9:19O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your name.”
- Read Daniel 9 →
1 Chronicles 283 verses
- 1 Chronicles 28:2Then King David rose to his feet and said, “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. It was in my heart to build a house as a resting place for the ark of the covenant of the LORD and as a footstool for our God. I had made preparations to build it,
- 1 Chronicles 28:4Yet the LORD, the God of Israel, chose me out of all my father’s house to be king over Israel forever. For He chose Judah as leader, and from the house of Judah He chose my father’s household, and from my father’s sons He was pleased to make me king over all Israel.
- 1 Chronicles 28:9As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands the intent of every thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.
- Read 1 Chronicles 28 →

4 more chapters this one speaks with

2 Chronicles 73 verses
- 2 Chronicles 7:14and if My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.
- 2 Chronicles 7:15Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.
- 2 Chronicles 7:18then I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with your father David when I said, ‘You will never fail to have a man to rule over Israel.’
- Read 2 Chronicles 7 →
2 Chronicles 22 verses
- 2 Chronicles 2:4Behold, I am about to build a house for the Name of the LORD my God to dedicate to Him for burning fragrant incense before Him, for displaying the showbread continuously, and for making burnt offerings every morning and evening as well as on the Sabbaths, New Moons, and appointed feasts of the LORD our God. This is ordained for Israel forever.
- 2 Chronicles 2:6But who is able to build a house for Him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain Him? Who then am I, that I should build a house for Him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before Him?
- Read 2 Chronicles 2 →
Nehemiah 82 verses
- Nehemiah 8:4Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform built for this occasion. At his right side stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, and at his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hash-baddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam.
- Nehemiah 8:5Ezra opened the book in full view of all the people, since he was standing above them all, and as he opened it, all the people stood up.
- Read Nehemiah 8 →
1 Chronicles 172 verses
- 1 Chronicles 17:1After David had settled into his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the LORD is under a tent.”
- 1 Chronicles 17:11And when your days are fulfilled and you go to be with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom.
- Read 1 Chronicles 17 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.