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The Second
Book of Paralipomenon 6
Then Solomon said: The Lord promised that he would dwell
in a cloud.
But I have built a house to his name, that he might
dwell there for ever.
And the king turned his face, and blessed all the multitude
of Israel (for all the multitude stood attentive) and
he said:
Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who hath accomplished
in deed that which he spoke to David my father, saying:
From the day that I brought my people out of the land
of Egypt, I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel,
for a house to be built in it to my name: neither chose
I any other man, to be the ruler of my people Israel.
But I chose Jerusalem, that my name might be there:
and I chose David to set him over my people Israel.
And whereas David my father had a mind to build a house
to the name of the Lord the God of Israel,
The Lord said to him: Forasmuch as it was thy will to
build a house to my name, thou hast done well indeed
in having such a will:
But thou shalt not build the house, but thy son, who
shall come out of thy loins, he shall build a house
to my name.
The Lord therefore hath accomplished his word which
he spoke: and I am risen up in the place of David my
father, and sit upon the throne of Israel, as the Lord
promised : and have built a house to the name of the
Lord God of Israel.
And I have put in it the ark, wherein is the covenant
of the Lord, which he made with the children of Israel.
And he stood before the altar of the I Lord, in presence
of all the multitude of Israel, and stretched forth
his hands.
For Solomon had made a brazen scaffold, and had set
it in the midst of the temple, which was five cubits
long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high:
and he stood upon it: then kneeling down in the presence
of all the multitude of Israel, and lifting up his hands
towards heaven,
He said: O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like
thee in heaven nor in earth: who keepest covenant and
mercy with thy servants, that walk before thee with
all their hearts:
Who hast performed to thy servant David my father all
that thou hast promised him: and hast accomplished in
fact, what thou hast spoken with thy mouth, as also
the present time proveth.
Now then, O Lord God of Israel, fulfil to thy servant
David my father, whatsoever thou hast promised him,
saying: There shall not fail thee a man in my sight,
to sit upon the throne of Israel: yet so that thy children
take heed to their ways, and walk in my law, as thou
hast walked before me.
And now, Lord God of Israel, let thy word be established
which thou hast spoken to thy servant David.
Is it credible then that God should dwell with men on
the earth? If heaven and the heavens of heavens do not
contain thee, how much less this house, which I have
built?
But to this end only it is made, that thou mayest regard
the prayer of thy servant and his supplication, O Lord
my God: and mayest hear the prayers which thy servant
poureth out before thee.
That thou mayest open thy eyes upon this house day and
night, upon the place wherein thou hast promised that
thy name should be called upon,
And that thou wouldst hear the prayer which thy servant
prayeth in it: hearken then to the prayers of thy servant,
and of thy people Israel. Whosoever shall pray in this
place, hear thou from thy dwelling place, that is, from
heaven, and shew mercy.
If any man sin against his neighbour, and come to swear
against him, and bind himself with a curse before the
altar in this house:
Then hear thou from heaven, and do justice to thy servants,
so as to requite the wicked by making his wickedness
fall upon his own head, and to revenge the just, rewarding
him according to his justice.
If thy people Israel be overcome by their enemies, (for
they will sin against thee,) and being converted shall
do penance, and call upon thy name, and pray to thee
in this place,
Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy
people Israel, and bring them back into the land, which
thou gavest to them, and their fathers.
If the heavens be shut up, and there fall no rain by
reason of the sine of the people, and they shall pray
to thee in this place, and confess to thy name, and
be converted from their sins, when thou dost afflict
them,
Then hear thou from heaven, O Lord, and forgive the
sine of thy servants and of thy people Israel, and teach
them the good way, in which they may walk: and give
rain to thy land which thou hast given to thy people
to possess.
If a famine arise in the land, or a pestilence or blasting,
or mildew, or locusts, or caterpillars: or if their
enemies waste the country, and besiege the cities, whatsoever
scourge or infirmity shall be upon them:
Then if any of thy people Israel, knowing his own scourge
and infirmity shall pray, and shall spread forth his
hands in this house,
Hear thou from heaven, from thy high dwelling place,
and forgive, and render to every one according to his
ways, which thou knowest him to have in his heart: (for
thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:)
That they may fear thee, and walk in thy ways all the
days that they live upon the face of the land, which
thou hast given to our fathers.
If the stranger also, who is not of thy people Israel,
come from a far country, for the sake of thy great name,
and thy strong hand, and thy stretched out arm, and
adore in this place:
Hear thou from heaven thy firm dwelling place, and do
all that which that stranger shall call upon thee for:
that all the people of the earth may know thy name,
and may fear thee, as thy people Israel, and may know,
that thy name is invoked upon this house, which I have
built.
If thy people go out to war against their enemies, by
the way that thou shalt send them, and adore thee towards
the way of this city, which thou hast chosen, and the
house which I have built to thy name:
Then hear thou from heaven their prayers, and their
supplications, and revenge them.
And if they sin against thee (for there is no man that
sinneth not) and thou be angry with them, and deliver
them up to their enemies, and they lead them away captive
to a land either afar off, or near at hand,
And if they be converted in their heart in the land
to which they were led / captive, and do penance, and
pray to thee in the land of their captivity, saying:
We have sinned, we have done wickedly, we have dealt
unjustly:
And return to thee with all their heart, and with all
their soul, in the land of their captivity, to which
they were led away, and adore thee towards the way of
their own land which thou gavest their fathers, and
of the city, which thou hast chosen, and the house which
I have built to thy name:
Then hear thou from heaven, that is, from thy firm dwelling
place, their prayers, and do judgment, and forgive thy
people, although they have sinned:
For thou art my God: let thy eyes, I beseech thee, be
open, and let thy ears be attentive to the prayer, that
is made in this place.
Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place,
thou and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O
Lord God, put on salvation, and thy saints rejoice in
good things.
O Lord God, turn not away the face of thy anointed:
remember the mercies of David thy servant.
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