| Berean Study Bible | NET Bible |
| 1Then Solomon declared: “The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud; | 1Then Solomon said, "The LORD has said that he lives in thick darkness. |
| 2and I have built You an exalted house, a place for You to dwell forever.” | 2O LORD, I have built a lofty temple for you, a place where you can live permanently." |
| 3And as the whole assembly of Israel stood there, the king turned around and blessed them all | 3Then the king turned around and pronounced a blessing over the whole Israelite assembly as they stood there. |
| 4and 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, | 4He said, "The LORD God of Israel is worthy of praise because he has fulfilled what he promised my father David. |
| 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. | 5He told David, 'Since the day I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a temple in which to live. Nor did I choose a man as leader of my people Israel. |
| 6But now I have chosen Jerusalem for My Name to be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’ | 6But now I have chosen Jerusalem as a place to live, and I have chosen David to lead my people Israel.' |
| 7Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel. | 7Now my father David had a strong desire to build a temple to honor the LORD God of Israel. |
| 8But 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. | 8The LORD told my father David, 'It is right for you to have a strong desire to build a temple to honor me. |
| 9Nevertheless, you are not the one to build it; but your son, your own offspring, will build the house for My Name.’ | 9But you will not build the temple; your very own son will build the temple for my honor.' |
| 10Now 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. | 10The LORD has kept the promise he made. I have taken my father David's place and have occupied the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised. I have built this temple for the honor of the LORD God of Israel |
| 11And there I have provided a place for the ark, which contains the covenant of the LORD that He made with the children of Israel.” | 11and set up in it a place for the ark containing the covenant the LORD made with the Israelites." |
| 12Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. | 12He stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the entire assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. |
| 13Now 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, | 13Solomon had made a bronze platform and had placed it in the middle of the enclosure. It was seven and one-half feet long, seven and one-half feet wide, and four and one-half feet high. He stood on it and then got down on his knees in front of the entire assembly of Israel. He spread out his hands toward the sky, |
| 14and 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. | 14and prayed: "O LORD God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven or on earth! You maintain covenantal loyalty to your servants who obey you with sincerity. |
| 15You have kept Your promise to Your servant, my father David. What You spoke with Your mouth You have fulfilled with Your hand this day. | 15You have kept your word to your servant, my father David; this very day you have fulfilled what you promised. |
| 16Therefore 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.’ | 16Now, O LORD God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David, when you said, 'You will never fail to have a successor ruling before me on the throne of Israel, provided that your descendants watch their step and obey my law as you have done.' |
| 17And now, O LORD, God of Israel, please confirm what You promised to Your servant David. | 17Now, O LORD God of Israel, may the promise you made to your servant David be realized. |
| 18But will God indeed dwell with man upon the earth? Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built. | 18"God does not really live with humankind on the earth! Look, if the sky and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built! |
| 19Yet 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. | 19But respond favorably to your servant's prayer and his request for help, O LORD my God. Answer the desperate prayer your servant is presenting to you. |
| 20May 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. | 20Night and day may you watch over this temple, the place where you promised you would live. May you answer your servant's prayer for this place. |
| 21Hear 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. | 21Respond to the requests of your servant and your people Israel for this place. Hear from your heavenly dwelling place and respond favorably and forgive. |
| 22When 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, | 22"When someone is accused of sinning against his neighbor and the latter pronounces a curse on the alleged offender before your altar in this temple, |
| 23then 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. | 23listen from heaven and make a just decision about your servants' claims. Condemn the guilty party, declare the other innocent, and give both of them what they deserve. |
| 24When 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, | 24"If your people Israel are defeated by an enemy because they sinned against you, then if they come back to you, renew their allegiance to you, and pray for your help before you in this temple, |
| 25then 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. | 25then listen from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their ancestors. |
| 26When 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, | 26"The time will come when the skies are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you, and turn away from their sin because you punish them, |
| 27then 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. | 27then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Certainly you will then teach them the right way to live and send rain on your land that you have given your people to possess. |
| 28When 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, | 28"The time will come when the land suffers from a famine, a plague, blight, and disease, or a locust invasion, or when their enemy lays siege to the cities of the land, or when some other type of plague or epidemic occurs. |
| 29then may whatever prayer or petition Your people Israel make—each knowing his own afflictions and spreading out his hands toward this temple— | 29When all your people Israel pray and ask for help, as they acknowledge their intense pain and spread out their hands toward this temple, |
| 30be 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— | 30then listen from your heavenly dwelling place, forgive their sin, and act favorably toward each one based on your evaluation of their motives. (Indeed you are the only one who can correctly evaluate the motives of all people.) |
| 31so that they may fear You and walk in Your ways all the days they live in the land that You gave to our fathers. | 31Then they will honor you by obeying you throughout their lifetimes as they live on the land you gave to our ancestors. |
| 32And 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, | 32"Foreigners, who do not belong to your people Israel, will come from a distant land because of your great reputation and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds; they will come and direct their prayers toward this temple. |
| 33then 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. | 33Then listen from your heavenly dwelling place and answer all the prayers of the foreigners. Then all the nations of the earth will acknowledge your reputation, obey you like your people Israel do, and recognize that this temple I built belongs to you. |
| 34When 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, | 34"When you direct your people to march out and fight their enemies, and they direct their prayers to you toward this chosen city and this temple I built for your honor, |
| 35then may You hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and may You uphold their cause. | 35then listen from heaven to their prayers for help and vindicate them. |
| 36When 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, | 36"The time will come when your people will sin against you (for there is no one who is sinless!) and you will be angry at them and deliver them over to their enemies, who will take them as prisoners to their land, whether far away or close by. |
| 37and 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,’ | 37When your people come to their senses in the land where they are held prisoner, they will repent and beg for your mercy in the land of their imprisonment, admitting, 'We have sinned and gone astray, we have done evil!' |
| 38and 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, | 38When they return to you with all their heart and being in the land where they are held prisoner and direct their prayers toward the land you gave to their ancestors, your chosen city, and the temple I built for your honor, |
| 39then 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. | 39then listen from your heavenly dwelling place to their prayers for help, vindicate them, and forgive your sinful people. |
| 40Now, my God, may Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place. | 40"Now, my God, may you be attentive and responsive to the prayers offered in this place. |
| 41Now 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. | 41Now ascend, O LORD God, to your resting place, you and the ark of your strength! May your priests, O LORD God, experience your deliverance! May your loyal followers rejoice in the prosperity you give! |
| 42O LORD God, do not reject Your anointed one. Remember Your loving devotion to Your servant David.” | 42O LORD God, do not reject your chosen ones! Remember the faithful promises you made to your servant David!" |
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