CLARITY EDITION · OLD TESTAMENT
2 Chronicles 6
Chapter 6 of 36
Chapter Overview
What happens in 2 Chronicles 6
Solomon addresses the people of Israel and then kneels before the altar to pray one of the longest prayers in the Bible. He asks God to hear the prayers of his people whenever they turn to the temple in times of trouble, sin, war, drought, or exile.
Scripture
2 Chronicles 6
Solomon Speaks to the People
Study note
Solomon turned to face the people and blessed them. He reminded them of God's promise to his father David. God had told David that although David wanted to build a temple, it would be David's son who would actually build it. Solomon declared that God had kept his promise — Solomon now sat on the throne and had built the temple where the ark of the covenant rested.
1 Then Solomon said, 'The Lord has declared that he would dwell in thick darkness.' Then said Solomon, The LORD hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
2 'But I have built a magnificent temple for you -- a place where you can live forever.' But I have built an house of habitation for thee, and a place for thy dwelling for ever.
3 The king turned to face the whole assembly of Israel and blessed them while they stood. And the king turned his face, and blessed the whole congregation of Israel: and all the congregation of Israel stood.
4 He said, 'Praise the Lord, the God of Israel! With his own mouth he made a promise to my father David, and with his own hand he has made it come true.' And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who hath with his hands fulfilled that which he spake with his mouth to my father David, saying,
5 'He said, "From the day I brought my people out of Egypt, I never chose a city from any tribe of Israel to have a temple built for my name. And I never chose anyone to rule over my people Israel."' Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build an house in, that my name might be there; neither chose I any man to be a ruler over my people Israel:
6 '"But now I have chosen Jerusalem as the home for my name. And I have chosen David to rule my people Israel."' But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel.
7 'My father David had his heart set on building a temple for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.' Now it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.
8 'But the Lord told him, "It was good that you wanted to build a temple for my name."' But the LORD said to David my father, Forasmuch as it was in thine heart to build an house for my name, thou didst well in that it was in thine heart:
9 '"However, you will not be the builder. Your own son will be the one to build the temple for my name."' Notwithstanding thou shalt not build the house; but thy son which shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house for my name.
10 'The Lord has kept his word. I have succeeded my father David and now occupy the throne of Israel, exactly as the Lord promised. And I have built this temple for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.' The LORD therefore hath performed his word that he hath spoken: for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and am set on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.
11 'Inside it I have placed the ark, which holds the covenant that the Lord made with the people of Israel.' And in it have I put the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD, that he made with the children of Israel.
Solomon Kneels and Begins His Prayer
Study note
Solomon had built a special bronze platform about 7.5 feet long, 7.5 feet wide, and 4.5 feet high in the middle of the courtyard. He knelt on it in front of the whole assembly and spread his hands toward heaven. He praised God for being faithful to his promises and asked God to keep watching over the temple day and night, listening to the prayers of anyone who prayed toward this sanctuary.
12 Solomon stood before the Lord's altar, facing the whole group of Israel. He stretched out his hands to pray. And he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands:
13 Solomon had built a bronze platform about 7.5 feet long, 7.5 feet wide, and 4.5 feet tall, and placed it in the center of the outer courtyard. He stood on it, then knelt before the whole assembly of Israel and raised his hands toward heaven. For Solomon had made a brasen scaffold, of five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court: and upon it he stood, and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven,
14 He prayed, 'Lord, God of Israel, no god in heaven or on earth is like you. You keep your covenant promises and show unfailing love to your servants who follow you wholeheartedly.' And said, O LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee in the heaven, nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and shewest mercy unto thy servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts:
15 'You have kept every promise you made to my father David. What you said with your own lips, you have accomplished with your own hands -- and we can see it today.' Thou which hast kept with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him; and spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day.
16 'Now, Lord God of Israel, please keep the other promise you made to my father David. You said, "You will always have a descendant on the throne of Israel. But your sons must carefully live by my law, just as you have done."' Now therefore, O LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which 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 way to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me.
17 'So now, Lord God of Israel, please make your promise to your servant David come true.' Now then, O LORD God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David.
18 'But will God live on earth among people? Even the highest heavens are too small for you! How much less this temple I have built!' 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 built!
19 'Yet please pay attention to the prayer and plea of your servant, Lord my God. Listen to the cry and the prayer your servant is praying before you.' Have respect therefore to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee:
20 'May your eyes be watching over this temple day and night -- over the place where you said you would put your name. Please hear every prayer your servant offers toward this place.' That thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy name there; to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth toward this place.
21 'Listen to the prayers that your servant and your people Israel offer toward this place. Hear us from your home in heaven. And when you hear, please forgive.' Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall make toward this place: hear thou from thy dwelling place, even from heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive.
Solomon's Seven Requests
Study note
Solomon asked God to hear his people in seven different situations: when someone takes an oath at the altar, when they are defeated in battle because of sin, when there is no rain, when there is famine or disease, when a foreigner comes to pray, when the army goes out to war, and when the people are taken captive to a foreign land. In each case, Solomon asked God to forgive and restore them when they turned back to him. The prayer shows a deep understanding that people will fail, but that God's mercy is always available to those who repent.
22 'When someone wrongs another person and is brought before your altar in this temple to swear an oath,' If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to make him swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house;
23 'hear it from heaven and take action. Judge between your servants. Punish the guilty and hold them accountable. Clear the innocent and reward them as they deserve.' Then hear thou from heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, by requiting the wicked, by recompensing his way upon his own head; and by justifying the righteous, by giving him according to his righteousness.
24 'Your people Israel may lose a battle. It may be because they sinned against you. But if they come back, honor your name, and pray in this temple --' And if thy people Israel be put to the worse before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee; and shall return and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication before thee in this house;
25 'hear them from heaven. Forgive your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave them and their ancestors.' Then hear thou from the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers.
26 'The skies may lock shut with no rain. Your people may have sinned. But if they pray toward this temple and turn from their sin --' When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; yet if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them;
27 'hear them from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and your people Israel. Show them how to live right, and send rain on the land you gave them as their own.' Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them the good way, wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance.
28 'Famine may hit the land. Disease may strike. Crops may fail from blight or mildew. Locusts may swarm. Foes may trap the cities. Any trouble or sickness may come --' If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillers; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be:
29 'then hear every prayer and every plea made by any individual or by all your people Israel. Each person knows their own pain and heartache. When they reach out their hands toward this temple,' Then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of any man, or of all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house:
30 'hear them from your home in heaven and forgive. Deal with each person according to how they truly live, because you alone can see what is truly in someone's heart.' Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:)
31 'Then they will honor you and live by your ways as long as they are in the land you gave our ancestors.' That they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.
32 'A foreigner who is not part of your people Israel may come from a distant country. They may have heard about your great name, your mighty hand, and your powerful arm. When they come and pray toward this temple,' Moreover concerning the stranger, which is not of thy people Israel, but is come from a far country for thy great name's sake, and thy mighty hand, and thy stretched out arm; if they come and pray in this house;
33 'hear them from your home in heaven and give them whatever they ask. Do this so that every person on earth will learn about you and honor you, just as your own people Israel do. Let them know that this temple I built belongs to you.' Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all people of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as doth thy people Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.
34 'Your people may go fight their foes where you send them. If they pray to you toward this city and this temple --' If thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that thou shalt send them, and they pray unto thee toward this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name;
35 'hear their prayer from heaven and defend their cause.' Then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
36 'They may sin against you. Everyone sins. You may get angry and hand them to a foe. That foe may take them as captives far away or nearby.' If they sin against thee, (for there is no man which sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near;
37 'And if in that foreign land they come to their senses and turn back to you. If they pray and say, "We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted in evil ways,"' Yet if they bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly;
38 'What if they truly return to you with all their heart and soul while living as captives? What if they pray toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward this city you chose, and toward the temple I built for your name?' If they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name:
39 'then hear their prayer from your home in heaven, defend their cause, and forgive your people who have sinned against you.' Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee.
Solomon's Closing Prayer
Study note
Solomon closed his prayer by asking God to pay attention to all prayers made in this place. He asked God to arise and enter his resting place — the temple — along with the ark, which represented God's strength. He prayed that the priests would be clothed with salvation and that God's people would rejoice. He closed by asking God to remember the faithful love he promised to David.
40 'Now, my God, please keep your eyes open and your ears attentive to every prayer offered in this place.' Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.
41 'Rise up now, Lord God, and come to your resting place -- you and the ark that shows your power. Clothe your priests with the gift of salvation, and let your faithful people celebrate your goodness.' Now therefore arise, O LORD God, into thy resting place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness.
42 'Lord God, do not turn away from the king you have chosen. Remember the faithful love you promised to your servant David.' O LORD God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant.
Key Themes
Themes in 2 Chronicles 6
Prayer as the central act of faithGod hears prayers of repentance from anywhereForgiveness is always available to those who turn backThe temple as a house of prayer for all situations
Prophetic Connections
How this chapter points to Christ
2 Chronicles 6:32-33 Mark 11:17
Solomon prayed that foreigners would come to the temple and be heard by God. Jesus quoted Isaiah calling the temple 'a house of prayer for all nations,' affirming that God's salvation was always meant for every people.
Apply This Today
Living 2 Chronicles 6
Solomon prayed for every kind of human need — sin, defeat, drought, famine, sickness, and the prayers of foreigners. No matter what you are going through, God invites you to bring it to Him in prayer. There is no situation too big or too small for His attention.
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