Part 450

6:6. But I chose Jerusalem, that my name might be there: and I chose David to set him over my people Israel.

6:7. And whereas David my father had a mind to build a house to the name of the Lord the God of Israel,

6:8. 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:

6:9. 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.

6:10. 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.

6:11. And I have put in it the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with the children of Israel.

6:12. And he stood before the altar of the Lord, in presence of all the multitude of Israel, and stretched forth his hands.

6:13. 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,

6:14. 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:

6:15. 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.

6:16. 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.

6:17. And now, Lord God of Israel, let thy word be established which thou hast spoken to thy servant David.

6:18. 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?

6:19. 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.

6:20. 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,

6:21. 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.

6:22. 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:

6:23. Then hear thou from heaven, and do justice to thy servants, so to requite the wicked by making his wickedness fall upon his own head, and to revenge the just, rewarding him according to his justice.

6:24. 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,

6:25. 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.

6:26. If the heavens be shut up, and there fall no rain by reason of the sin of the people, and they shall pray to thee in this place, and confess to thy name, and be converted from their sins, where thou dost afflict them,

6:27. Then hear thou from heaven, O Lord, and forgive the sins 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.

6:28. 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:

6:29. Then if any of thy people Israel, knowing his own scourge and infirmity shall pray, and shall spread forth his hands in this house,

6:30. 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:

6:31. 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.

6:32. 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:

6:33. 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.