1 Then Solomon said, “The LORD {YHWH, Promise Fulfiller} has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud {arafel: dense darkness}.”
2 But I have built an exalted house {beit-zevul: elevated sanctuary} for You {YHWH, Temple-Recipient}, and a fixed place for Your dwelling forever.
3 Then the king turned his face and blessed all the assembly {qahal: gathered congregation} of Israel as they stood {omed: attentive stance}.
4 And he said, “Blessed be the LORD {YHWH, Promise-Completer}, the God of Israel {Elohei Yisrael, Dynastic Upholder}, who spoke by His mouth to my father David and has fulfilled it by His hands, saying:”
5 From the day I brought My people from the land of Egypt {mitzrayim: place of exile}, I did not choose a city {ir: administrative center} among all the tribes of Israel to build a house for My name to be there, nor did I choose a man to be ruler over My people Israel.
6 But I {YHWH, Sovereign Chooser} have chosen Jerusalem to be the place for My name {shem: symbolic presence}, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.
7 And it was in the heart {levav: inner resolve} of David, my father, to build a house for the name of the LORD {YHWH: Worship Focus}, the God of Israel {Elohei Yisrael: National Protector}.
8 And the LORD {YHWH, Covenant-Keeper} said to David my father, “Because it was with your heart to build a house for My name, you did well in that it was with your heart {levav: inner intention}.”
9 Only you will not build the house{bayit: sanctuary house}, because your son who comes out from your loins, he will build the house for My{YHWH, Name-Honored} name.
10 And the LORD {YHWH, Faithful Promise Keeper} has established His word {devar: spoken commitment} which He spoke, and I have arisen in place of my father David and sit on the throne of Israel, just as the LORD spoke, and I have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.
11 And there I have placed the ark, in which is the covenant {berit: solemn pact} of the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Maker}, which He made with the sons of Israel.
12 And he stood before the altar of the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Lord} in front of all the assembly of Israel, and he spread out his hands {kappaim: gesture of prayer}.
13 For Solomon made a bronze platform{kiyor: raised stand} and set it in the midst of the court; it was five cubits{cubit: forearm measure} in length, and five cubits in breadth, and three cubits in height. And he stood upon it, and knelt upon his knees before all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven.
14 And he said, “LORD God of Israel {YHWH Elohei Yisrael, Covenant Protector}, there is no God like You in the heavens or on the earth, who keeps the covenant and the steadfast love {chesed: devoted loyalty} for Your servants who walk before You with all their heart.”
15 You {YHWH, Promise Keeper} have kept for Your servant David my father what You promised to him; You spoke with Your mouth and have fulfilled {milleta: full completion} it with Your hand as it is this day.
16 And now, LORD God of Israel {YHWH Elohei Yisraʾel: Keeper of Covenant Faithfulness}, keep for Your servant David my father {avi: royal ancestor} that which You spoke to him, saying, “There shall not be cut off for you a man from before Me sitting on the throne of Israel, only if your sons keep their way to walk in My law as you have walked before Me.”
17 And now, LORD God of Israel {YHWH Elohei Yisrael, Covenant Nation God}, let Your word be established {ye’amen: brought to fulfillment}, which You spoke to Your servant David.
18 For truly, will God {Elohim, Transcendent Sustainer} dwell with humanity {ha-adam: all humankind} upon the earth? Behold, the heavens—even the highest heavens—cannot contain You. How much less this house which I have built!
19 And turn to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplication, O LORD my God {YHWH Elohai, Prayer Hearer}, to listen to the cry {rinah: urgent outcry} and to the prayer which Your servant is praying before You.
20 Let your eyes be open toward this house day and night, toward the place where you said you would put your Name {shimkha: reputation/authority} there, to hear the prayer which your servant {avdekha: covenant representative} will pray toward this place.
21 And You {YHWH, Responsive Hearer} hear the supplications {tachanunei: solemn petition} of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from Your dwelling place in heaven, and when You hear, forgive.
22 If a man sins against his neighbor and he is required to take an oath {ʾālāh: binding curse}, and he comes and swears the oath before Your {YHWH, Lawgiver} altar in this house.
23 And You {YHWH, Heaven-Hearing Judge} shall hear from the heavens, and act, and judge Your servants: causing the wicked one’s way to return upon his head {rosh: personal liability}, and declaring the righteous one right, giving to him according to his righteousness.
24 And if Your {YHWH, Just Sustainer} people Israel are struck down before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and they return and acknowledge {vehodu: open confession} Your name and pray and plead for mercy before You in this house.
25 And You {YHWH, Prayer Hearer} shall hear from the heavens and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and You shall restore them to the land that You have given to them and to their ancestors {avot: forefathers}.
26 When the heavens are withheld {behe'atzer: restrained} and there is no rain because they have sinned against You {YHWH, Righteous Judge}, and they pray toward this place, confessing Your name and turning from their sin because You have afflicted them.
27 And You {YHWH, Prayer-Hearing King} may hear in the heavens {shamayim: heavenly realm} and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel, when You teach them the good way in which they should walk; and may You give rain upon Your land, which You gave to Your people for an inheritance.
28 When famine occurs in the land, or when plague, blight, mildew, locusts, or grasshoppers strike, or when their enemies besiege {yatzar-lo: surround to capture} them in the cities of their land, and when every plague or every disease {machalah: physical affliction} comes.
29 Any prayer or supplication that may be made by any person or by all your people Israel, each knowing his own affliction {nigʿô: personal distress} and his pain, and spreading his hands toward this house {habbayit: temple sanctuary}.
30 And You {YHWH, All-Knowing Judge} will hear from the heavens, Your dwelling place {mekhon shivtekha: established site of presence}, and will forgive and give to each man according to all his ways, whose heart You know; for You alone know the heart of the sons of men.
31 So that they may fear You {YHWH, Sovereign Judge} by walking in Your ways all the days they live on the land which You have given to our fathers {avoteinu: ancestral patriarchs}.
32 And also to the foreigner{nokhri: outsider}, who is not of your people Israel and who comes from a distant land for the sake of your great name{shem: reputation} and your strong hand and your outstretched arm, when they come and pray toward this house.
33 And You {YHWH, Prayer Hearer} will hear from the heavens, from the established place {mekhon: fixed seat} of Your dwelling, and You will act according to everything that the foreigner calls to You, so that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name {shemeka: public renown} and fear You as Your people Israel do, and so that they may know that Your name is called over this house which I have built.
34 When Your people go out to war {milchamah: military engagement} against their enemies by the way that You {YHWH, Guardian of the City} send them, and they pray toward this city which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your name.
35 Then You will hear from the heavens their prayer {tefillah: formal petition} and their plea, and You will uphold their cause, O LORD {YHWH, Heavenly Judge}.
36 For when they sin against You {lâḵ: direct address to God}, for there is no human {’āḏām: universal statement about humanity} who does not sin, and You become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, and their captors take them to a land far or near.
37 If they bring back to their heart {levav: inner will} in the land where they were taken captive, and return and supplicate themselves to You {YHWH, Merciful Judge} in the land of their captivity, saying, “We have sinned, we have acted perversely, and we have done wickedly.”
38 And they return to You {YHWH, Restorer} with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity where they have been taken, and they pray toward their land which You have given to their fathers and toward the city which You have chosen and toward the house which I have built for Your Name {shem: symbolic presence}.
39 And You {YHWH, Heavenly Hearer} will hear from the heavens, from the place of Your dwelling, their prayer and their supplications, and You will uphold their cause {mishpatam: legal plea} and forgive Your people who have sinned against You.
40 Now, my God {Elohai, Personal Covenant Keeper}, let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to the prayer of this place {makom: dedicated site}.
41 And now, arise, LORD God {YHWH Elohim, Covenant Dweller}, to Your resting place with the ark of Your strength. Let Your priests be clothed with salvation {teshuah: deliverance}, and let Your loyal ones rejoice in the good.
42 LORD God {YHWH Elohim, Covenant Upholder and Just Judge}, do not turn away the face of Your anointed one; remember the faithful love {chesed: covenant loyalty} for David Your servant.