Then Sulayman1 said, “YAHWEH2 has said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. 2But I have built you a house of dwelling, and a place for you to dwell in forever.”
3The king turned his face, and blessed all the assembly of Israel: and all the assembly of Israel stood.
4He said, “Praise be to YAHWEH, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to Dawud3 my father, and has with his hands fulfilled it, saying, 5‘Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house in that my Name might be there; neither did I choose any man to be prince over my people Israel: 6but I have chosen Jerusalem, that my Name might be there; and have chosen Dawud to be over my people Israel.’ 7Now it was in the heart of Dawud my father to build a house for the Name of YAHWEH, the God of Israel. 8But YAHWEH said to Dawud my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my Name, you did well that it was in your heart: 9nevertheless you shall not build the house; but your son who shall come forth out of your loins, he shall build the house for my Name.’ 10YAHWEH has performed his Word that he spoke; for I am risen up in the room of Dawud my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as YAHWEH promised, and have built the House for the Name of YAHWEH, the God of Israel. 11There I have set the ark, in which is the covenant of YAHWEH, which he made with Bani-Israel.”
12He stood before the altar of YAHWEH in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands 13(for Sulayman had made a bronze scaffold, five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court; and he stood on it, and kneeled down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven;) 14and he said, “YAHWEH God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven, or on earth; who keep covenant and loving kindness with your servants, who walk before you with all their heart; 15who have kept your promise to your servant Dawud my father. Yes, you spoke with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is this day.
16“Now therefore, YAHWEH God of Israel, keep with your servant Dawud my father that which you have promised him, saying, ‘There shall not fail you a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children take heed to their way, to walk in my Taurat4 as you have walked before me.’ 17Now therefore, YAHWEH God of Israel, let your Word be fulfilled, which you spoke to your servant Dawud.
18“But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain you; how much less this house which I have built! 19Yet have respect for the prayer of your servant, and to his supplication, YAHWEH my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which your servant prays before you; 20that your eyes may be open toward this house day and night, even toward the place of which you have said that you would put your Name there; to listen to the prayer which your servant shall pray toward this place. 21Listen to the petitions of your servant, and of your people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: yes, hear from your dwelling-place, even from heaven; and when you hear, forgive.
22“If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath is laid on him to cause him to swear, and he comes and swears before your altar in this house; 23then hear from heaven, and do, and judge your servants, repaying the wicked, to bring his way on his own head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.
24“If your people Israel are struck down before the enemy, because they have sinned against you, and shall turn again and confess your Name, and pray and make supplication before you in this house; 25then hear from heaven, and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them again to the land which you gave to them and to their fathers.
26“When the sky is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against you; if they pray toward this place, and confess your Name, and turn from their sin, when you afflict them: 27then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on your land, which you have given to your people for an inheritance.
28“If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blasting or mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there be; 29whatever prayer and supplication is made by any man, or by all your people Israel, who shall know every man his own plague and his own sorrow, and shall spread forth his hands toward this house: 30then hear from heaven, your dwelling-place and forgive, and render to every man according to all his ways, whose heart you know; (for you, even you only, know the hearts of the children of men;) 31that they may fear you, to walk in your ways, so long as they live in the land which you gave to our fathers.
32“Moreover concerning the foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, when he shall come from a far country for your great Name’s sake, and your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm; when they shall come and pray toward this house: 33then hear from heaven, even from your dwelling-place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you for; that all the peoples of the earth may know your Name, and fear you, as does your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by your Name.
34“If your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to you toward this city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your Name; 35then hear from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
36“If they sin against you (for there is no man who does not sin), and you are angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive to a land far off or near; 37yet if they shall repent in the land where they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication to you in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, we have done perversely, and have dealt wickedly;’ 38if they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have carried them captive, and pray toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, and the city which you have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for your Name: 39then hear from heaven, even from your dwelling-place, their prayer and their petitions, and maintain their cause, and forgive your people who have sinned against you.
40“Now, my God, let, I beg you, your eyes be open, and let your ears be attentive, to the prayer that is made in this place.
41“Now therefore arise, YAHWEH God, into your resting-place, you, and the ark of your strength: let your priests, YAHWEH God, be clothed with salvation, and let your saints rejoice in goodness.
42“YAHWEH God, do not turn away the face of your Anointed:5 remember your loving kindnesses to Dawud your servant.”
- 6:1 Sulayman, this Arabic name and the name Solomon are both derived from the Hebrew name Shlomo which means “peace.” ↩︎
- 6:1 YAHWEH, God’s personal Name revealed to Prophet Musa in the Taurat, Exodus 3:15: ‘God said moreover to Musa, “You shall tell Bani-Israel this, ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Ibrahim, the God of Ishaq, and the God of Yaqub, has sent me to you.’ This is my Name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered to all generations.”’ ↩︎
- 6:4 Dawud, this Arabic name is derived from David (Hebrew) and means “Beloved.” ↩︎
- 6:16 Taurat, this Arabic term is derived from the Hebrew word Torah, which means “instruction” or “teaching.” Depending on context, Taurat can refer to,
1. The whole Hebrew Bible contained here under the title Taurat, equivalent to what Jews today call Tanakh, and what Christians call the Old Testament.
2. The revelation given to Prophet Musa, that is, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, sometimes called the Pentateuch. Pentateuch is a Greek word meaning “five books” and includes Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. These five books are attributed to Prophet Musa himself. This is the traditional and most common meaning given to Taurat or Torah.
3. The Law of Musa found within the Pentateuch, with its hundreds of rules and regulations covering many aspects of daily life for the people of Israel. The most famous of these laws are the Ten Commandments, found in Exodus 20.
4. Taurat can also refer to divine instruction and teaching in general without reference to a particular book of the Hebrew Bible. ↩︎ - 6:42 Anointed can be rendered “Masih” (Arabic) or “Messiah” (Hebrew), both of which mean “Anointed One,” that is, God’s “Chosen One.” The Taurat, Zabur, Injil and Quran all point to ‘ISA Ibn Maryam as AL-MASIH, the One sent from God. He is the promised “Son of Dawud” whom God sent into this world to save people from sin. ↩︎