Study Desk

Then stood he before the altar of Yahweh, in the presence of all the convocation of Israel, - and spread forth his hands;

for Solomon had made a platform of bronze, and had set it in the midst of the enclosure, five cubits, the length thereof, and, five cubits, the breadth thereof, and, three cubits, the height thereof,-and he stood thereon, and knelt upon his knees, in the presence of all the convocation of Israel, and spread forth his hands, heavenward;

and said, O Yahweh! God of Israel, Not like unto thee, is there a god, in the heavens, or throughout the earth, - who keepest Covenant and Lovingkindness for thy servants who are walking before thee with all their heart:

who hast kept, for thy servant David my father, that which thou didst promise him, - in that thou didst promise with thy mouth, and, with thy hand, hast fulfilled, as it is this day.

Now, therefore, O Yahweh - God of Israel, keep thou, for thy servant David my father, that which thou didst promise him, saying, There shall not be cut off to thee a man, from before me, to sit upon the throne of Israel, if only, thy sons take heed to their way, to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me.

Now, therefore, O Yahweh, God of Israel,-verified be thy promise, which thou didst make unto thy servant David.

But, in very deed, will God dwell with man on the earth? Lo! the heavens, even the leaven of heavens, cannot contain thee, how much less this house which I have built!

Wilt thou then turn unto the prayer of thy servant and unto his supplication, O Yahweh my God, - to hearken unto the cry and unto the prayer, wherewith thy servant is praying before thee:

that thine eyes may be open toward this house, day and night, toward the place of which thou hast said thou wouldst set thy Name there, - to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant may pray towards this place:

wilt thou therefore hearken unto the supplications of thy servant, and thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place, - yea wilt, thou thyself, hear, out of thine own dwelling-place, out of the heavens, and, when thou hearest, then wilt thou forgive?

If a man shall sin against his neighbour, and there shall be laid upon him an oath, to put him on oath, - and an oath shall come before thine altar in this house,

then wilt, thou thyself, hear out of the heavens, and act, and judge thy servants, bringing back unto the lawless, to set his way upon his own head, - and justifying the righteous, by giving to him, according to his righteousness?

Or, if thy people Israel be smitten before an enemy, because they have been sinning against thee, - and they turn, and confess thy Name, and pray and make supplication before thee, in this house,

then wilt, thou thyself, hear out of the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, - and bring them back unto the soil, which thou didst give to them and to their fathers?

When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain, because they have been sinning against thee, - and they shall pray towards this place, and shall confess thy Name, from their sin, shall return, because thou hast been afflicting them,

then wilt, thou thyself, hear out of the heavens and forgive the sin of thy servants, and thy people Israel, that thou mayest direct them into the good way, wherein they should walk, - and give rain, upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy people, for an inheritance?

When there shall be, a famine, in the land, when there shall be, a pestilence, - when there shall be, blasting or mildew, locust or caterpillar, - when their enemy shall besiege them in the land at their own gates-whatsoever plague or whatsoever sickness;-

whatsoever prayer, whatsoever supplication, which any son of earth may have, or any of thy people Israel, - when any man shall come to know his plague, or his pain, and so he shall spread abroad his hands towards this house -

then wilt, thou thyself, hear out of the heavens, the settled place of thine abode, and forgive, and grant to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou wilt know, - for, thou thyself alone, knowest the heart of the sons of men:

to the end they may revere thee, to walk in thy ways, all the days which they shall be living upon the face of the soil, - which thou gavest unto their fathers?

Moreover also, unto the stranger who is not, of thy people Israel, but he shall come in out of a far country - for the sake of thy great Name, and of thy strong hand, and of thine outstretched arm, - and so they shall come in and pray towards this house,

then wilt, thou thyself, hear out of the heavens, out of the settled place of thine abode, and do according to all for which the stranger shall cry unto thee, - to the end that all the peoples of the earth may know thy Name, so as to revere thee like thy people Israel, and know that, thy Name, hath been given unto this house, which I have built?

When thy people shall go forth to war against their enemies, whithersoever thou mayest send them, - and shall pray unto thee in the direction of this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy Name,

then wilt thou hear, out of the heavens, their prayer and their supplication, - and maintain their right.

When they sin against thee - for there is no son of earth who sinneth not - and thou shalt be angry with them, and deliver them up before an enemy, - who shall carry them away as their captives into a land - far away or near;

and they come back to their right mind, in the land whither they have been taken captive, - and so turn and make supplication unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done perversely, and been lawless; -

and so turn unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captive, - and shall pray in the direction of their own land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and the city which thou hast chosen, and unto the house which I have built for thy Name,

then wilt thou hear out of the heavens - out of the settled place of thine abode - their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, - and forgive thy people, that wherein they sinned against thee?

Now, O my God, let - I beseech thee - thine eyes be open, and thine ears attent, - unto the prayer of this place.

Now, therefore, arise! O Yahweh God, unto thy rest, thou, and the ark of thy strength: Thy priests, O Yahweh God, let them be clothed with salvation, and, thy men of lovingkindness, let them rejoice in prosperity.

O Yahweh God! do not turn away thy face from thine Anointed One, - oh remember lovingkindness unto David thy servant.