2 Chronicles 7
1 And when Solomon had finished
praying, then the fire came down from heaven, and devoured the
whole-burnt-offerings and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the
house. 2 And the priests could not
enter into the house of the Lord at that time, for the glory of the Lord
filled the house. 3 And all the
children of Israel saw the fire descending, and the glory of the Lord was upon
the house: and they fell upon their face to the ground on the pavement, and
worshipped, and praised the Lord; for it is good
to do so, because his mercy
endures for ever.
4 And the king and all the people
were offering sacrifices before the Lord.
5 And king Solomon offered a sacrifice
of calves twenty and two thousand, of sheep a hundred and twenty thousand: so
the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.
6 And the priests were standing at
their watches, and the Levites with instruments of music of the Lord,
belonging to king David, to give thanks before the Lord, for his mercy
endures for ever, with the hymns of David, by their
ministry: and the priests were blowing the trumpets before them, and all
Israel standing. 7 And Solomon
consecrated the middle of the court that was in the house of the Lord: for he
offered there the whole-burnt-offerings and the fat of the peace-offerings,
for the brazen altar which Solomon had made was not sufficient to receive the
whole-burnt-offerings, and the meat-offerings, and the fat.
8 And Solomon kept the feast at that
time seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly, from the
entering in of Æmath, and as far as the river of Egypt.
9 And on the eighth day he kept a
solemn assembly: for he kept a feast of seven days as the dedication of the
altar. 10 And on the twenty-third day
of the seventh month he dismissed the people to their tents, rejoicing, and
with a glad heart because of the good deeds which the Lord had done to David,
and to Solomon, and to Israel his people.
11 So Solomon finished the house of
the Lord, and the king's house: and in whatever Solomon wished in his heart to
do in the house of the Lord and in his own house, he prospered.
12 And the Lord appeared to Solomon
by night, and said to him, I have heard thy prayer, and I have chosen this
place to myself for a house of sacrifice.
13 If I should restrain the heaven
and there should be no rain, and if I should command the locust to devour the
trees, and if I should send pestilence upon my people;
14 then if my people, on whom my name
is called, should repent, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their evil
ways, I also will hear from heaven, and I will be merciful to their sins, and
I will heal their land. 15 And now my
eyes shall be open, and my ears attentive to the prayer of this place.
16 And now I have chosen and
sanctified this house, that my name should be there for ever: and my eyes and
my heart shall be there always.
17 And if thou wilt walk before me as
David thy father did, and wilt do according to all
that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my ordinances and my judgments;
18 then will I establish the throne
of thy kingdom, as I covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not
fail thee a man ruling in Israel.
19 But if ye should turn away, and
forsake my ordinances and my commandments, which I have set before you, and go
and serve other gods, and worship them;
20 then will I remove you from the
land which I gave them; and this house which I have consecrated to my name I
will remove out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a by-word among
all nations. 21 And
as for this lofty house, every one that passes by it
shall be amazed, and shall say, Wherefore has the Lord done
thus to this land, and to this house?
22 And
men shall say, Because they forsook the Lord God of
their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they attached
themselves to other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: and therefore
he has brought upon them all this evil.