2 Chronicles 7

¹ When Solomon had finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offeringand the sacrifices; and the glory of Yahweh filled the Temple.

² The priests could not enter the Temple of Yahweh, because the glory of Yahweh fil ed the Temple ofYahweh.

³ When all the Israelites saw the fire come down and the glory of Yahweh resting on the Temple, theybowed down on the pavement with their faces to the earth, worshipping and praising Yahweh with 'For he isgood, for his faithful love lasts for ever!'

⁴ Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before Yahweh.

⁵ King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousandsheep; and thus the king and al the people dedicated the Temple of God.

⁶ The priests stood in their places, as did the Levites with Yahweh's musical instruments which KingDavid had provided, to render 'Give thanks to Yahweh, for his faithful love lasts for ever!' whenever David offeredpraise to their accompaniment. Opposite them, the priests blew trumpets, while al Israel stood.

⁷ Solomon also consecrated the middle part of the court in front of the Temple of Yahweh; for that waswhere he presented the burnt offerings and the fatty parts of the communion sacrifices, since the bronze altarwhich Solomon had made could not hold the burnt offering, the oblation and the fatty parts.

⁸ And then Solomon and with him al Israel from the Pass of Hamath to the Torrent of Egypt -- a verygreat assembly -- celebrated the feast for seven days.

⁹ On the eighth day they held the assembly, for they had devoted seven days to the dedication of thealtar and seven days to the feast.

¹⁰ On the twenty-third day of the seventh month Solomon dismissed the people to their homes, rejoicingand happy of heart over the goodness which Yahweh had shown to David, to Solomon and to his people Israel.

¹¹ Thus Solomon finished the Temple of Yahweh and the royal palace, and he successful y concludedeverything that he was of a mind to do in the Temple of Yahweh and in his own palace.

¹² Then Yahweh appeared to Solomon in the night and said, 'I have heard your prayer and have chosenthis place for myself as a house of sacrifice.

¹³ If I shut the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the country, or if Isend pestilence among my people,

¹⁴ if my people who bear my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my presence and turn fromtheir wicked ways, then I wil listen from heaven and forgive their sins and restore their country.

¹⁵ Now and for the future my eyes are open and my ears attentive to prayer offered in this place,

¹⁶ for now I have chosen and consecrated this Temple, for my name to be there for ever; my eyes andmy heart will constantly be there.

¹⁷ And if, for your part, you walk before me as your father David did, and do everything that I havecommanded you to do, and keep my laws and my ordinances,

¹⁸ I shal make your royal throne secure, as I covenanted with your father David when I said: You willnever lack for a male to rule in Israel.

¹⁹ But if you turn away and forsake my laws and commandments which I have laid down for you, and goand serve other gods and worship them,

²⁰ then I shall uproot them from the country which I have given them, and shall disown this Temple whichI have consecrated for my name and make it a proverb and a byword among all the peoples.

²¹ And at this once-exalted Temple, everyone who passes by wil be appal ed, and wil say, "Why hasYahweh treated this country and this Temple like this?"

²² And the answer will be, "Because they deserted Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, who broughtthem out of Egypt, and adopted other gods and worshipped and served them; that is why he has brought althese disasters on them." '