2 Tawarikh 6:12-19

6:12 He stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. 6:13 Solomon had made a bronze platform and had placed it in the middle of the enclosure. It was seven and one-half feet ¹  long, seven and one-half feet ²  wide, and four and one-half feet ³  high. He stood on it and then got down on his knees in front of the entire assembly of Israel. He spread out his hands toward the sky, 6:14 and prayed: ⁴  “O Lord God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven or on earth! You maintain covenantal loyalty ⁵  to your servants who obey you with sincerity. ⁶  6:15 You have kept your word to your servant, my father David; ⁷  this very day you have fulfilled what you promised. ⁸  6:16 Now, O Lord God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David, when you said, ‘You will never fail to have a successor ruling before me on the throne of Israel, ⁹  provided that your descendants watch their step and obey my law as you have done.’ ¹⁰  6:17 Now, O Lord God of Israel, may the promise you made to your servant David be realized. ¹¹ 

6:18 “God does not really live with humankind on the earth! ¹²  Look, if the sky and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built! 6:19 But respond favorably to ¹³  your servant’s prayer and his request for help, O Lord my God. Answer ¹⁴  the desperate prayer ¹⁵  your servant is presenting to you. ¹⁶ 

[6:13]  ¹ tn Heb “five cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the length would have been 7.5 feet (2.25 m).

[6:13]  ² tn Heb “five cubits.”

[6:13]  ³ tn Heb “three cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the height would have been 4.5 feet (1.35 m).

[6:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “said.”

[6:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “one who keeps the covenant and the loyal love.”

[6:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “who walk before you with all their heart.”

[6:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “[you] who kept to your servant David my father that which you spoke to him.”

[6:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “you spoke by your mouth and by your hand you fulfilled, as this day.”

[6:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “there will not be cut off from you a man from before me sitting on the throne of Israel.”

[6:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “guard their way by walking in my law as you have walked before me.”

[6:17]  ¹¹ tn Or “prove to be reliable.”

[6:18]  ¹² tn Heb “Indeed, can God really live with mankind on the earth?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course not,” the force of which is reflected in the translation “God does not really live with mankind on the earth.”

[6:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “turn to.”

[6:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “by listening to.”

[6:19]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the loud cry and the prayer.”

[6:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “praying before you.”