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A. 1 Kings 8.

(Continued.)

in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; if only thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me as thou hast walked 26 before me. Now therefore, O God of Israel, let thy word, [I pray thee,] be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David [my father].

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But will God in very deed dwell on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that 28 I have builded! Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee 29 [this day]: that thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place whereof thou hast said, My name shall be there a; to

hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall pray toward 30 this place. And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place : yea, hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place; and when thou hearest, forgive.

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B. 2 Chron. 6.
(Continued.)

in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; if only thy children take heed to their way, to walk in my law as thou hast walked 17 before me. Now therefore, O [LORD, the] God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David.

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But will God in very deed dwell [with men] on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which 19 I have builded! Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee: that thine eyes may

20. be open toward this house day and night, even toward the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy name there; to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall pray toward 21 this place. And hearken thou to the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: yea, hear thou from thy dwelling place, even from heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive.

If a man sin against his neigh-22 bour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and he come and swear before thine 32 altar in this house: then hear

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If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and he come and swear before thine 23 altar in this house: then hear thou from heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, requiting the wicked, to bring his way upon his own head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

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And if thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee; and shall turn again

§ 21. There are other instances of the direct being turned into the oblique. b A. usually puts no preposition at all in this formula, B. usually has .

.להשיב .B .להרשיע .c Possibly a various reading. A

A. 1 Kings 8.

(Continued.)

and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication unto thee 34 in this house: then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest to their fathers.

35 When . heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost 36 afflict them: then hear thou in a

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heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou teachest them the good way wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.

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If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, . mildew, locust . caterpiller; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatso38 ever sickness there be; what prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and shall spread forth his hands toward this house: 39 then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, [and do,] and render unto every man according to all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of [all] the children of 40 men ;) that they may fear thee .all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

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When [the] heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost 27 afflict them: then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou teachest them the good way wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.

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If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting [or] mildew, locust [or] caterpiller; if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague [or] whatso29 ever sickness there be; what prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, [or] by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man his own plague and his own sorrow, and shall spread forth his hands toward this house: 30 then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive,

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and render unto every man according to all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of . the children of 31 men ;) that they may fear thee, [to walk in thy ways,] so long as they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers. Moreover concerning stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, when he shall come

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the

d In this case B. simply copies A.'s idiom instead of putting 'from heaven.' • There is a tendency in B. to add conjunctions so as to make the sentences more smooth. ! Possibly grown out of a various reading; A. 122. B. 1; but not probable. The LXX agrees with our texts.

A. 1 Kings 8.

(Continued.)

from a far country for the sake of 42 thy [name; for they shall hear

of thy] great name, and thy mighty hand, and thy stretched out arm; when he shall come and pray toward this house; 43 hear thou in heaven.

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thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all the peoples of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as doth thy people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.

If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatsoever way thou shalt send them, and they pray unto the LORD in the direction of the city which thou hast chosen, and [in the direction of the house which 45 I have built for thy name: then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and main46 tain their cause. If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive unto the land [of the enemy] far off or 47 near; yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captive, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, 48 we

have dealt wickedly ; if they return unto thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, which carried them captive, and pray [unto thee] in the direction of their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers,

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the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which 49 I have built for thy name: then hear thou their prayer and their

B. 2 Chron. 6.
(Continued.)

from a far country for the sake of
thy

great name, and thy mighty hand, and thy stretched out arm; when they shall come 33 and pray toward this house: [then] hear thou from heaven, [even from] thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all the peoples of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as doth thy people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.

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If thy people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatsoever way thou shalt send them, and they pray unto thee in the direction of this city which thou hast chosen, and

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the house which 35 I have built for thy name: then

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hear thou from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and main36 tain their cause. If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive unto a land . far off or near; yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done perversely; 38 and have dealt wickedly; if they return unto thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither [they have] carried them captive, and pray

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the direction of their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, [and] the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which 39 I have built for thy name: then hear thou from heaven, [even from]

8 The E. A. V. and the R. V. alike fail to notice the changes in both texts

.48 .so below, v : דרך to אל from

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52 [that]thine eyes may be open unto
the supplication of thy servant,
and unto the supplication of thy
people Israel, to hearken unto
them whensoever they cry unto
53 thee. [For thou didst separate 41
them from among all the peoples
of the earth, to be thine inherit-
ance, as thou spakest by the hand
of Moses thy servant, when thou
broughtest our fathers out of
Egypt, O Lord GOD.]

54 And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying [all i this prayer and supplication unto the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees with his hands 55 spread forth toward heaven. And

he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud 56 voice, saying, Blessed be the

LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.

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B. 2 Chron. 6, 7.

(Continued.)

thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause; and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee.

[Now, O

my God, let, I beseech thee,] thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent, unto the prayer that is made in this place.

[Now therefore arise, O LORD God, into thy resting place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness. 42 O LORD God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant.] Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, [the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of 2 the LORD filled the house. And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD filled the 3 LORD'S house. And all the children of Israel looked on, when the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD was upon the house; and they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and

h B. has followed A. very closely through the prayer, and it is strange that he here diverges. The latter part of B. is to be found in Psalm 132. 8-10, where the name of David is spelled in the early form, as in A. passim, inclining us to suppose that the chronicler quotes from the Psalm, not vice versa. i Here again there is a considerable divergence, though there is no inconsistency, and one account supplements the other, both having been preserved by the scribes of the time.

A. 1 Kings 8.

(Continued.)

57 The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him 58 not leave us, nor forsake us: that he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgements, which he commanded our fathers. 59 And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the LORD, be nigh unto the LORD our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel, as every day shall 60 require that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD, he is God; there is none 61 else. Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.]

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B. 2 Chron. 7.

(Continued.)

worshipped, and gave thanks unto the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.]

4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the 5 LORD. And [king] Solomon offered a sacrifice of

two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of 6 God. [And the priests stood, according to their offices; the Levites also with instruments of music of the LORD, which David the king had made to give thanks unto the LORD, for his mercy endureth for ever, when David praised by their ministry: and the priests sounded-trumpetsk before them; and all Israel stood.] 7 Moreover Solomon hallowed the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD; for there he offered the burnt offerings,

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and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brasen altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offering, and the meal offering, and the fat.

This verb (3) is only in Chron.

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