Listen to the pleadings of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place; hear from Your dwelling place, from heaven; hear and forgive.
Parallel translations
- WEB Listen to the petitions of your servant, and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Yes, hear from your dwelling place, even from heaven; and when you hear, forgive.
- KJV Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall make toward this place: hear thou from thy dwelling place, even from heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive.
- BSB Hear the plea of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. May You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place. May You hear and forgive.
- NKJV And may You hear the supplications of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and when You hear, forgive.
- NLT May you hear the humble and earnest requests from me and your people Israel when we pray toward this place. Yes, hear us from heaven where you live, and when you hear, forgive.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Solomon asked God to hear the prayers of king and people from heaven, and when he hears, to forgive. Forgiveness was the central plea of his prayer.
Overview
Solomon petitioned that God, dwelling in heaven, would hear and forgive when his people prayed toward the temple. Forgiveness recurs as the heart of his requests, recognizing the people's constant need of mercy. This anticipates the gospel, where God hears and forgives all who come to him through the atoning work of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Mic 7:18Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity, and passes over the disobedience of the remnant of his heritage? He doesn’t retain his anger forever, because he delights in loving kindness.
- Dan 9:19Lord, hear; Lord, forgive; Lord, listen and do; don’t defer, for your own sake, my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.
- Isa 43:25I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake; and I will not remember your sins.
- 2 Chr 6:39then hear from heaven, even from your dwelling place, their prayer and their petitions, and maintain their cause, and forgive your people who have sinned against you.
- Ps 130:3–4If you, Yah, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?
- 2 Chr 30:27Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people. Their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy habitation, even to heaven.
- Matt 6:12Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.
- Matt 6:9Pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.
- Isa 57:15For thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
- Ps 123:1A Song of Ascents. To you I do lift up my eyes, you who sit in the heavens.
- Job 22:12–14“Isn’t God in the heights of heaven? See the height of the stars, how high they are!
- Ps 85:2–3You have forgiven the iniquity of your people. You have covered all their sin. Selah.
- Isa 44:22I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.
- Eccl 5:2Don’t be rash with your mouth, and don’t let your heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and you on earth. Therefore let your words be few.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Temple, priesthood, and the repeated need for a faithful king who seeks the LORD all point past every imperfect reign to the King and Temple who finally and fully dwell with God's people.
How 2 Chronicles 6:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.