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2 Chronicles 7:3

When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the LORD above the temple, they bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD: “For He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.”
2 Chronicles 7:3 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB All the children of Israel looked on, when the fire came down, and Yahweh’s glory was on the house. They bowed themselves with their faces to the ground on the pavement, worshiped, and gave thanks to Yahweh, saying, “For he is good; for his loving kindness endures for ever.”
  • KJV And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.
  • NKJV When all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped and praised the Lord, saying: “For He is good, For His mercy endures forever.”
  • NASB All the sons of Israel, seeing the fire come down and the glory of the Lord upon the house, bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave praise to the Lord, saying, “Certainly He is good, certainly His faithfulness is everlasting.”
  • NLT When all the people of Israel saw the fire coming down and the glorious presence of the Lord filling the Temple, they fell face down on the ground and worshiped and praised the Lord, saying, “He is good! His faithful love endures forever!”

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

Seeing the fire and glory, all Israel bowed with faces to the ground, worshiping and thanking God for his goodness and everlasting love. The people responded to God's presence with humble worship.

Overview

When the people witnessed the fire and the glory on the house, they fell down in worship, praising God that he is good and his lovingkindness endures forever. Their spontaneous, reverent response flowed from beholding God's glory. This is the fitting response to encountering God, a worship that will be perfected when his people see his glory fully in Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 17

  • 2 Chr 5:13The trumpeters and singers joined together to praise and thank the LORD with one voice. They lifted up their voices, accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and musical instruments, in praise to the LORD: “For He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.” And the temple, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud
  • 2 Chr 20:21Then Jehoshaphat consulted with the people and appointed those who would sing to the LORD and praise the splendor of His holiness. As they went out before the army, they were singing: “Give thanks to the LORD, for His loving devotion endures forever.”
  • Luke 1:50His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation.
  • Heb 7:24–25But because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood.
  • Ezra 3:11And they sang responsively with praise and thanksgiving to the LORD: “For He is good; for His loving devotion to Israel endures forever.” Then all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD had been laid.
  • Isa 63:7I will make known the LORD’s loving devotion and His praiseworthy acts, because of all that the LORD has done for us—the many good things for the house of Israel according to His great compassion and loving devotion.
  • Ps 136:1–26Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good. His loving devotion endures forever.
  • Exod 4:31and they believed. And when they heard that the LORD had attended to the Israelites and had seen their affliction, they bowed down and worshiped.
  • 1 Kgs 18:39When all the people saw this, they fell facedown and said, “The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!”
  • Jer 33:11the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those bringing thank offerings into the house of the LORD, saying: ‘Give thanks to the LORD of Hosts, for the LORD is good; His loving devotion endures forever.’ For I will restore the land from captivity as in former times, says the LORD.
  • Ps 95:6O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.
  • Ps 103:17But from everlasting to everlasting the loving devotion of the LORD extends to those who fear Him, and His righteousness to their children’s children—
  • Num 14:5Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown before the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel.
  • Lev 9:24Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.
  • Num 16:22But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the whole congregation?”
  • 1 Chr 16:41With them were Heman, Jeduthun, and the rest of those chosen and designated by name to give thanks to the LORD, for “His loving devotion endures forever.”
  • 1 Chr 29:20Then David said to the whole assembly, “Blessed be the LORD your God.” So the whole assembly blessed the LORD, the God of their fathers. They bowed down and paid homage to the LORD and to the king.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — 2 Chronicles videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on 2 Chronicles 7:3YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on 2 ChroniclesMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 7:3 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.