2 Chronicles 6
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Then a Solomon spoke:
"The LORD said He would dwell in the b dark cloud.
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I have surely built You an exalted house,
And c a place for You to dwell in forever."
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Then the king turned around and d blessed the whole assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing.
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And he said: "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who has fulfilled with His hands what He spoke with His mouth to my father David, e saying,
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'Since the day that I brought My people out of the land of Egypt, I have chosen no city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house, that My name might be there, nor did I choose any man to be a ruler over My people Israel.
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f 'Yet I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name may be there, and I g have chosen David to be over My people Israel.'
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"Now h it was in the heart of my father David to build a temple for the name of the LORD God of Israel.
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"But the LORD said to my father David, 'Whereas it was in your heart to build a temple for My name, you did well in that it was in your heart.
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'Nevertheless you shall not build the temple, but your son who will come from your body, he shall build the temple for My i name.'
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"So the LORD has fulfilled His word which He spoke, and I have filled the position of my father David, and j sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised; and I have built the temple for the name of the LORD God of Israel.
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"And there I have put the ark, k in which is the covenant of the LORD which He made with the children of Israel."
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l Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands
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(for Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court; and he stood on it, knelt down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven);
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and he said: "LORD God of Israel, m there is no God in heaven or on earth like You, who keep Your n covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts.
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o "You have kept what You promised Your servant David my father; You have both spoken with Your mouth and fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day.
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"Therefore, LORD God of Israel, now keep what You promised Your servant David my father, saying, p 'You shall not fail to have a man sit before Me on the throne of Israel, q only if your sons take heed to their way, that they walk in My law as you have walked before Me.'
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"And now, O LORD God of Israel, let Your word come true, which You have spoken to Your servant David.
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"But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? r Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!
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"Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O LORD my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You:
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"that Your eyes may be s open toward this temple day and night, toward the place where You said You would put Your name, that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes t toward this place.
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"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, u forgive.
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"If anyone sins against his neighbor, and is forced to take an v oath, and comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this temple,
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"then hear from heaven, and act, and judge Your servants, bringing retribution on the wicked by bringing his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his w righteousness.
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"Or if Your people Israel are defeated before an x enemy because they have sinned against You, and return and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication before You in this temple,
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"then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to them and their fathers.
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"When the y heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, when they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin because You afflict them,
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"then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.
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"When there z is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever a sickness there is;
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"whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, when each one knows his own burden and his own grief, and spreads out his hands to this temple:
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"then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone b know the c hearts of the sons of men),
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"that they may fear You, to walk in Your ways as long as they live in the land which You gave to our fathers.
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"Moreover, concerning a foreigner, d who is not of Your people Israel, but has come from a far country for the sake of Your great name and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm, when they come and pray in this temple;
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"then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, that all peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this temple which I have built is called by Your name.
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"When Your people go out to battle against their enemies, wherever You send them, and when they pray to You toward this city which You have chosen and the temple which I have built for Your name,
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"then hear from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
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"When they sin against You (for there is e no one who does not sin), and You become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them f captive to a land far or near;
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"yet when they come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to You in the land of their captivity, saying, 'We have sinned, we have done wrong, and have committed wickedness';
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"and when they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been carried captive, and pray toward their land which You gave to their fathers, the g city which You have chosen, and toward the temple which I have built for Your name:
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"then hear from heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You.
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"Now, my God, I pray, let Your eyes be h open and let Your ears be attentive to the prayer made in this place.
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"Now i therefore,
Arise, O LORD God, to Your j resting place,
You and the ark of Your strength.
Let Your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation,
And let Your saints k rejoice in goodness.
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"O LORD God, do not turn away the face of Your Anointed;
l Remember the mercies of Your servant David."
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Cross References
Exodus 19:9
And the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I come to you in the thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever." So Moses told the words of the people to the LORD.
Exodus 20:21
So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.
1 Kings 8:12 - 21
Then Solomon spoke: "The LORD said He would dwell in the dark cloud.
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Cross References
Leviticus 16:2
And the LORD said to Moses: "Tell Aaron your brother not to come at just any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.
Psalms 97:2
Clouds and darkness surround Him; Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
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Cross References
2 Samuel 7:13
He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
1 Chronicles 17:12
He shall build Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever.
2 Chronicles 7:12
Then the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: "I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice.
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Cross References
2 Samuel 6:18
And when David had finished offering burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts.
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Cross References
1 Chronicles 17:5
For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought up Israel, even to this day, but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another.
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Cross References
Deuteronomy 12:5 - 7
But you shall seek the place where the LORD your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go.
2 Chronicles 12:13
Thus King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Now Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king; and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. His mother's name was Naamah, an Ammonitess.
Zechariah 2:12
And the LORD will take possession of Judah as His inheritance in the Holy Land, and will again choose Jerusalem.
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Cross References
1 Samuel 16:7 - 13
But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.
1 Chronicles 28:4
However the LORD God of Israel chose me above all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever, for He has chosen Judah to be the ruler. And of the house of Judah, the house of my father, and among the sons of my father, He was pleased with me to make me king over all Israel.
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Cross References
2 Samuel 7:2
That the king said to Nathan the prophet, "See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells inside tent curtains.
1 Chronicles 17:1
Now it came to pass, when David was dwelling in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, "See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the LORD is under tent curtains.
1 Chronicles 28:2
Then King David rose to his feet and said, "Hear me, my brethren and my people: I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God, and had made preparations to build it.
Psalms 132:1 - 5
LORD, remember David And all his afflictions.
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Cross References
1 Chronicles 28:3 - 6
"But God said to me, 'You shall not build a house for My name, because you have been a man of war and have shed blood.'
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Cross References
1 Kings 2:12
Then Solomon sat on the throne of his father David; and his kingdom was firmly established.
1 Kings 10:9
"Blessed be the LORD your God, who delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because the LORD has loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do justice and righteousness."
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Cross References
2 Chronicles 5:7 - 10
Then the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim.
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Cross References
1 Kings 8:22
Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven.
2 Chronicles 7:7 - 9
Furthermore Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the house of the LORD; for there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat.
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Cross References
Exodus 15:11
Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?
Deuteronomy 4:39
Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the LORD Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.
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Cross References
Deuteronomy 7:9
Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments.
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Cross References
1 Chronicles 22:9
Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies all around. His name shall be Solomon, for I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days.
1 Chronicles 22:10
'He shall build a house for My name, and he shall be My son, and I will be his Father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.'
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Cross References
2 Samuel 7:12
When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.
2 Samuel 7:16
"And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever." '"
1 Kings 2:4
"that the LORD may fulfill His word which He spoke concerning me, saying, 'If your sons take heed to their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul,' He said, 'you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.'
1 Kings 6:12
Concerning this temple which you are building, if you walk in My statutes, execute My judgments, keep all My commandments, and walk in them, then I will perform My word with you, which I spoke to your father David.
2 Chronicles 7:18
"then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, 'You shall not fail to have a man as ruler in Israel.'
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Cross References
Psalms 132:12
If your sons will keep My covenant And My testimony which I shall teach them, Their sons also shall sit upon your throne forevermore.
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Cross References
2 Chronicles 2:6
But who is able to build Him a temple, since heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him? Who am I then, that I should build Him a temple, except to burn sacrifice before Him?
Isaiah 66:1
Thus says the LORD: "Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest?
Acts 7:49
Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? says the LORD, Or what is the place of My rest?
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Cross References
2 Chronicles 7:15
Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.
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Cross References
Psalms 5:7
But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy; In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple.
Daniel 6:10
Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.
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Cross References
Isaiah 43:25
I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.
Isaiah 44:22
I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, And like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.
Micah 7:18
Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy.
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Cross References
Exodus 22:8 - 11
If the thief is not found, then the master of the house shall be brought to the judges to see whether he has put his hand into his neighbor's goods.
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Cross References
Job 34:11
For He repays man according to his work, And makes man to find a reward according to his way.
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Cross References
2 Kings 21:14
So I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become victims of plunder to all their enemies.
2 Kings 21:15
'because they have done evil in My sight, and have provoked Me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.'"
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Cross References
Deuteronomy 28:23
And your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you shall be iron.
Deuteronomy 28:24
The LORD will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.
1 Kings 17:1
And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, " As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.
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Cross References
2 Chronicles 20:9
'If disaster comes upon us - sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine - we will stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your name is in this temple), and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.'
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Cross References
Micah 6:13
Therefore I will also make you sick by striking you, By making you desolate because of your sins.
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Cross References
1 Chronicles 28:9
As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.
Proverbs 21:2
Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, But the LORD weighs the hearts.
Proverbs 24:12
If you say, "Surely we did not know this," Does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?
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Cross References
1 Samuel 16:7
But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.
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Cross References
John 12:20
Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.
Acts 8:27
So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship.
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Cross References
Proverbs 20:9
Who can say, "I have made my heart clean, I am ...
Ecclesiastes 7:20
For there is not a just man on earth who does g...
Romans 3:9
What then? Are we better than they? Not at all....
Romans 3:19
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says...
Romans 5:12
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered ...
Galatians 3:10
For as many as are of the works of the law are ...
James 3:2
For we all stumble in many things. If anyone do...
1 John 1:8
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourse...
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Cross References
Deuteronomy 28:63 - 68
And it shall be, that just as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess.
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Cross References
Daniel 6:10
Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.
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Cross References
2 Chronicles 6:20
That Your eyes may be open toward this temple day and night, toward the place where You said You would put Your name, that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes toward this place.
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Cross References
Psalms 132:8 - 10
Arise, O LORD, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength.
Psalms 132:16
I will also clothe her priests with salvation, And her saints shall shout aloud for joy.
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Cross References
1 Chronicles 28:2
Then King David rose to his feet and said, "Hear me, my brethren and my people: I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God, and had made preparations to build it.
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Cross References
Nehemiah 9:25
And they took strong cities and a rich land, And possessed houses full of all goods, Cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves, And fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled and grew fat, And delighted themselves in Your great goodness.
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Cross References
2 Samuel 7:15
But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you.
Psalms 89:49
Lord, where are Your former lovingkindnesses, Which You swore to David in Your truth?
Psalms 132:1
LORD, remember David And all his afflictions.
Psalms 132:8 - 10
Arise, O LORD, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength.
Isaiah 55:3
Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you - The sure mercies of David.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.