1 Kings — Chapter 8

1At that time Solomon assembled before him in Jerusalem the elders of Israel—all the tribal heads and family leaders of the Israelites—to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Zion, the City of David.

2And all the men of Israel came together to King Solomon at the feast in the seventh month, the month of Ethanim.

3When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark,

4and they brought up the ark of the LORD and the Tent of Meeting with all its sacred furnishings. So the priests and Levites carried them up.

5There, before the ark, King Solomon and the whole congregation of Israel who had assembled with him sacrificed so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.

6Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, beneath the wings of the cherubim.

7For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed the ark and its poles.

8The poles extended far enough that their ends were visible from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are there to this day.

9There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the LORD had made a covenant with the Israelites after they had come out of the land of Egypt.

10And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the house of the LORD

11so that the priests could not stand there to minister because of the cloud. For the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.

12Then Solomon declared: “The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud.

13I have indeed built You an exalted house, a place for You to dwell forever.”

14And as the whole assembly of Israel stood there, the king turned around and blessed them all

15and said: “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who has fulfilled with His own hand what He spoke with His mouth to my father David, saying,

16‘Since the day I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house so that My Name would be there. But I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’

17Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

18But the LORD said to my father David, ‘Since it was in your heart to build a house for My Name, you have done well to have this in your heart.

19Nevertheless, you are not the one to build it; but your son, your own offspring, will build the house for My Name.’

20Now the LORD has fulfilled the word that He spoke. I have succeeded my father David, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised. I have built the house for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

21And there I have provided a place for the ark, which contains the covenant of the LORD that He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

22Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven,

23and said: “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth below, keeping Your covenant of loving devotion with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts.

24You have kept Your promise to Your servant, my father David. What You spoke with Your mouth You have fulfilled with Your hand this day.

25Therefore now, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for Your servant, my father David, what You promised when You said: ‘You will never fail to have a man to sit before Me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants guard their way to walk before Me as you have done.’

26And now, O God of Israel, please confirm what You promised to Your servant, my father David.

27But will God indeed dwell upon the earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.

28Yet regard the prayer and plea of Your servant, O LORD my God, so that You may hear the cry and the prayer that Your servant is praying before You today.

29May Your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place.

30Hear 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.

31When a man sins against his neighbor and is required to take an oath, and he comes to take an oath before Your altar in this temple,

32then may You hear from heaven and act. May You judge Your servants, condemning the wicked man by bringing down on his own head what he has done, and justifying the righteous man by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

33When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and they return to You and confess Your name, praying and pleading with You in this temple,

34then may You hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel. May You restore them to the land You gave to their fathers.

35When the skies are shut and there is no rain because Your people have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and they turn from their sins because You have afflicted them,

36then may You hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, so that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk. May You send rain on the land that You gave Your people as an inheritance.

37When famine or plague comes upon the land, or blight or mildew or locusts or grasshoppers, or when their enemy besieges them in their cities, whatever plague or sickness may come,

38then may whatever prayer or petition Your people Israel make—each knowing his own afflictions and spreading out his hands toward this temple—

39be heard by You from heaven, Your dwelling place. And may You forgive and act, and repay each man according to all his ways, since You know his heart—for You alone know the hearts of all men—

40so that they may fear You all the days they live in the land that You gave to our fathers.

41And as for the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of Your name—

42for they will hear of Your great name and mighty hand and outstretched arm—when he comes and prays toward this temple,

43then may You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You. Then all the peoples of the earth will know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and they will know that this house I have built is called by Your Name.

44When Your people go to war against their enemies, wherever You send them, and when they pray to the LORD in the direction of the city You have chosen and the house I have built for Your Name,

45then may You hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and may You uphold their cause.

46When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and deliver them to an enemy who takes them as captives to his own land, whether far or near,

47and when they come to their senses in the land to which they were taken, and they repent and plead with You in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong; we have acted wickedly,’

48and when they return to You with all their heart and soul in the land of the enemies who took them captive, and when they pray to You in the direction of the land that You gave to their fathers, the city You have chosen, and the house I have built for Your Name,

49then may You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, their prayer and petition, and may You uphold their cause.

50May You forgive Your people who have sinned against You and all the transgressions they have committed against You, and may You grant them compassion in the eyes of their captors to show them mercy.

51For they are Your people and Your inheritance; You brought them out of Egypt, out of the furnace for iron.

52May Your eyes be open to the pleas of Your servant and of Your people Israel, and may You listen to them whenever they call to You.

53For You, O Lord GOD, have set them apart from all the peoples of the earth as Your inheritance, as You spoke through Your servant Moses when You brought our fathers out of Egypt.”

54Now when Solomon had finished praying this entire prayer and petition to the LORD, he got up before the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven.

55And he stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying:

56“Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel according to all that He promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises He made through His servant Moses.

57May the LORD our God be with us, as He was with our fathers. May He never leave us or forsake us.

58May He incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep the commandments and statutes and ordinances He commanded our fathers.

59And may these words with which I have made my petition before the LORD be near to the LORD our God day and night, so that He may uphold the cause of His servant and of His people Israel as each day requires,

60so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God. There is no other!

61So let your heart be fully devoted to the LORD our God, as it is this day, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments.”

62Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the LORD.

63And Solomon offered as peace offerings to the LORD 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the house of the LORD.

64On that same day the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard in front of the house of the LORD, and there he offered the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, since the bronze altar before the LORD was too small to contain all these offerings.

65So at that time Solomon and all Israel with him—a great assembly of people from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt—kept the feast before the LORD our God for seven days and seven more days—fourteen days in all.

66On the fifteenth day Solomon sent the people away. So they blessed the king and went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good things that the LORD had done for His servant David and for His people Israel.

1Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.

2And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.

3And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.

4And they brought up the ark of the LORD, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up.

5And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude.

6And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims.

7For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.

8And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day.

9There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

10And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD,

11So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.

12Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in thick darkness.

13I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever.

14And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation of Israel: (and all the congregation of Israel stood;)

15And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which spake with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it, saying,

16Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that my name might be therein; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.

17And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

18And the LORD said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart.

19Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name.

20And the LORD hath performed his word that he spake, and I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

21And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

22And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven:

23And he said, LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart:

24Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day.

25Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me.

26And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father.

27But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?

28Yet 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 to day:

29That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place.

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

31If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house:

32Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

33When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house:

34Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers.

35When 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 afflictest them:

36Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.

37If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpiller; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be;

38What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house:

39Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;)

40That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

41Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name’s sake;

42(For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house;

43Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by thy name.

44If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the LORD toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name:

45Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

46If 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 captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;

47Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;

48And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name:

49Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause,

50And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them:

51For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron:

52That thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto thee.

53For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.

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

55And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying,

56Blessed 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.

57The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us:

58That he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers.

59And 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 at all times, as the matter shall require:

60That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God, and that there is none else.

61Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.

62And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD.

63And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the LORD, two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD.

64The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brasen altar that was before the LORD was too little to receive the burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.

65And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days and seven days, even fourteen days.

66On the eighth day he sent the people away: and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people.

1Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers` [houses] of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of the city of David, which is Zion.

2And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast, in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.

3And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.

4And they brought up the ark of Jehovah, and the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent; even these did the priests and the Levites bring up.

5And king Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be counted nor numbered for multitude.

6And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah unto its place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubim.

7For the cherubim spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and the staves thereof above.

8And the staves were so long that the ends of the staves were seen from the holy place before the oracle; but they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day.

9There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, when Jehovah made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

10And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of Jehovah,

11so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud; for the glory of Jehovah filled the house of Jehovah.

12Then spake Solomon, Jehovah hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

13I have surely built thee a house of habitation, a place for thee to dwell in for ever.

14And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the assembly of Israel: and all the assembly of Israel stood.

15And he said, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, who spake with his mouth unto David thy father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it, saying,

16Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, that my name might be there; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.

17Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel.

18But Jehovah said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thy heart to build a house for my name, thou didst well that it was in thy heart:

19nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house for my name.

20And Jehovah hath established his word that he spake; for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as Jehovah promised, and have built the house for the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel.

21And there have I set a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of Jehovah, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

22And Solomon stood before the altar of Jehovah in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven;

23and he said, O Jehovah, the God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath; who keepest covenant and lovingkindness with thy servants, that walk before thee with all their heart;

24who hast kept with thy servant David my father that which thou didst promise him: yea, thou spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thy hand, as it is this day.

25Now therefore, O Jehovah, the God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man 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 before me.

26Now therefore, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father.

27But 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 I have builded!

28Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Jehovah my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee this day;

29that thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place whereof thou hast said, My name shall be there; to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall pray toward this place.

30And 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.

31If a man sin against his neighbor, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and he come [and] swear before thine altar in this house;

32then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his own head, and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

33When thy people Israel are smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee; if they turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication unto thee in this house:

34then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers.

35When 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 afflict them:

36then 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.

37If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting [or] mildew, locust [or] caterpillar; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be;

38what prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, [or] by all thy people Israel, who shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house:

39then 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 men;)

40that they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

41Moreover concerning the foreigner, that is not of thy people Israel, when he shall come out of a far country for thy name`s sake

42(for they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy mighty hand, and of thine outstretched arm); when he shall come and pray toward this house;

43hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place, and do according to all that the foreigner 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 my name.

44If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatsoever way thou shalt send them, and they pray unto Jehovah toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name;

45then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

46If 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 near;

47yet 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, we have dealt wickedly;

48if they return unto thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name:

49then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling-place, and maintain their cause;

50and forgive thy people who have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee; and give them compassion before those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them

51(for they are thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron);

52that 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 thee.

53For thou didst separate them from among all the peoples of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord Jehovah.

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

55And he stood, and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying,

56Blessed be Jehovah, 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 Moses his servant.

57Jehovah our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us;

58that he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his ordinances, which he commanded our fathers.

59And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before Jehovah, be nigh unto Jehovah our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel, as every day shall require;

60that all the peoples of the earth may know that Jehovah, he is God; there is none else.

61Let your heart therefore be perfect with Jehovah our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.

62And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before Jehovah.

63And Solomon offered for the sacrifice of peace-offerings, which he offered unto Jehovah, two and twenty thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of Jehovah.

64The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that was before the house of Jehovah; for there he offered the burnt-offering, and the meal-offering, and the fat of the peace-offerings, because the brazen altar that was before Jehovah was too little to receive the burnt-offering, and the meal-offering, and the fat of the peace-offerings.

65So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath unto the brook of Egypt, before Jehovah our God, seven days and seven days, even fourteen days.

66On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that Jehovah had showed unto David his servant, and to Israel his people.

1Then Solomon convened in Jerusalem Israel’s elders, all the leaders of the Israelite tribes and families, so they could witness the transferal of the ark of the Lord’s covenant from the City of David (that is, Zion).

2All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon during the festival in the month of Ethanim (the seventh month).

3When all Israel’s elders had arrived, the priests lifted the ark.

4The priests and Levites carried the ark of the Lord, the tent of meeting, and all the holy items in the tent.

5Now King Solomon and all the Israelites who had assembled with him went on ahead of the ark and sacrificed more sheep and cattle than could be counted or numbered.

6The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its assigned place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, in the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim.

7The cherubim’s wings extended over the place where the ark sat; the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles.

8The poles were so long their ends were visible from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from beyond that point. They have remained there to this very day.

9There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets Moses had placed there in Horeb. It was there that the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

10Once the priests left the Holy Place, a cloud filled the Lord’s temple.

11The priests could not carry out their duties because of the cloud; the Lord’s glory filled his temple.

12Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he lives in thick darkness.

13O Lord, truly I have built a lofty temple for you, a place where you can live permanently.”

14Then the king turned around and pronounced a blessing over the whole Israelite assembly as they stood there.

15He said, “The Lord God of Israel is worthy of praise because he has fulfilled what he promised my father David.

16He told David, ‘Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a temple in which to live. But I have chosen David to lead my people Israel.’

17Now my father David had a strong desire to build a temple to honor the Lord God of Israel.

18The Lord told my father David, ‘It is right for you to have a strong desire to build a temple to honor me.

19But you will not build the temple; your very own son will build the temple for my honor.’

20The Lord has kept the promise he made. I have taken my father David’s place and have occupied the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised. I have built this temple for the honor of the Lord God of Israel

21and set up in it a place for the ark containing the covenant the Lord made with our ancestors when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

22Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward the sky.

23He prayed: “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven above or on earth below! You maintain covenantal loyalty to your servants who obey you with sincerity.

24You have kept your word to your servant, my father David; this very day you have fulfilled what you promised.

25Now, 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, provided that your descendants watch their step and serve me as you have done.’

26Now, O God of Israel, may the promise you made to your servant, my father David, be realized.

27“God does not really live on the earth! Look, if the sky and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built!

28But respond favorably to your servant’s prayer and his request for help, O Lord my God. Answer the desperate prayer your servant is presenting to you today.

29Night and day may you watch over this temple, the place where you promised you would live. May you answer your servant’s prayer for this place.

30Respond to the request of your servant and your people Israel for this place. Hear from inside your heavenly dwelling place and respond favorably.

31“When someone is accused of sinning against his neighbor and the latter pronounces a curse on the alleged offender before your altar in this temple, be willing to forgive the accused if the accusation is false.

32Listen from heaven and make a just decision about your servants’ claims. Condemn the guilty party, declare the other innocent, and give both of them what they deserve.

33“The time will come when your people Israel are defeated by an enemy because they sinned against you. If they come back to you, renew their allegiance to you, and pray for your help in this temple,

34then listen from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to their ancestors.

35“The time will come when the skies are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you, and turn away from their sin because you punish them,

36then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Certainly you will then teach them the right way to live and send rain on your land that you have given your people to possess.

37“The time will come when the land suffers from a famine, a plague, blight and disease, or a locust invasion, or when their enemy lays siege to the cities of the land, or when some other type of plague or epidemic occurs.

38When all your people Israel pray and ask for help, as they acknowledge their pain and spread out their hands toward this temple,

39then listen from your heavenly dwelling place, forgive their sin, and act favorably toward each one based on your evaluation of his motives. (Indeed you are the only one who can correctly evaluate the motives of all people.)

40Then they will obey you throughout their lifetimes as they live on the land you gave to our ancestors.

41“Foreigners, who do not belong to your people Israel, will come from a distant land because of your reputation.

42When they hear about your great reputation and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds, they will come and direct their prayers toward this temple.

43Then listen from your heavenly dwelling place and answer all the prayers of the foreigners. Then all the nations of the earth will acknowledge your reputation, obey you as your people Israel do, and recognize that this temple I built belongs to you.

44“When you direct your people to march out and fight their enemies, and they direct their prayers to the Lord toward his chosen city and this temple I built for your honor,

45then listen from heaven to their prayers for help and vindicate them.

46“The time will come when your people will sin against you (for there is no one who is sinless!) and you will be angry with them and deliver them over to their enemies, who will take them as prisoners to their own land, whether far away or close by.

47When your people come to their senses in the land where they are held prisoner, they will repent and beg for your mercy in the land of their imprisonment, admitting, ‘We have sinned and gone astray; we have done evil.’

48When they return to you with all their heart and being in the land where they are held prisoner, and direct their prayers to you toward the land you gave to their ancestors, your chosen city, and the temple I built for your honor,

49then listen from your heavenly dwelling place to their prayers for help and vindicate them.

50Forgive all the rebellious acts of your sinful people and cause their captors to have mercy on them.

51After all, they are your people and your special possession whom you brought out of Egypt, from the middle of the iron-smelting furnace.

52“May you be attentive to your servant’s and your people Israel’s requests for help and may you respond to all their prayers to you.

53After all, you picked them out of all the nations of the earth to be your special possession, just as you, O Sovereign Lord, announced through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt.”

54When Solomon finished presenting all these prayers and requests to the Lord, he got up from before the altar of the Lord where he had kneeled and spread out his hands toward the sky.

55When he stood up, he pronounced a blessing over the entire assembly of Israel, saying in a loud voice:

56“The Lord is worthy of praise because he has made Israel his people secure just as he promised! Not one of all the faithful promises he made through his servant Moses is left unfulfilled!

57May the Lord our God be with us, as he was with our ancestors. May he not abandon us or leave us.

58May he make us submissive, so we can follow all his instructions and obey the commandments, rules, and regulations he commanded our ancestors.

59May the Lord our God be constantly aware of these requests of mine I have presented to him, so that he might vindicate his servant and his people Israel as the need arises.

60Then all the nations of the earth will recognize that the Lord is the only genuine God.

61May you demonstrate wholehearted devotion to the Lord our God by following his rules and obeying his commandments, as you are now doing.”

62The king and all Israel with him were presenting sacrifices to the Lord.

63Solomon offered as peace offerings to the Lord 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. Then the king and all the Israelites dedicated the Lord’s temple.

64That day the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard that is in front of the Lord’s temple. He offered there burnt sacrifices, grain offerings, and the fat from the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that stood before the Lord was too small to hold all these offerings.

65At that time Solomon and all Israel with him celebrated a festival before the Lord our God for two entire weeks. This great assembly included people from all over the land, from Lebo Hamath in the north to the Stream of Egypt in the south.

66On the fifteenth day after the festival started, he dismissed the people. They asked God to empower the king and then went to their homes, happy and content because of all the good the Lord had done for his servant David and his people Israel.

1Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, with all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers’ households of the children of Israel, to king Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of Yahweh’s covenant out of David’s city, which is Zion.

2All the men of Israel assembled themselves to king Solomon at the feast, in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.

3All the elders of Israel came, and the priests picked up the ark.

4They brought up Yahweh’s ark, the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent. The priests and the Levites brought these up.

5King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who were assembled to him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and cattle, that could not be counted or numbered for multitude.

6The priests brought in the ark of Yahweh’s covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place, even under the cherubim’s wings.

7For the cherubim spread their wings out over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and its poles above.

8The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place before the inner sanctuary; but they were not seen outside. They are there to this day.

9There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, when Yahweh made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

10It came to pass, when the priests had come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled Yahweh’s house,

11so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud; for Yahweh’s glory filled Yahweh’s house.

12Then Solomon said, “Yahweh has said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

13I have surely built you a house of habitation, a place for you to dwell in forever.”

14The king turned his face around, and blessed all the assembly of Israel; and all the assembly of Israel stood.

15He said, “Blessed is Yahweh, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David your father, and has with his hand fulfilled it, saying,

16‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, that my name might be there; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.’

17“Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

18But Yahweh said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart.

19Nevertheless, you shall not build the house; but your son who shall come out of your body, he shall build the house for my name.’

20Yahweh has established his word that he spoke; for I have risen up in the place of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as Yahweh promised, and have built the house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

21There I have set a place for the ark, in which is Yahweh’s covenant, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

22Solomon stood before Yahweh’s altar in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven;

23and he said, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above, or on earth beneath; who keeps covenant and loving kindness with your servants, who walk before you with all their heart;

24who has kept with your servant David my father that which you promised him. Yes, you spoke with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is today.

25Now therefore, may Yahweh, the God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father that which you have promised him, saying, ‘There shall not fail from you a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children take heed to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’

26“Now therefore, God of Israel, please let your word be verified, which you spoke to your servant David my father.

27But will God in very deed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can’t contain you; how much less this house that I have built!

28Yet have respect for the prayer of your servant, and for his supplication, Yahweh my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which your servant prays before you today;

29that your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there;’ to listen to the prayer which your servant prays toward this place.

30Listen to the supplication of your servant, and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Yes, hear in heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive.

31“If a man sins against his neighbor, and an oath is laid on him to cause him to swear, and he comes and swears before your altar in this house;

32then hear in heaven, and act, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

33“When your people Israel are struck down before the enemy, because they have sinned against you; if they turn again to you, and confess your name, and pray and make supplication to you in this house;

34then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them again to the land which you gave to their fathers.

35“When the sky is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against you; if they pray toward this place, and confess your name, and turn from their sin, when you afflict them,

36then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on your land, which you have given to your people for an inheritance.

37“If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight, mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities; whatever plague, whatever sickness there is;

38whatever prayer and supplication is made by any man, or by all your people Israel, who shall each know the plague of his own heart, and spread out his hands toward this house,

39then hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to every man according to all his ways, whose heart you know (for you, even you only, know the hearts of all the children of men);

40that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land which you gave to our fathers.

41“Moreover concerning the foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, when he comes out of a far country for your name’s sake

42(for they shall hear of your great name, and of your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm); when he comes and prays toward this house;

43hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you for; that all the peoples of the earth may know your name, to fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by your name.

44“If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to Yahweh toward the city which you have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for your name;

45then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

46If they sin against you (for there is no man who doesn’t sin), and you are angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near;

47yet if they repent in the land where they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication to you in the land of those who carried them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned, and have done perversely; we have dealt wickedly;’

48if they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name;

49then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven, your dwelling place, and maintain their cause;

50and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions in which they have transgressed against you; and give them compassion before those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them

51(for they are your people, and your inheritance, which you brought out of Egypt, from the middle of the iron furnace);

52that your eyes may be open to the supplication of your servant, and to the supplication of your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they cry to you.

53For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth, to be your inheritance, as you spoke by Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, Lord Yahweh.”

54It was so, that when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and supplication to Yahweh, he arose from before Yahweh’s altar, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread out toward heaven.

55He stood, and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying,

56“Blessed be Yahweh, who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. There has not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by Moses his servant.

57May Yahweh our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. Let him not leave us or forsake us;

58that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his ordinances, which he commanded our fathers.

59Let these my words, with which I have made supplication before Yahweh, be near to Yahweh our God day and night, that he may maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel, as every day requires;

60that all the peoples of the earth may know that Yahweh himself is God. There is no one else.

61“Let your heart therefore be perfect with Yahweh our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as it is today.”

62The king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before Yahweh.

63Solomon offered for the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to Yahweh, twenty two thousand head of cattle, and one hundred twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated Yahweh’s house.

64The same day the king made the middle of the court holy that was before Yahweh’s house; for there he offered the burnt offering, and the meal offering, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before Yahweh was too little to receive the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the fat of the peace offerings.

65So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt, before Yahweh our God, seven days and seven more days, even fourteen days.

66On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad in their hearts for all the goodness that Yahweh had shown to David his servant, and to Israel his people.