Solomon’s Benediction

^54 (A)When Solomon had finished praying this entire prayer and plea to the Lord, ^(B)he stood up from the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his ^[a]hands spread toward heaven. ⁵⁵ And he stood and ^(C)blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying:

⁵⁶ “Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel ^(D)in accordance with everything that He ^[b]promised; ^(E)not one word has ^[c]failed of all His good ^[d]promise, which He ^[e]promised through Moses His servant. ⁵⁷ May the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; ^(F)may He not leave us nor forsake us, ⁵⁸ so that ^(G)He may guide our hearts toward Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His ordinances, which He commanded our fathers. ⁵⁹ And may these words of mine, with which I have implored the ^[f]favor of the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, so that He will maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, ^[g]as each day requires, ⁶⁰ so ^(H)that all the peoples of the earth may know that ^(I)the Lord is God; there is no one else. ^61 (J)Your hearts therefore shall be ^[h]wholly devoted to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as at this day.”

Dedicatory Sacrifices

^62 (K)Then the king and all Israel with him ^(L)offered sacrifice before the Lord. ⁶³ And Solomon offered for the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to the Lord, twenty-two thousand oxen and 120,000 sheep. ^(M)So the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord. ⁶⁴ On the same day the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard that was in front of the house of the Lord, because there he ^[i]offered the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat of the peace offerings; for ^(N)the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to hold the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat of the peace offerings.

⁶⁵ So ^(O)Solomon held the ^[j]feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly ^(P)from the entrance of Hamath ^(Q)to the brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God, for seven days and seven more days, that is, fourteen days. ⁶⁶ On the eighth day he dismissed the people, and they blessed the king. Then they went to their tents joyful and with happy hearts for all the goodness that the Lord had ^[k]shown to David His servant, and to Israel His people.

The Shekinah Glory

7 ^(A)Now when Solomon had finished praying, ^(B)fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the house. ^2 (C)And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house. ³ 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, “^(D)Certainly He is good, certainly His faithfulness is everlasting.”

Sacrifices Offered

^4 (E)Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the Lord. ⁵ King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. ⁶ The priests stood at their posts, and ^(F)the Levites also, with the musical instruments for the Lord, which King David had made for giving praise to the Lord—“for His faithfulness is everlasting”—whenever David gave praise through their ^[a]ministry; ^(G)the priests on the other side blew trumpets and all Israel was standing.

^7 (H)Then Solomon consecrated the middle of the courtyard that was before the house of the Lord, for he offered the burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings there, because the bronze altar which Solomon had made was not able to contain the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat.

The Feast of Dedication

⁸ So ^(I)Solomon held the feast at that time for seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly that came from the entrance of Hamath to the ^(J)brook of Egypt. ⁹ And on the eighth day they held ^(K)a solemn assembly, because they held the dedication of the altar for seven days, and the feast for seven days. ¹⁰ Then on the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people to their tents, rejoicing and happy in heart because of the goodness that the Lord had shown to David, to Solomon, and to His people Israel.

God’s Promise and Warning

9 ^(A)Now it came about when Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord and ^(B)the king’s house, and ^(C)all ^[a]that Solomon desired to do, ² that ^(D)the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. ³ And the Lord said to him, “^(E)I have heard your prayer and your plea which you have offered before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built, ^(F)by putting My name there forever, and ^(G)My eyes and My heart will be there ^[b]always. ⁴ As for you, ^(H)if you walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and honesty, acting in accordance with everything that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My ordinances, ⁵ then ^(I)I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, just as I ^[c]promised to your father David, saying, ‘^[d]You shall not be deprived of a man on the throne of Israel.’

⁶ “^(J)But if you or your sons indeed turn away from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have placed before you, but you go and serve other gods and worship them, ^7 (K)then I will cut Israel off from the land which I have given them, and ^(L)the house which I have consecrated for My name, I will ^[e]expel from My sight. So ^(M)Israel will become a saying and an object of derision among all peoples. ⁸ And this house will become ^(N)a heap of ruins; everyone who passes by it will be appalled and ^[f]hiss and say, ‘^(O)Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and this house?’ ⁹ And they will say, ‘^(P)Because they abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and they ^[g]adopted other gods and worshiped and served them, for that reason the Lord has brought all this adversity on them.’”

God’s Promise and Warning

^11 (A)So Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s palace, and successfully completed everything that ^[a]he had planned on doing in the house of the Lord and in his palace.

¹² Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, “I have heard your prayer and ^(B)have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. ^13 (C)If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send a plague among My people, ^14 (D)and My people ^[b]who are called by My name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. ^15 (E)Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the ^[c]prayer offered in this place. ¹⁶ For ^(F)now I have chosen and consecrated this house so that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there ^[d]always. ¹⁷ As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, to do according to everything that I have commanded you, and keep My statutes and My ordinances, ¹⁸ then I will establish your royal throne as I covenanted with your father David, saying, ‘^[e](G)You shall not lack a man to be ruler in Israel.’

¹⁹ “^(H)But if you turn away and abandon My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, ^20 (I)then I will uproot ^[f]you from My land which I have given ^[g]you, and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight; and I will make it ^(J)a proverb and an object of scorn among all peoples. ²¹ As for this house, which was exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, ‘^(K)Why has the Lord done these things to this land and to this house?’ ²² And they will say, ‘Because ^(L)they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who brought them from the land of Egypt, and they adopted other gods, and worshiped and served them; therefore He has brought all this adversity on them.’”

Cities Given to Hiram

^10 (A)Now it came about ^(B)at the end of twenty years in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the king’s house ¹¹ (Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and juniper timber and gold, ^[a]satisfying all his desire), that King Solomon then gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. ¹² So Hiram left Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, and they ^[b]did not please him. ¹³ And he said, “What are these cities which you have given me, my brother?” So ^[c]they have been called the land of ^[d](C)Cabul to this day. ^14 (D)And Hiram sent to the king ^[e]120 talents of gold.