The Ark Brought into the Temple

8 ^(A)Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, ^(B)the leaders of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, ^(C)to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of ^(D)the city of David, which is Zion. ² And all the men of Israel assembled to King Solomon at ^(E)the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. ³ And all the elders of Israel came, and ^(F)the priests took up the ark. ⁴ And they brought up the ark of the Lord, ^(G)the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. ⁵ And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, ^(H)sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. ^6 (I)Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord ^(J)to its place in ^(K)the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. ⁷ For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles. ^8 (L)And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before ^(M)the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day. ⁹ There was nothing in the ark except ^(N)the two tablets of stone that Moses put there at Horeb, where ^(O)the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰ And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, ^(P)a cloud filled the house of the Lord, ¹¹ so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.

Solomon Blesses the Lord

^12 (Q)Then Solomon said, “The Lord^[a] has said that he would dwell ^(R)in thick darkness. ^13 (S)I have indeed built you an exalted house, ^(T)a place for you to dwell in forever.” ¹⁴ Then the king turned around and ^(U)blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. ¹⁵ And he said, ^(V)“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled ^(W)what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, ^16 (X)‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, ^(Y)that my name might be there. ^(Z)But I chose David to be over my people Israel.’ ^17 (AA)Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁸ But the Lord 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. ^19 (AB)Nevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ ²⁰ Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, ^(AC)as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ²¹ And there I have provided a place for the ark, ^(AD)in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

Solomon's Prayer of Dedication

²² Then Solomon ^(AE)stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and ^(AF)spread out his hands toward heaven, ²³ and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, ^(AG)there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, ^(AH)keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart; ²⁴ you have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. ^(AI)You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. ²⁵ Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ^(AJ)‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’ ^26 (AK)Now therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David my father.

²⁷ “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, ^(AL)heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! ²⁸ Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, ^29 (AM)that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, ^(AN)‘My name shall be there,’ that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. ³⁰ And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

³¹ “If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take ^(AO)an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, ³² then hear in heaven and act and judge your servants, ^(AP)condemning the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

^33 (AQ)“When your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and ^(AR)if they turn again to you and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house, ³⁴ then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to their fathers.

^35 (AS)“When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflict them, ³⁶ then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when ^(AT)you teach them ^(AU)the good way in which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.

^37 (AV)“If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemy besieges them in the land at their gates,^[b] whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, ³⁸ whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart and stretching out his hands toward this house, ³⁹ then hear in heaven your dwelling place and forgive and act and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways (^(AW)for you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind), ⁴⁰ that they may fear you ^(AX)all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers.

⁴¹ “Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name's sake ⁴² (for they shall hear of your great name ^(AY)and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, ⁴³ hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order ^(AZ)that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and ^(BA)fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that 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 the Lord ^(BB)toward the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, ⁴⁵ then hear in heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause.

⁴⁶ “If they sin against you—^(BC)for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive ^(BD)to the land of the enemy, far off or near, ⁴⁷ yet ^(BE)if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, ^(BF)‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ ^48 (BG)if they repent with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you ^(BH)toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name, ⁴⁹ then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause ⁵⁰ and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you, and ^(BI)grant them compassion in the sight of those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them ⁵¹ (^(BJ)for they are your people, and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, ^(BK)from the midst of the iron furnace). ^52 (BL)Let your eyes be open to the plea of your servant and to the plea of your people Israel, giving ear to them whenever they call to you. ⁵³ For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be your heritage, ^(BM)as you declared through Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.”

Solomon's Benediction

^54 (BN)Now as Solomon finished offering all this prayer and plea to the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had ^(BO)knelt with hands outstretched toward heaven. ⁵⁵ And he stood and ^(BP)blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying, ⁵⁶ “Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. ^(BQ)Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. ⁵⁷ The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. ^(BR)May he not leave us or forsake us, ⁵⁸ that he may ^(BS)incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers. ⁵⁹ Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires, ⁶⁰ that ^(BT)all the peoples of the earth may know that ^(BU)the Lord is God; there is no other. ^61 (BV)Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.”

Solomon's Sacrifices

^62 (BW)Then ^(BX)the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the Lord. ⁶³ Solomon offered as peace offerings to the Lord 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord. ⁶⁴ The same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord, for there he offered the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings, because ^(BY)the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to receive the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings.

⁶⁵ So Solomon held ^(BZ)the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from ^(CA)Lebo-hamath to ^(CB)the Brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days.^{[c] 66} On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they blessed the king and went to their homes joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had shown to David his servant and to Israel his people.

48 “These are the names of the tribes: Beginning at the northern extreme, beside ^(A)the way of Hethlon ^(B)to Lebo-hamath, as far as ^(C)Hazar-enan (which is on the northern border of ^(D)Damascus over against Hamath), and extending^[a] from the east side to the west,^{[b] (E)}Dan, one portion. ² Adjoining the territory of Dan, from the east side to the west, ^(F)Asher, one portion. ³ Adjoining the territory of Asher, from the east side to the west, ^(G)Naphtali, one portion. ⁴ Adjoining the territory of Naphtali, from the east side to the west, Manasseh, one portion. ⁵ Adjoining the territory of Manasseh, from the east side to the west, Ephraim, one portion. ⁶ Adjoining the territory of Ephraim, from the east side to the west, Reuben, one portion. ⁷ Adjoining the territory of Reuben, from the east side to the west, Judah, one portion.

⁸ “Adjoining the territory of Judah, from the east side to the west, shall be ^(H)the portion which you shall set apart, 25,000 cubits^[c] in breadth, and in length equal to one of the tribal portions, from the east side to the west, with ^(I)the sanctuary in the midst of it. ⁹ The portion that you shall set apart for the Lord shall be 25,000 cubits in length, and 20,000^[d] in breadth. ^10 (J)These shall be the allotments of the holy portion: the priests shall have an allotment measuring 25,000 cubits on the northern side, 10,000 cubits in breadth on the western side, 10,000 in breadth on the eastern side, and 25,000 in length on the southern side, with the sanctuary of the Lord in the midst of it. ¹¹ This shall be for ^(K)the consecrated priests, ^(L)the sons of Zadok, who kept my charge, who did not go astray when the people of Israel went astray, ^(M)as the Levites did. ¹² And it shall belong to them as a special portion from the holy portion of the land, a most holy place, adjoining the territory of the Levites. ^13 (N)And alongside the territory of the priests, the Levites shall have an allotment 25,000 cubits in length and 10,000 in breadth. The whole length shall be 25,000 cubits and the breadth 20,000.^{[e] 14} They ^(O)shall not sell or exchange any of it. They shall not alienate ^(P)this choice portion of the land, for it is holy to the Lord.

^15 (Q)“The remainder, 5,000 cubits in breadth and 25,000 in length, shall be ^(R)for common use for the city, for dwellings and for ^(S)open country. In the midst of it shall be the city, ¹⁶ and these shall be its measurements: ^(T)the north side 4,500 cubits, the south side 4,500, the east side 4,500, and the west side 4,500. ¹⁷ And the city shall have open land: on the north 250 cubits, on the south 250, on the east 250, and on the west 250. ¹⁸ The remainder of the length alongside the holy portion shall be 10,000 cubits to the east, and 10,000 to the west, and it shall be alongside the holy portion. ^(U)Its produce shall be food for the workers of the city. ¹⁹ And the workers of the city, from all the tribes of Israel, shall till it. ²⁰ The whole portion that ^(V)you shall set apart shall be 25,000 cubits square, that is, the holy portion together with the property of the city.

^21 (W)“What remains on both sides of the holy portion and of the property of the city shall belong to the prince. Extending from the 25,000 cubits of the holy portion to the east border, and westward from the 25,000 cubits to the west border, parallel to the tribal portions, it shall belong to the prince. ^(X)The holy portion with the sanctuary of the temple shall be in its midst. ²² It shall be separate from the property of the Levites and the property of the city, which are in the midst of that which belongs to the prince. The portion of the prince shall lie between the territory of Judah and the territory of Benjamin.

²³ “As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west, Benjamin, one portion. ²⁴ Adjoining the territory of Benjamin, from the east side to the west, Simeon, one portion. ²⁵ Adjoining the territory of Simeon, from the east side to the west, Issachar, one portion. ²⁶ Adjoining the territory of Issachar, from the east side to the west, Zebulun, one portion. ²⁷ Adjoining the territory of Zebulun, from the east side to the west, Gad, one portion. ²⁸ And adjoining the territory of Gad to the south, the boundary shall run ^(Y)from Tamar to the waters of ^(Z)Meribah-kadesh, from there along the Brook of Egypt^[f] to ^(AA)the Great Sea.^{[g] 29} This is the land that ^(AB)you shall allot as an inheritance among the tribes of Israel, and these are their portions, declares the Lord God.

The Gates of the City

³⁰ “These shall be ^(AC)the exits of the city: On the north side, which is to be ^(AD)4,500 cubits by measure, ^31 (AE)three gates, the gate of ^(AF)Reuben, the gate of ^(AG)Judah, and the gate of ^(AH)Levi, the gates of the city being named after the tribes of Israel. ³² On the east side, which is to be 4,500 cubits, three gates, the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin, and the gate of Dan. ³³ On the south side, which is to be 4,500 cubits by measure, three gates, the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar, and the gate of Zebulun. ³⁴ On the west side, which is to be 4,500 cubits, three gates,^[h] the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher, and the gate of Naphtali. ³⁵ The circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits. And ^(AI)the name of the city from that time on shall be, ^(AJ)The Lord Is There.”

Some Will Depart from the Faith

4 Now ^(A)the Spirit expressly says that ^(B)in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to ^(C)deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, ² through the insincerity of ^(D)liars whose consciences are seared, ^3 (E)who forbid marriage and ^(F)require abstinence from foods ^(G)that God created ^(H)to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. ⁴ For ^(I)everything created by God is good, and ^(J)nothing is to be rejected if it is ^(K)received with thanksgiving, ⁵ for it is made holy ^(L)by the word of God and prayer.

A Good Servant of Christ Jesus

^6 (M)If you put these things before the brothers,^[a] you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have ^(N)followed. ⁷ Have nothing to do with irreverent, ^(O)silly myths. Rather ^(P)train yourself for godliness; ⁸ for while ^(Q)bodily training is of some value, godliness ^(R)is of value in every way, as ^(S)it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. ⁹ The saying is ^(T)trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. ¹⁰ For to this end we toil and strive,^[b] because we have our hope set on the living God, ^(U)who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

¹¹ Command and teach ^(V)these things. ^12 (W)Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers ^(X)an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. ¹³ Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. ^14 (Y)Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you ^(Z)by prophecy when the council of elders ^(AA)laid their hands on you. ¹⁵ Practice these things, immerse yourself in them,^[c] so that ^(AB)all may see your progress. ^16 (AC)Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save ^(AD)both yourself and ^(AE)your hearers.