1 Kings 8
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 8
Solomon Dedicates the Temple. 1 Solomon then assembled all of the elders of Israel, all of the heads of the tribes and the leaders of the ancestral clans of the Israelites. They came to King Solomon in Jerusalem in order to bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord out of the City of David, that is, Zion.
2 All of the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon at the festival during the month of Ethanim,[a] the seventh month. 3 When all of the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took the Ark 4 and they brought the Ark of the Lord and the tent of meeting and all of the sacred furnishings that were in the tabernacle. The priests, and the Levites, 5 and King Solomon, and the entire assembly of Israel gathered with him in front of the Ark. They sacrificed so many sheep and oxen that they could not even be counted or numbered.
6 The priests then brought the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. 7 The wings of the cherubim were spread out covering the place where the Ark was. The cherubim covered the Ark and its poles. 8 The poles stretched out so that one could see the ends of the poles in the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but one could not see them outside. They are still there up to the present. 9 There was nothing in the Ark except for the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb when the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt.
10 When the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the temple of the Lord. 11 The priests could not stand there to minister on account of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord had filled the temple of the Lord.
12 Then Solomon said, “The Lord said that he would live in thick darkness, 13 but now I have built you a temple to dwell in, a place where you can abide forever.”
14 The king then turned around to face the entire assembly of Israel, and he blessed the entire assembly of Israel who stood before him. 15 He said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has fulfilled what he promised to my father, David, for he said, 16 ‘From the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I had not chosen a city from all of the tribes of Israel in which a temple for my name could be built, but I chose David to be the leader of my people Israel.’
17 “My father David desired to build a temple for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, 18 but the Lord said to my father David, ‘You desired to build a temple for my name, and this desire of yours was good, 19 but you are not the one who will build the temple. Your son who comes forth from your body will build the temple for my name.’ 20 The Lord has kept the promise that he made. I have been raised up in my father’s stead to reign upon the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and I have built a temple for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 21 I have provided a place for the Ark in which one finds the covenant of the Lord that he made with our fathers when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”
22 Solomon’s Prayer.[b] Solomon then stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire assembly of Israel, and he extended his hands to the heavens. 23 He said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in the heavens above or on the earth below, who keeps a covenant of mercy with your servants who walk before you with all their heart. 24 You have kept your promise to your servant, David, my father. You spoke it with your own mouth, and with your own hand, you have fulfilled it today.
25 “And so now, O Lord, God of Israel, take heed of what you said to your servant, David, my father, when you said, ‘You will not fail to have one who will sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your children walk before me as you have walked before me.’ 26 Now, O God of Israel, let what you have said to your servant David, my father, come true. 27 But will God truly dwell upon the earth? Behold, the heavens and the highest heavens could not contain you, how much less this temple that I have built?
28 “Give heed to the prayer of your servant and his supplication, O Lord, my God. Listen to the cry and the prayer that your servant makes before you today. 29 May your eyes be wide open upon this temple night and day, the place of which you said, ‘My name will be there.’ Heed the prayer that your servant makes for this place. 30 Hear the supplication of your servant and your people Israel when they pray for this place. Hear from your dwelling place in heaven, and when you hear, forgive.
31 “When a man wrongs his neighbor and he is required to swear an oath, and he comes to make the oath before your altar in this temple, 32 then listen from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the evil one and bring down upon his head his deeds. Prove innocent the righteous one, giving him what his righteousness deserves.
33 “When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, and they return to you and confess your name, and they pray and make supplication to you in this temple, 34 then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land that you gave to their fathers.
35 “When the heavens have been closed up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, and they pray in this place and they confess your name, and they turn from their sin because you have punished them, 36 then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, so that you might teach them the right path in which they should walk, and send rain upon your land which you have given to your people as an inheritance.
37 “When there is famine in the land, or pestilence, blight, mildew, locusts, or grasshoppers, or if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities, whatever plague or sickness might occur, 38 and whatever prayer or supplication is made by anyone, or by all of your people Israel, because each person knows the plague of his own heart, and he lifts up his hands toward this temple, 39 then listen from your heavenly dwelling place. Forgive, and act, and give each person what his ways deserve, for you know his heart, for you alone know all human hearts, 40 so that they might fear you all the days that they live in the land that you gave our fathers.
41 “And as to the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel, but comes from a distant land for your name’s sake, 42 for they have heard about your great name and your strong hand and your outstretched arm, and he comes to this temple to pray, 43 listen from your heavenly dwelling place, and do everything for which the foreigner calls out to you. Then all of the people upon the earth will know your name and fear you just as your people Israel does, and that they might know that the temple that I have built is called by your name.
44 “When your people go out to battle against their enemy wherever you send them, and they pray to the Lord toward the city that you have chosen and toward the temple that I have built for your name, 45 then listen to their prayer and supplication from heaven and maintain their cause.
46 “If they sin against you, for there is no one who is sinless, and you are angry with them so that they are delivered over to the enemy and carried off as captives into the land of their enemy, whether it be far or near, 47 and they have a change of heart in the land where they have been carried off into captivity, and they repent and they make supplication to you in the land where they have been carried off as captives, and they say, ‘We have sinned, we have done what is wrong, and we have acted wickedly,’ 48 and if they turn back to you with all their heart and all their soul in the land to which their enemies took them as captives, and they pray to you in the direction of the land that you gave their fathers, and the city that you have chosen, and the temple that I have built, 49 then listen to their prayer and their supplication from your heavenly dwelling place and maintain their cause. 50 Forgive your people who have sinned against you, all of the offenses that they have committed against you, and cause those who carried them off into captivity to be filled with compassion.
51 “They are your people and your inheritance whom you brought forth from Egypt, from the midst of an iron-smelting furnace. 52 May your eyes be open to see the supplication of your servant and the supplication of your people Israel. Listen to them whenever they call out to you, 53 for you separated your inheritance from all the other people upon the earth, as you declared through Moses your servant, when you O Lord, my Lord, brought our fathers out of Egypt.”
54 When Solomon had finished saying all of these prayers and supplications to the Lord, he rose up from before the altar of the Lord where he had been kneeling with his hands lifted up to the heavens. 55 He stood, and he blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying, 56 “Praise be to the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. He has not failed to fulfill a single word of all the good promises that he made through Moses his servant.
57 “May the Lord, our God, be with us, just as he was with our fathers; may he not leave us or abandon us. 58 May he turn our hearts to him to walk in all of his ways and to observe all of his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances which he commanded our fathers.
59 “May these words that I have prayed before the Lord draw near to the Lord, our God, both day and night. May he uphold the cause of his servants and the cause of his people Israel, responding to each day’s needs, 60 so that all the people upon the earth might know that the Lord is God, there is no other.
61 “Let your heart, therefore, be at peace with the Lord, our God, by walking in his statutes and observing his commandments, as is true today.”
62 Then the king and all of Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord. 63 Solomon offered up a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord of twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred twenty-two thousand sheep. This is how the king and all of the people of Israel dedicated the temple of the Lord.
64 That day the king consecrated the court in front of the temple for burnt offerings, grain offerings, and for the fat of peace offerings because the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small for burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of peace offerings.
65 At that time Solomon celebrated before the Lord, our God, with all of Israel, a great assembly, people who came from the entrance of Hamath down to the Wadi of Egypt. It lasted seven days, and then another seven days, fourteen days in all.[c] 66 The next day he sent the people away. They blessed the king and they went home, filled with joy and glad of heart for all of the good things that the Lord had done for David, his servant, and Israel, his people.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 8:2 Ethanim: a month in the Canaanite calendar that corresponded to the Hebrew seventh month (September-October). The greatest of the feasts was the Feast of Booths, that celebrated the passage from one year to another.
- 1 Kings 8:22 A prayer filled with faith and love. It gradually moves outward from the needs of the people to the dimensions of the world and touches in a very concrete way on difficult situations. Even if the section on the Exile was added after the possibility had become a reality, it is completely in the spirit of the prayer. In this liturgical supplication, which ends with a blessing, Solomon plays the role of a high priest—a privileged intermediary between the Lord and his people. The remainder, in its present form, is a model for the religious outlook of Israel.
- 1 Kings 8:65 The dedication of the temple coincided, as was noted above, with the Feast of Booths, which lasted seven days.
1 Kings 8
King James Version
8 Then 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.
2 And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.
3 And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.
4 And 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.
5 And 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.
6 And 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.
7 For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.
8 And 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.
9 There 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.
10 And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the 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 had filled the house of the Lord.
12 Then spake Solomon, The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
13 I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever.
14 And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation of Israel: (and all the congregation of Israel stood;)
15 And 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,
16 Since 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.
17 And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.
18 And 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.
19 Nevertheless 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.
20 And 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.
21 And 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.
22 And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven:
23 And 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:
24 Who 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.
25 Therefore 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.
26 And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father.
27 But 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?
28 Yet 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:
29 That 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.
30 And 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.
31 If 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:
32 Then 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.
33 When 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:
34 Then 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.
35 When 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:
36 Then 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.
37 If 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;
38 What 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:
39 Then 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;)
40 That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.
41 Moreover 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;
43 Hear 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.
44 If 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:
45 Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
46 If 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;
47 Yet 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;
48 And 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:
49 Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause,
50 And 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:
51 For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron:
52 That 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.
53 For 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.
54 And 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.
55 And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying,
56 Blessed 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.
57 The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us:
58 That 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.
59 And 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:
60 That all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is none else.
61 Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.
62 And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the Lord.
63 And 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.
64 The 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.
65 And 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.
66 On 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.
1 Kings 8
Common English Bible
Solomon dedicates the temple
8 Then Solomon assembled Israel’s elders, all the tribal leaders, and the chiefs of Israel’s clans at Jerusalem to bring up the chest containing the Lord’s covenant from David’s City Zion. 2 Everyone in Israel assembled before King Solomon in the seventh month, the month of Ethanim,[a] during the festival. 3 When all of Israel’s elders had arrived, the priests picked up the chest. 4 They brought the Lord’s chest, the meeting tent, and all the holy equipment that was in the tent. The priests and the Levites brought them up, 5 while King Solomon and the entire Israelite assembly that had joined him before the chest sacrificed countless sheep and oxen. 6 The priests brought the chest containing the Lord’s covenant to its designated spot beneath the wings of the winged creatures in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the most holy place. 7 The winged creatures spread their wings over the place where the chest rested, covering the chest and its carrying poles. 8 The carrying poles were so long that their tips could be seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, though they weren’t visible from outside. They are still there today. 9 Nothing was in the chest except the two stone tablets Moses had placed there while at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they left Egypt. 10 When the priests left the holy place, the cloud filled the Lord’s temple, 11 and the priests were unable to carry out their duties due to the cloud because the Lord’s glory filled the Lord’s temple.
12 Then Solomon said, “The Lord said that he would live in a dark cloud, 13 but I have indeed built you a lofty temple as a place where you can live forever.” 14 The king turned around, and while the entire assembly of Israel was standing there, he blessed them, 15 saying, “Bless Israel’s God, the Lord, who spoke directly to my father David and now has kept his promise: 16 ‘From the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt I haven’t selected a city from any Israelite tribe as a site for the building of a temple for my name. But now I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’ 17 My father David wanted to build a temple for the name of the Lord, Israel’s God.
18 “But the Lord said to my father David, ‘It is very good that you thought to build a temple for my name. 19 Nevertheless, you yourself won’t build that temple. Instead, your very own son will build the temple for my name.’ 20 The Lord has kept his promise—I have succeeded my father David on Israel’s throne just as the Lord said, and I have built the temple for the name of the Lord, Israel’s God. 21 There I’ve placed the chest that contains the covenant that the Lord made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.”
22 Solomon stood before the Lord’s altar in front of the entire Israelite assembly and, spreading out his hands toward the sky, 23 he said:
Lord God of Israel, there’s no god like you in heaven above or on earth below. You keep the covenant and show loyalty to your servants who walk before you with all their heart. 24 This is the covenant you kept with your servant David, my father, which you promised him. Today, you have fulfilled what you promised. 25 So now, Lord, Israel’s God, keep what you promised my father David, your servant, when you said to him, “You will never fail to have a successor sitting on Israel’s throne as long as your descendants carefully walk before me just as you walked before me.” 26 So now, God of Israel, may your promise to your servant David, my father, come true.
27 But how could God possibly live on earth? If heaven, even the highest heaven, can’t contain you, how can this temple that I’ve built contain you? 28 Lord my God, listen to your servant’s prayer and request, and hear the cry and prayer that your servant prays to you today. 29 Constantly watch over this temple, the place about which you said, “My name will be there,” and listen to the prayer that your servant is praying toward[b] this place. 30 Listen to the request of your servant and your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Listen from your heavenly dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive!
31 If someone wrongs another and must make a solemn pledge asserting innocence before your altar in this temple,[c] 32 then listen from heaven, act, and decide which of your servants is right. Condemn the guilty party, repaying them for their conduct, but justify the innocent person, repaying them for their righteousness.
33 If your people Israel are defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, but then they change their hearts and lives, give thanks to your name, and ask for mercy before you at this temple, 34 then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel. Return them to the land you gave their ancestors.
35 When the sky holds back its rain because Israel has sinned against you, but they then pray toward this place, give thanks to your name, and turn away from their sin because you have punished them for it,[d] 36 then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the best way for them to follow, and send rain on your land that you gave to your people as an inheritance.
37 Whenever there is a famine or plague in the land; or whenever there is blight, mildew, locust, or grasshopper; or whenever someone’s enemy attacks them in their cities;[e] or any plague or illness comes; 38 whatever prayer or petition is made by any individual or by all of your people Israel—because people will recognize their own pain and spread out their hands toward this temple— 39 then listen from heaven where you live. Forgive, act, and repay each person according to all their conduct, because you know their hearts. You alone know the human heart. 40 Do this so that they may revere you all the days they live on the land that you gave to our ancestors.
41 Listen also to the immigrant who isn’t from your people Israel but who comes from a distant country because of your reputation— 42 because they will hear of your great reputation, your great power, and your outstretched arm. When the immigrant comes and prays toward this temple, 43 then listen from heaven, where you live, and do everything the immigrant asks. Do this so that all the people of the earth may know your reputation and revere you, as your people Israel do, and recognize that this temple I have built bears your name.
44 When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you may send them, and they pray to the Lord toward the city you have chosen and toward this temple that I have built for your name, 45 then listen from heaven to their prayer and request and do what is right for them.
46 When they sin against you (for there is no one who doesn’t sin) and you become angry with them and hand them over to an enemy who takes them away as prisoners to enemy territory, whether distant or nearby, 47 if they change their heart in whatever land they are held captive, changing their lives and begging for your mercy,[f] saying, “We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly!” 48 and if they return to you with all their heart and all their being in the enemy territory where they’ve been taken captive, and pray to you, toward their land, which you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen, and toward the temple I have built for your name, 49 then listen to their prayer and request from your heavenly dwelling place. Do what is right for them, 50 and forgive your people who have sinned against you. Forgive all their wrong that they have done against you. See to it that those who captured them show them mercy. 51 These are your people and your inheritance. You brought them out of Egypt, from the iron furnace.
52 Open your eyes to your servant’s request and to the request of your people Israel. Hear them whenever they cry out to you. 53 You set them apart from all the earth’s peoples as your own inheritance, Lord, just as you promised through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt.
54 As soon as Solomon finished praying and making these requests to the Lord, he got up from before the Lord’s altar, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out to heaven. 55 He stood up and blessed the whole Israelite assembly in a loud voice: 56 “May the Lord be blessed! He has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. He hasn’t neglected any part of the good promise he made through his servant Moses. 57 May the Lord our God be with us, just as he was with our ancestors. May he never leave us or abandon us. 58 May he draw our hearts to him to walk in all his ways and observe his commands, his laws, and his judgments that he gave our ancestors. 59 And may these words of mine that I have cried out before the Lord remain near to the Lord our God day and night so that he may do right by his servant and his people Israel for each day’s need, 60 and so that all the earth’s peoples may know that the Lord is God. There is no other God! 61 Now may you be committed to the Lord our God with all your heart by following his laws and observing his commands, just as you are doing right now.”
62 Then the king and all Israel with him sacrificed to the Lord. 63 Solomon offered well-being sacrifices to the Lord: twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred twenty thousand sheep when the king and all Israel dedicated the Lord’s temple. 64 On that day the king made holy the middle of the courtyard in front of the Lord’s temple. He had to offer the entirely burned offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of well-being sacrifices there, because the bronze altar that was in the Lord’s presence was too small to contain the entirely burned offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the well-being sacrifices. 65 At that time Solomon, together with all Israel, held a celebration. It was a large assembly from Lebo-hamath to the border of Egypt. They celebrated for seven days and then for another seven days in the presence of the Lord our God: fourteen days in all. 66 On the eighth day,[g] Solomon dismissed the people. They blessed the king and went back to their tents happy and pleased about all the good that the Lord had done for his servant David and for his people Israel.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 8:2 September–October, Tishrei; Ethanim is a month from a Canaanite calendar.
- 1 Kings 8:29 Or for, regarding; also used in several verses that follow
- 1 Kings 8:31 Heb uncertain
- 1 Kings 8:35 Or answered them
- 1 Kings 8:37 LXX one of; MT in the land of their gates
- 1 Kings 8:47 Heb adds in the land they are held captive.
- 1 Kings 8:66 The second seven-day celebration (see 2 Chron 7:8-9); but contrast LXX.
1 Bassekabaka 8
Endagaano Enkadde nʼEndagaano Empya
Essanduuko ya Mukama Ereetebwa mu Yeekaalu
8 (A)Awo Sulemaani n’ayita abakadde ba Isirayiri, n’abakulu b’ebika bonna, n’abaami b’ennyumba za Isirayiri bonna, okuggya essanduuko ey’endagaano ya Mukama mu Sayuuni ekibuga kya Dawudi, okugireeta e Yerusaalemi. 2 (B)Bonna ne bakuŋŋaanira ewa Kabaka Sulemaani ku mbaga mu mwezi ogwa Esanimu[a] gwe mwezi ogw’omusanvu.
3 (C)Abakadde bonna aba Isirayiri bwe baatuuka, bakabona ne basitula essanduuko, 4 (D)ne bagireeta, ne baleeterako n’Eweema ey’Okukuŋŋaanirangamu n’ebintu byonna ebitukuvu ebyalimu. 5 (E)Bakabona n’Abaleevi ne babisitula, Kabaka Sulemaani n’abo abaali awamu naye, n’eggwanga lyonna erya Isirayiri eryali liri naye mu maaso g’essanduuko, ne bawaayo ebiweebwayo ebya ssaddaaka eby’endiga, n’ente, ebitaamanyibwa muwendo.
6 (F)Bakabona ne bayingiza essanduuko ey’endagaano ya Mukama mu kifo kyayo, mu kisenge eky’omunda, mu Kifo Ekitukuvu Ennyo, wansi w’ebiwaawaatiro bya bakerubi. 7 Ebiwaawaatiro bya bakerubi byali byanjuluze ku kifo essanduuko we yateekebwa, ne bibikka ku ssanduuko ne ku misituliro gyayo. 8 (G)Emisituliro gino gyali miwanvu nnyo nga n’okulabika girabikira mu kifo ekitukuvu mu maaso g’ekisenge ekitukuvu ennyo, naye nga tegirabika okuva ebweru; era gikyaliyo ne leero. 9 (H)Temwali kintu mu ssanduuko okuggyako ebipande ebibiri eby’amayinja Musa bye yateekamu e Kolebu, Mukama bwe yalagaana endagaano n’abaana ba Isirayiri, nga bavudde mu nsi y’e Misiri.
10 (I)Awo bakabona bwe baava mu kifo ekitukuvu, ekire ne kibuna yeekaalu ya Mukama, 11 bakabona n’okuyinza ne batayinza kuweereza olw’ekire, kubanga ekitiibwa kya Mukama kyali kibunye mu yeekaalu.
12 (J)Awo Sulemaani n’agamba nti, “Mukama yayogera nti anaabeeranga mu kire ekikutte. 13 (K)Nkuzimbidde yeekaalu ey’ekitiibwa, ekifo ky’onoobeerangamu emirembe gyonna.”
14 (L)Ekibiina kyonna ekya Isirayiri bwe kyali kiyimiridde awo, kabaka n’abakyukira n’abasabira omukisa. 15 (M)N’ayogera nti,
“Mukama yeebazibwe, Katonda wa Isirayiri, atuukirizza n’omukono gwe bye yasuubiza Dawudi kitange ne bye yayogerera mu ye. 16 (N)Yayogera nti, ‘Okuva ku lunaku lwe naggyirako abantu bange Isirayiri mu Misiri, seerobozanga kibuga na kimu mu bika byonna ebya Isirayiri okuzimbamu yeekaalu, naye neeroboza Dawudi okufuga abantu bange Isirayiri.’
17 (O)“Era kyali mu mutima gwa Dawudi kitange okuzimbira erinnya lya Mukama, Katonda wa Isirayiri yeekaalu. 18 Naye Mukama n’agamba Dawudi kitange nti, ‘Kubanga kyali mu mutima gwo okuzimbira erinnya lyange eyeekaalu, walowooza bulungi. 19 (P)Naye si ggwe olinzimbira yeekaalu, mutabani wo alikuzaalirwa, ow’omusaayi gwo yennyini, y’alizimbira erinnya lyange eyeekaalu.’
20 (Q)“Mukama atuukirizza kye yasuubiza, ne nsikira Dawudi kitange, n’okutuula ne ntuula ku ntebe ey’obwakabaka bwa Isirayiri, nga Mukama bwe yasuubiza, era nzimbidde erinnya lya Mukama Katonda wa Isirayiri eyeekaalu. 21 Ntaddewo ekifo ky’essanduuko, omuli endagaano ya Mukama gye yakola ne bajjajjaffe, ng’abaggya mu nsi y’e Misiri.”
Okusaba kwa Sulemaani okw’Okuwaayo Yeekaalu eri Mukama
22 (R)Awo Sulemaani n’ayimirira mu maaso g’ekyoto kya Mukama ekibiina kyonna ekya Isirayiri nga kiraba, n’ayanjuluza emikono gye eri eggulu, 23 (S)n’ayogera nti,
“Ayi Mukama Katonda wa Isirayiri, tewali Katonda akufaanana mu ggulu waggulu oba wansi ku nsi, gwe akuuma endagaano yo ey’okwagala n’okuuma n’abaddu bo abatambulira mu maaso go n’emitima gyabwe gyonna. 24 Okuumye ekisuubizo kyo eri omuddu wo Dawudi kitange; wasuubiza n’akamwa ko era okituukirizza n’omukono gwo, nga bwe kiri leero.
25 (T)“Kaakano Mukama, Katonda wa Isirayiri, otuukirize bye wasuubiza omuddu wo Dawudi kitange, bwe wagamba nti, ‘Abaana bo bwe baneegenderezanga mu buli kye banaakolanga, ne batambuliranga mu maaso gange nga bw’okoze, wanaabangawo ow’omu lulyo lwo anaatuulanga ku ntebe ey’obwakabaka bwa Isirayiri mu maaso gange.’ 26 (U)Era kaakano, Ayi Katonda wa Isirayiri, ekigambo kyo kye wasuubiza omuddu wo Dawudi kitange, okituukirize.
27 (V)“Naye ddala Katonda anaabeeranga ku nsi? Laba, eggulu n’eggulu ly’eggulu terikumala, ne yeekaalu eno toyinza kugigyamu. 28 Kaakano osseeyo omwoyo eri okusaba kw’omuddu wo n’okwegayirira kwe, Ayi Mukama Katonda wange. Owulire okukaaba n’okusaba omuddu wo kw’asaba mu maaso go leero. 29 (W)Amaaso go gatunuulirenga yeekaalu eno emisana n’ekiro, ekifo kino kye wayogerako nti, ‘Erinnya lyange linaabeeranga omwo,’ okuwulira okusaba kw’omuddu wo kw’asabira ekifo kino. 30 (X)Owulire okwegayirira kw’omuddu wo, n’okw’abantu bo Isirayiri, bwe banasabanga nga batunuulidde ekifo kino. Owulire okuva mu ggulu, ekifo gy’obeera, era bw’otuwulira, tukwegayiridde otusonyiwe.
31 (Y)“Omuntu bw’anaasobyanga muliraanwa we, ne kimugwanira okulayira, n’ajja n’alayirira mu maaso g’ekyoto mu yeekaalu eno, 32 (Z)owulire okuva mu ggulu, era omukole nga bw’olaba. Osale omusango wakati wa baddu bo, era obonereze oyo omusango gwe gusinze nga bwe kimusaanidde. Olangirire nti atasobezza taliiko musango, ekyo kinaakakasa nti taliiko musango.
33 (AA)“Abantu bo Isirayiri bwe banaawaangulibwanga omulabe olw’ebibi byabwe, ne bakyuka ne badda gy’oli, ne baatula erinnya lyo, ne basaba ne bakwegayirira mu yeekaalu muno, 34 kale owulirenga ng’oli mu ggulu, era osonyiwenga abantu bo Isirayiri olw’ebibi byabwe, era obakomyengawo mu nsi gye wawa bajjajjaabwe.
35 (AB)“Eggulu bwe linaggalwangawo ne wataba nkuba, olw’ebibi byabwe, era bwe banasabanga nga batunuulira ekifo kino ne baatula erinnya lyo ne bakyuka okuleka ekibi kyabwe, olw’okubabonereza, 36 (AC)kale owulirenga ng’oli mu ggulu, era obasonyiwenga ekibi ky’abaddu bo, abantu bo Isirayiri. Obayigirize ekkubo etuufu ery’okutambulirangamu, era otonnyese enkuba ku nsi gye wawa abantu bo ng’omugabo gwabwe.
37 (AD)“Bwe wanaabangawo enjala mu nsi, oba kawumpuli, oba okugengewala oba bukuku, oba enzige, oba omulabe ng’abazingizza mu bibuga byabwe, endwadde yonna ne bweneefaanananga etya, 38 omuntu yenna ku bantu bo bw’anaasabiranga ekintu kyonna, buli omu n’amanya endwadde ey’omu mutima gwe, era n’ayanjuluza emikono gye eri yeekaalu eno, kale owulirenga ng’oli mu ggulu, ekifo gy’obeera. 39 (AE)Osonyiwenga era okolenga buli muntu ng’ebikolwa bye bwe biri, kubanga ggwe wekka ggwe omanyi, emitima gy’abantu bonna, 40 (AF)balyoke bakutyenga ennaku zonna ze banaabeeranga mu nsi gye wawa bajjajjaffe.
41 “Ebikwata ku munnaggwanga atali wa mu bantu bo Isirayiri, naye ng’avudde mu nsi ey’ewala olw’erinnya lyo, 42 (AG)kubanga abantu baliwulira erinnya lyo ekkulu n’omukono gwo ogw’amaanyi, bw’anajjanga n’asaba ng’atunuulidde yeekaalu eno; 43 (AH)owulirenga ng’oli mu ggulu, ekifo gy’obeera, era okolenga buli kintu kyonna omunaggwanga oyo ky’anaakusabanga, abantu bonna ab’omu nsi bamanye erinnya lyo era bakutyenga, ng’abantu bo Isirayiri bwe bakola, era bamanyenga nti Ennyumba eno gye nzimbye, etuumiddwa erinnya lyo.
44 “Abantu bo bwe banaatabaalanga abalabe baabwe gy’onoobasindikanga ne basaba Mukama nga batunuulidde ekibuga kye weeroboza ne yeekaalu gye nzimbidde erinnya lyo, 45 kale owulirenga okusaba kwabwe n’okwegayirira kwabwe ng’oli mu ggulu, otegeere ensonga zaabwe.
46 (AI)“Bwe banaayonoonanga mu maaso go, kubanga tewali muntu atasobyanga, n’obasunguwalira n’obagabula eri omulabe, ne batwalibwa mu nsi eyeewala oba eyokumpi; 47 (AJ)era bwe banaakyusanga emitima gyabwe nga bali mu nsi gye baabatwala ne babasibira eyo, ne beenenya era ne bakwegayiririra mu nsi y’abo abaabatwala nga boogera nti, ‘Twayonoona, twakola ebikyamu era ne tukola ekyejo;’ 48 (AK)bwe banaakukyukiranga n’omutima gwabwe gwonna n’emmeeme yaabwe yonna mu nsi ey’abalabe baabwe abaabawamba, ne bakusaba nga batunuulidde ensi gye wawa bajjajjaabwe, ekibuga kye weeroboza ne yeekaalu gye nzimbidde erinnya lyo; 49 kale owulirenga okusaba kwabwe n’okwegayirira kwabwe ng’oli mu ggulu ekifo gy’obeera, era otegeerenga ensonga yaabwe. 50 (AL)Osonyiwenga abantu bo abakusobezza, era obasonyiwenga ebibi byabwe byonna, era abo abaabawangula babakwatirwe ekisa, 51 (AM)kubanga bantu bo era gwe mugabo gwo, be waggya mu Misiri, mu kyoto ekisaanuusa ekyuma.
52 “Ontunuulize amaaso ag’ekisa olabe okwegayirira kw’abantu bo Isirayiri, era obawulirenga buli lwe banaakukaabiriranga. 53 (AN)Ayi Mukama Ayinzabyonna gwe walonda abantu bo mu mawanga gonna ag’omu nsi okuba ababo, nga bwe wayogerera mu muddu wo Musa, bwe waggya bajjajjaffe mu Misiri.”
54 Awo Sulemaani bwe yamala okusaba n’okwegayiririra abantu eri Mukama, n’asituka okuva we yali afukamidde ng’emikono gye ajanjuluza eri eggulu, mu maaso g’ekyoto kya Mukama. 55 (AO)N’ayimirira n’asabira ekibiina kyonna ekya Isirayiri omukisa mu ddoboozi ery’omwanguka ng’agamba nti,
56 (AP)“Mukama yeebazibwe awadde abantu be Isirayiri okuwummula nga bwe yasuubiza. Tewali kigambo na kimu ekitatuukiridde ku ebyo ebirungi bye yasuubiza omuddu we Musa. 57 (AQ)Mukama Katonda waffe abeere wamu naffe nga bwe yali ne bajjajjaffe, era aleme okutuleka wadde okutwabulira. 58 (AR)Akyuse emitima gyaffe tudde gyali, okutambuliranga mu makubo ge gonna, n’okukwatanga ebiragiro bye, n’amateeka ge, n’ebigambo bye n’emisango gye bye yawa bajjajjaffe. 59 N’ebigambo byange bino bye nsabye mu maaso ga Mukama, bibeerenga kumpi ne Mukama Katonda waffe emisana n’ekiro, alyoke awanirire ensonga y’abantu be Isirayiri, ng’ebyetaago ebya buli lunaku, 60 (AS)abantu bonna ab’oku nsi bategeere nga Mukama ye Katonda era tewali mulala. 61 (AT)Naye emitima gyammwe giteekwa okunywerera ku Mukama Katonda waffe, nga mutambulira mu mateeka ge, n’okugondera ebiragiro bye, nga bwe mukola leero.”
Okuwonga kwa Yeekaalu
62 Awo Kabaka ne Isirayiri yonna ne bawaayo ssaddaaka mu maaso ga Mukama. 63 Sulemaani yawaayo ssaddaaka ey’ebiweebwayo olw’emirembe eri Mukama, era bino bye yawaayo: ente emitwalo ebiri, n’endiga n’embuzi emitwalo kkumi n’ebiri. Bwe batyo Kabaka n’Abayisirayiri bonna ne bawonga yeekaalu ya Mukama.
64 (AU)Ku lunaku olwo Kabaka kwe yatukuliza oluggya olwa wakati mu maaso ga yeekaalu ya Mukama, era eyo n’aweerayo ebiweebwayo ebyokebwa, n’eby’obutta, n’amasavu g’ebiweebwayo olw’emirembe, kubanga ekyoto eky’ekikomo mu maaso ga Mukama kyali kitono nnyo okugyaako ebiweebwayo ebyokebwa, n’ebiweebwayo eby’obutta, n’amasavu g’ebiweebwayo olw’emirembe.
65 (AV)Sulemaani ne Isirayiri yonna wamu naye, ne batuukiriza embaga eyo mu biro ebyo, ekibiina ekinene ddala mu maaso ga Mukama Katonda waffe, nga beegatiddwako abantu abaava ku mulyango gwa Kamasi n’abaava ku mukutu gw’e Misiri, okumala ennaku kkumi na nnya. 66 Ku lunaku olwaddirira abantu ne basabira Kabaka omukisa, n’abasiibula ne baddayo ewaabwe nga basanyuka era nga bajaguza mu mutima olw’ebirungi byonna Mukama bye yali akoledde Dawudi omuddu we n’abantu be Isirayiri.
Footnotes
- 8:2 Esanimu Omwezi gwa Esanimu ly’ebbanga wakati wa Sebutemba ne Okitobba.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
Bayibuli Entukuvu, Endagaano Enkadde nʼEndagaano Empya Copyright © 1984, 1986, 1993, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.® Tuweereddwa olukusa okuva mu Biblica, Inc.® Olukusa lwonna mu nsi yonna lusigalidde mu Biblica, Inc. Luganda Contemporary Bible Copyright © 1984, 1986, 1993, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.