1 Kings 8
Christian Standard Bible
Solomon’s Dedication of the Temple
8 At that time Solomon assembled the elders(A) of Israel,(B) all the tribal heads(C) and the ancestral leaders of the Israelites before him at Jerusalem in order to bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from the city of David,(D) that is Zion.(E) 2 So all the men of Israel were assembled in the presence of King Solomon in the month of Ethanim, which is the seventh month,[a] at the festival.(F)
3 All the elders(G) of Israel came, and the priests(H) picked up the ark.(I) 4 The priests and the Levites brought the ark of the Lord, the tent of meeting,(J) and the holy utensils that were in the tent.(K) 5 King Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel, who had gathered around him and were with him in front of the ark, were sacrificing sheep, goats, and cattle that could not be counted or numbered, because there were so many.(L) 6 The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the most holy place(M) beneath the wings of the cherubim. 7 For the cherubim were spreading their wings over[b] the place of the ark, so that the cherubim covered the ark and its poles from above.(N) 8 The poles were so long that their ends were seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they were not seen from outside the sanctuary; they are still there today.(O) 9 Nothing was in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had put there at Horeb,[c](P) where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt.(Q)
10 When the priests came out of the holy place, the cloud filled the Lord’s temple,(R) 11 and because of the cloud, the priests were not able to continue ministering, for the glory(S) of the Lord filled the temple.
12 Then Solomon said:
The Lord said that he would dwell in total darkness.(T)
13 I have indeed built an exalted temple(U) for you,
a place for your dwelling forever.(V)
14 The king turned around and blessed(W) the entire congregation of Israel while they were standing. 15 He said:
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel!
He spoke directly to my father David,
and he has fulfilled the promise(X) by his power.
He said,
16 “Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt,(Y)
I have not chosen a city to build a temple in
among any of the tribes of Israel,
so that my name(Z) would be there.
But I have chosen David to rule my people Israel.”(AA)
17 My father David had his heart set
on building a temple for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.(AB)
18 But the Lord said to my father David,
“Since your heart was set on building a temple for my name,
you have done well to have this desire.[d](AC)
19 Yet you are not the one to build it;
instead, your son, your own offspring,
will build it for my name.”(AD)
20 The Lord has fulfilled what he promised.
I have taken the place of my father David,(AE)
and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised.(AF)
I have built the temple for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
21 I have provided a place there for the ark,
where the Lord’s covenant is
that he made with our ancestors
when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.(AG)
Solomon’s Prayer
22 Then Solomon stood(AH) before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire congregation of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.(AI) 23 He said:
Lord God of Israel,
there is no God like you
in heaven above or on earth below,(AJ)
who keeps the gracious covenant
with your servants who walk before you
with all their heart.(AK)
24 You have kept what you promised
to your servant, my father David.
You spoke directly to him
and you fulfilled your promise by your power
as it is today.(AL)
25 Therefore, Lord God of Israel,
keep what you promised
to your servant, my father David:
You will never fail to have a man
to sit before me on the throne of Israel,(AM)
if only your sons take care to walk before me
as you have walked before me.(AN)
26 Now Lord[e] God of Israel,
please confirm what you promised
to your servant, my father David.(AO)
27 But will God indeed live on earth?
Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain you,
much less this temple I have built.(AP)
28 Listen[f] to your servant’s prayer and his petition,(AQ)
Lord my God,
so that you may hear the cry and the prayer
that your servant prays before you today,
29 so that your eyes may watch over this temple night and day,(AR)
toward the place where you said,
“My name will be there,”(AS)
and so that you may hear the prayer
that your servant prays toward this place.
30 Hear the petition of your servant(AT)
and your people Israel,
which they pray toward this place.(AU)
May you hear in your dwelling place in heaven.
May you hear and forgive.
31 When a man sins against his neighbor
and is forced to take an oath,[g](AV)
and he comes to take an oath
before your altar in this temple,
32 may you hear in heaven and act.
May you judge your servants,
condemning the wicked man by bringing
what he has done on his own head
and providing justice for the righteous
by rewarding him according to his righteousness.(AW)
33 When your people Israel are defeated before an enemy,
because they have sinned against you,(AX)
and they return to you and praise your name,
and they pray and plead with you
for mercy in this temple,
34 may you hear in heaven
and forgive the sin of your people Israel.
May you restore them to the land
you gave their ancestors.(AY)
35 When the skies are shut and there is no rain,
because they have sinned against you,(AZ)
and they pray toward this place
and praise your name,
and they turn from their sins
because you are afflicting them,(BA)
36 may you hear in heaven
and forgive the sin of your servants
and your people Israel,
so that you may teach them to walk on the good way.(BB)
May you send rain on your land
that you gave your people for an inheritance.(BC)
37 When there is famine in the land,
when there is pestilence,
when there is blight or mildew, locust or grasshopper,(BD)
when their enemy besieges them
in the land and its cities,[h]
when there is any plague or illness,
38 every prayer or petition
that any person or that all your people Israel may have—
they each know their own affliction[i](BE)—
as they spread out their hands toward this temple,(BF)
39 may you hear in heaven, your dwelling place,
and may you forgive, act, and give to everyone
according to all their ways, since you know each heart,
for you alone know every human heart,(BG)
40 so that they may fear(BH) you
all the days they live on the land(BI)
you gave our ancestors.
41 Even for the foreigner who is not of your people Israel
but has come from a distant land(BJ)
because of your name—
42 for they will hear of your great name,
strong hand,(BK) and outstretched arm,
and will come(BL) and pray toward this temple—
43 may you hear in heaven, your dwelling place,
and do according to all the foreigner asks.
Then all peoples of earth will know(BM) your name,
to fear you as your people Israel do
and to know that this temple I have built
bears your name.
44 When your people go out to fight against their enemies,[j]
wherever you send them,
and they pray to the Lord
in the direction of the city you have chosen(BN)
and the temple I have built for your name,
45 may you hear their prayer and petition in heaven
and uphold their cause.(BO)
46 When they sin against you—
for there is no one who does not sin(BP)—
and you are angry with them
and hand them over to the enemy,
and their captors deport them to the enemy’s country(BQ)—
whether distant or nearby—
47 and when they come to their senses[k]
in the land where they were deported
and repent and petition you in their captors’ land:
“We have sinned and done wrong;
we have been wicked,”(BR)
48 and when they return to you with all their heart and all their soul
in the land of their enemies who took them captive,(BS)
and when they pray to you in the direction of their land
that you gave their ancestors,
the city you have chosen,(BT)
and the temple I have built for your name,
49 may you hear in heaven, your dwelling place,
their prayer and petition and uphold their cause.
50 May you forgive your people
who sinned against you
and all their rebellions[l] against you,
and may you grant them compassion
before their captors,
so that they may treat them compassionately.(BU)
51 For they are your people and your inheritance;(BV)
you brought them out of Egypt,
out of the middle of an iron furnace.(BW)
52 May your eyes be open to your servant’s petition
and to the petition of your people Israel,
listening to them whenever they call to you.
53 For you, Lord God, have set them apart as your inheritance
from all peoples of the earth,
as you spoke through your servant Moses
when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt.(BX)
Solomon’s Blessing
54 When Solomon finished praying this entire prayer and petition to the Lord, he got up from kneeling before the altar of the Lord, with his hands spread out toward heaven,(BY) 55 and he stood and blessed the whole congregation of Israel(BZ) with a loud voice: 56 “Blessed be the Lord! He has given rest(CA) to his people Israel according to all he has said. Not one of all the good promises he made through his servant Moses has failed.(CB) 57 May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors. May he not abandon us or leave us(CC) 58 so that he causes us to be devoted[m] to him,(CD) to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commands, statutes, and ordinances, which he commanded our ancestors. 59 May my words with which I have made my petition before the Lord be near the Lord our God day and night. May he uphold his servant’s cause and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires.(CE) 60 May all the peoples of the earth know that the Lord is God. There is no other!(CF) 61 Be wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord our God(CG) to walk in his statutes and to keep his commands, as it is today.”
62 The king and all Israel with him were offering sacrifices in the Lord’s presence. 63 Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the Lord: twenty-two thousand cattle and one hundred twenty thousand sheep and goats.(CH) In this manner the king and all the Israelites dedicated(CI) the Lord’s temple.(CJ)
64 On the same day, the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard that was in front of the Lord’s temple because that was where he offered the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat of the fellowship offerings,(CK) since the bronze altar before the Lord was too small to accommodate the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the fellowship offerings.(CL)
65 Solomon and all Israel with him—a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath[n](CM) to the Brook of Egypt(CN)—observed the festival at that time(CO) in the presence of the Lord our God, seven days, and seven more days—fourteen days.[o](CP) 66 On the fifteenth day[p] he sent the people away. So they blessed the king and went to their homes[q] rejoicing and with happy hearts for all the goodness that the Lord had done for his servant David and for his people Israel.(CQ)
Footnotes
- 8:2 = September–October
- 8:7 LXX; MT reads toward
- 8:9 = Sinai
- 8:18 Lit well because it was with your heart
- 8:26 Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr, Tg, Vg, 2Ch 6:16; other Hb mss omit Lord
- 8:28 Lit Turn
- 8:31 Lit and he lifts a curse against him to curse him
- 8:37 Lit land of its gates
- 8:38 Lit know in his heart of a plague
- 8:44 Some Hb mss, some ancient versions, 2Ch 6:34; other Hb mss read enemy
- 8:47 Lit they return to their heart
- 8:50 Lit rebellions that they have rebelled
- 8:58 Lit causes our hearts to be inclined
- 8:65 Or from Lebo-hamath
- 8:65 Temple dedication lasted seven days, and the Festival of Shelters lasted seven days.
- 8:66 Lit the eighth day
- 8:66 Lit tents
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.
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