1 Kings 8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Dedication of the Temple
8 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the ancestral houses of the Israelites, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion.(A) 2 All the people of Israel assembled to King Solomon at the festival in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.(B) 3 And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests carried the ark.(C) 4 So they brought up the ark of the Lord, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up.(D) 5 King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.(E) 6 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, the most holy place, underneath the wings of the cherubim.(F) 7 For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering above the ark and its poles. 8 The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside; they are there to this day.(G) 9 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone that Moses had placed there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt.(H) 10 And when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord,(I) 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.
12 Then Solomon said,
“The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness.(J)
13 I have built you an exalted house,
a place for you to dwell forever.”(K)
Solomon’s Speech
14 Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood.(L) 15 He said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to my father David, saying,(M) 16 ‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from any of the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there, nor did I choose anyone to be a ruler over my people Israel. But I have chosen Jerusalem in order that my name may be there,[a] and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’(N) 17 My father David had it in mind to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.(O) 18 But the Lord said to my father David, ‘You did well to consider building a house for my name; 19 nevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’(P) 20 Now the Lord has fulfilled the promise that he made, for I have risen in the place of my father David; I sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.(Q) 21 There I have provided a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with our ancestors when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”(R)
Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication
22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands to heaven.(S) 23 He said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and steadfast love with your servants who walk before you with all their heart,(T) 24 the covenant that you kept for your servant my father David as you declared to him; you promised with your mouth and have this day fulfilled with your hand. 25 Therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant my father David that which you promised him, saying, ‘There shall never fail you a successor before me to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children look to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’(U) 26 Therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed that you promised to your servant my father David.(V)
27 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built!(W) 28 Regard your servant’s prayer and his plea, O Lord my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you today, 29 that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may heed the prayer that your servant prays toward this place.(X) 30 Hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place; O hear in heaven your dwelling place; hear and forgive.(Y)
31 “If someone sins against a neighbor and is required to take an oath and comes and swears before your altar in this house,(Z) 32 then hear in heaven, and act, and judge your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing their conduct on their own heads and vindicating the righteous by rewarding them according to their righteousness.(AA)
33 “When your people Israel, having sinned against you, are defeated before an enemy but turn again to you, confess your name, pray and plead with you in this house,(AB) 34 then hear in heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them again to the land that you gave to their ancestors.
35 “When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you and then they pray toward this place, confess your name, and turn from their sin because you punish[b] them,(AC) 36 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk, and grant rain on your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.(AD)
37 “If there is famine in the land, if there is plague, blight, mildew, locust, or caterpillar; if their enemy besieges them in any[c] of their cities; whatever suffering, whatever sickness there is;(AE) 38 whatever prayer, whatever plea there is from any individual or from all your people Israel, all knowing the suffering of their own hearts so that they stretch out their hands toward this house; 39 then hear in heaven your dwelling place, forgive, act, and render to all whose hearts you know—according to all their ways, for only you know the human heart(AF)— 40 so that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our ancestors.(AG)
41 “Likewise when foreigners, who are not of your people Israel, come from a distant land because of your name 42 —for they shall hear of your great name, your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm—when foreigners come and pray toward this house,(AH) 43 then hear in heaven your dwelling place and do whatever the foreigners ask of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and so they may know that your name has been invoked on this house that I have built.(AI)
44 “If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to the Lord 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—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 to the land of the enemy, far off or near,(AJ) 47 then if they come to their senses in the land to which they have been taken captive and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and have done wrong; we have acted wickedly,’(AK) 48 if they repent with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive and pray to you toward their land that you gave to their ancestors, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name,(AL) 49 then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, maintain their cause, 50 and forgive your people who have sinned against you and all their transgressions that they have committed against you, and grant them compassion in the sight of their captors, so that they may have compassion on them(AM) 51 (for they are your people and heritage that you brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron smelter).(AN) 52 Let your eyes be open to the plea of your servant and to the plea of your people Israel, listening to them whenever they call to you. 53 For you have separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be your heritage, just as you promised through Moses, your servant, when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, O Lord God.”(AO)
Solomon Blesses the Assembly
54 Now when Solomon finished offering all this prayer and this plea to the Lord, he arose from facing the altar of the Lord, where he had knelt with hands outstretched toward heaven; 55 he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice:(AP)
56 “Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel according to all that he promised; not one word has failed of all his good promise that he spoke through his servant Moses.(AQ) 57 The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our ancestors; may he not leave us or abandon us,(AR) 58 but incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances that he commanded our ancestors.(AS) 59 Let these words of mine, with which I 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 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other.(AT) 61 Therefore devote yourselves completely to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.”(AU)
Solomon Offers Sacrifices
62 Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifice before the Lord.(AV) 63 Solomon offered as sacrifices of well-being to the Lord twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred twenty thousand 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 in front of the house of the Lord, for there he offered the burnt offerings and the grain offerings and the fat pieces of the sacrifices of well-being, because the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to receive the burnt offerings and the grain offerings and the fat pieces of the sacrifices of well-being.(AW)
65 So Solomon held the festival at that time and all Israel with him—a great assembly, people from Lebo-hamath to the Wadi of Egypt—before the Lord our God, seven days.[d](AX) 66 On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they blessed the king and went to their tents joyful and in good spirits because of all the goodness that the Lord had shown to his servant David and to his people Israel.
Footnotes
- 8.16 Cn Compare Q ms and 2 Chr 6.5–6: MT lacks nor did . . . be there
- 8.35 Or when you answer
- 8.37 Gk Syr: Heb in the land
- 8.65 Compare Gk: Heb seven days and seven days, fourteen days
1 Kings 8
Evangelical Heritage Version
Solomon Brings the Ark Into the Temple
8 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, all the heads of tribes, and the leading fathers of the people of Israel to appear before him in Jerusalem, in order to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord from the City of David, that is, from Zion. 2 All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon in the month of Ethanim,[a] during the festival.[b] It was the seventh month. 3 Then all the elders of Israel came, and the priests lifted up the ark. 4 They brought up the Ark of the Lord, the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy vessels which were in the tent. The priests and the Levites brought them up.
5 King Solomon, along with the whole congregation of Israel who had gathered with him in front of the ark, was sacrificing sheep and cattle, too many to be counted.
6 The priests brought the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim, 7 for the cherubim were spreading their wings over the place for the ark, so that the cherubim covered the ark and its poles with their wings. 8 The poles were so long that the ends of the poles could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside. They are there to this day.
9 There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets, which Moses had placed there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt.
10 When the priests came out from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the House of the Lord. 11 The priests were not able to take their positions to minister in the presence of the cloud, because the Glory of the Lord had filled the House of the Lord.
King Solomon’s Prayer
12 Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he dwells in thick darkness. 13 I have truly built a majestic house for you, a place for you to dwell forever.”
14 Then the king turned and blessed the whole congregation of Israel, while the whole congregation of Israel was standing there. 15 Then Solomon said:
Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel. What he said with his mouth to my father David, he has fulfilled with his hand.
The Lord said, 16 “From the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I did not choose a city from all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house for my Name to be there, ⎣nor did I choose any man to be a leader over my people Israel; but now I have chosen Jerusalem for my Name to be there,⎦[c] and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.”
17 It was on my father David’s heart to build a house for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
18 However, the Lord said to my father David, “It was on your heart to build a house for my Name. That was a good thing to desire. 19 But you will not build the house. Your son, who will come from your own body, will build the house for my Name.”
20 So the Lord kept his word which he had spoken, and I arose in the place of my father David. I am seated on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord said. I have built this house for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 21 I have established a place there for the Ark, which contains the covenant of the Lord, which he made with our fathers when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.
22 Then Solomon stood in front of the altar in the presence of the whole congregation of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.[d] 23 He said:
O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in the heavens above or on the earth below. You keep the covenant of mercy and faithfulness with your servants who walk before you with all their heart. 24 You have kept the word which you spoke to your servant, my father David. What you have said with your mouth you have fulfilled with your hand, as it is today.
25 Now, Lord God of Israel, guard for your servant, my father David, the promise you made to him when you said, “You will never fail to have a man sitting on the throne of Israel in my presence, if your sons guard their ways by walking in my law just as you have walked before me.”
26 Now, O God of Israel, let the words which you spoke to your servant, my father David, be confirmed.
27 But will God really dwell on the earth? In truth, the heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this house, which I have built! 28 But turn your face toward the prayer of your servant and toward his plea for mercy. O Lord my God, listen to the cry and the prayer which your servant offers before you today.
29 Let your eyes be open toward this house night and day, toward this place where you said, “My Name will be there,” to hear the prayer which your servant offers toward this place.
30 When you hear the plea for mercy of your servant and of your people Israel, which they pray toward this place, then hear in your dwelling place in heaven—hear and forgive.
The Petitions
31 When a man sins against his neighbor, and his neighbor places him under an oath, and the oath is presented before your altar in this house, 32 then hear from heaven and take action. Provide justice for your servants by declaring the wicked person guilty and bringing his ways down on his own head, and by declaring the righteous person innocent and dealing with him according to his righteousness.
33 When your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they sinned against you, and when they return to you and praise your Name and pray and seek your favor in this house, 34 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land which you gave to their fathers.
35 When the heavens are shut up, and there is no rain because they sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place, and they praise your Name and turn from their sin because you have humbled them, 36 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Yes, teach them the good way in which they are to walk, and provide rain for the land which you gave to your people as an inheritance.
37 When there is famine in the land, when there is plague, when there is blight or mildew or locusts or grasshoppers, when their enemies are in the land besieging their gates, in every disease, in every sickness, 38 hear every prayer and every plea for mercy which any individual presents or which your whole people Israel presents. When each one knows the affliction of his own heart, when he spreads out his hands toward this house, 39 hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and forgive. Then act and give to each person according to all his ways, because you know his heart (yes, you alone know the heart of every human being), 40 so that they may fear you all the days they live on the soil which you gave to our fathers.
41 Also for the foreigner, who is not one of your people Israel, but who comes from a distant land because of your Name 42 (for they will hear about your great Name, your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm, and they will come and pray toward this house), 43 for that foreigner, hear in heaven, which is your dwelling place, and do everything for which that foreigner cries out to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your Name and fear you, just as your people Israel do, and because they know that your Name is proclaimed in this house which I have built.
44 When your people go out for battle against their enemy on whatever way you send them, and when they pray to the Lord facing toward the city which you have chosen and toward the house which I have built for your Name, 45 then from heaven hear their prayer and their plea for mercy, and provide justice for them.
46 When they sin against you (for there is no one who does not sin) and you become angry with them, and you give them up to their enemies, and their captors exile them to an enemy land, whether distant or near, 47 when they are in the land where they were exiled and they turn their hearts back, and they repent and pray to you in the land of their exile and say, “We have sinned and become guilty and done evil,” 48 when they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies where they were exiled, and they pray in the direction of their land, which you gave to their fathers, toward the city which you chose and toward the house which I have built for your Name, 49 then hear their prayers and their plea for mercy from heaven, your dwelling place, and provide justice for them. 50 Pardon your people who have sinned against you and all their rebellious deeds that they have committed against you. Have compassion by causing their enemies to show them compassion. 51 For they are your people and your possession, which you brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron-smelting furnace.
52 Let your eyes be open to the plea for mercy from your servant and to the plea for mercy from your people Israel. Hear them whenever they cry out to you. 53 For you singled them out for yourself as your possession from all the peoples of the earth, just as you said through Moses your servant when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.
The Dedication of the Temple
54 When Solomon finished offering all these prayers and pleas for mercy to the Lord, he got up from the altar of the Lord, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven. 55 Then he stood and blessed the whole congregation of Israel with a loud voice:
56 Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel, just as he said he would. Not one word has failed[e] from all his good words which he spoke through Moses his servant. 57 May the Lord our God be with us, just as he was with our fathers. May he never leave us or abandon us. 58 May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to listen to his commands, regulations, and ordinances, which he commanded to our fathers. 59 May these words which I have prayed before the Lord be near the Lord our God day and night so that he provides justice for his servant and for his people Israel forever, 60 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God. There is no other. 61 May your hearts be fully committed to the Lord our God, in order to walk in his regulations and to keep his commands, just as is the case today.
62 Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord. 63 Solomon sacrificed fellowship offerings to the Lord: twenty-two thousand cattle and one hundred twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the House of the Lord.
64 On that day the king consecrated the center of the courtyard which was in front of the House of the Lord, so that he could offer whole burnt offerings and grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings there, because the bronze altar which was before the Lord was too small to hold the whole burnt offerings and grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings.
65 At that time Solomon kept the festival, and all Israel kept the festival with him. They were a great congregation that had come from throughout the land, from Lebo Hamath to the Stream of Egypt before the Lord our God. ⎣⎦[f] The festival lasted seven days, and then seven days more, fourteen days in all. 66 On the eighth day he sent them home, and they blessed the king. Then they went home, and their hearts were glad because of all the good which the Lord had done for his servant David and for his people Israel.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 8:2 September/October
- 1 Kings 8:2 That is, the Festival of Shelters (traditionally Tabernacles)
- 1 Kings 8:16 The words in half-brackets do not appear in the Hebrew text, but they are present in the Greek Old Testament and in 2 Chronicles 6:5-6. The additional words fall between two occurrences of for my Name to be there.
- 1 Kings 8:22 At this point the parallel account in 2 Chronicles 6:12-13 has the additional words marked by half-brackets: and spread out his hands. ⎣13 Solomon had made a bronze platform and had placed it in the middle of the courtyard. It was seven and a half feet by seven and a half feet square, and four and a half feet tall. He stood on it. Then he knelt in the presence of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands⎦ toward heaven. These words fall between two occurrences of spread out his hands.
- 1 Kings 8:56 Literally fallen
- 1 Kings 8:65 The Greek Old Testament has the additional words between the half-brackets: before the Lord our God ⎣in the house which he built, eating and drinking and rejoicing before the Lord our God.⎦ These words fall between occurrences of before the Lord our God.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.