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
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
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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.