1 Kings 7:51-8:21

Lexham English Bible

⁵¹ When all of the work which king Solomon did on the house of Yahweh was completed, Solomon brought out the holy objects of his father David, the silver and the gold and the vessels, which he put in the treasury rooms of the house of Yahweh.

The Dedication of the Temple

8 At that time, Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, and the leaders of the families^[a] of the Israelites^[b] before King Solomon, in order to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh from the city of David, that is, Zion. ² All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon at the festival in the month of Ethnaim, that is, the seventh month. ³ All the elders of Israel came, and the priests carried the ark. ⁴ So they brought up the ark of Yahweh and the tent of assembly^[c] and all of the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. ⁵ King Solomon and all the assembly of Israel who were assembling with him in the presence of the ark were sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted nor numbered because of abundance. ⁶ The priests brought the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place,^[d] under the wings of the cherubim, ⁷ for the cherubim were spreading their wings over the place of the ark. The cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles from above. ⁸ The poles were long, and the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place in front of^[e] the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from the outside, and they are there until this day. ⁹ There was not anything in the ark except^[f] the two tablets of stone which Moses had placed there at Horeb, where Yahweh made^[g] a covenant with the Israelites^[h] after they went out from the land of Egypt. ¹⁰ When the priests went out from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of Yahweh. ¹¹ The priests were not able to stand to minister because of the presence of^[i] the cloud, for the glory of Yahweh filled the house of Yahweh.

Solomon’s Proclamation to the Assembly of Israel

¹² Then Solomon said, “Yahweh has said that he would dwell in the very thick cloud. ¹³ I have certainly built a lofty house for you, a place for you to live forever.” ¹⁴ Then the king turned his face around, and he blessed all of the assembly of Israel. (Now all the assembly of Israel was standing). ¹⁵ Then he said, “Blessed be Yahweh the God of Israel who has promised with his mouth to David my father and fulfilled by his oath,^[j] saying, ¹⁶ ‘From the day that I brought out my people Israel from Egypt I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a house where my name might be, but I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’ ¹⁷ David my father desired^[k] to build a house for the name of Yahweh the God of Israel, ¹⁸ but Yahweh said to David my father, ‘Because you desired^[l] to build a house for my name, you did well in that it was within your heart. ¹⁹ However, you will not build the house, but your son who has come from your loins, he shall build the house for my name.’ ²⁰ Yahweh has carried out his promise which he had made; I have risen in place of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel as Yahweh promised, and I have built the house for the name of Yahweh the God of Israel. ²¹ I have provided a place there for the ark, in which is the covenant which Yahweh made with our ancestors^[m] when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”