1 Kings 8:12-21

New Living Translation

Solomon Praises the Lord

¹² Then Solomon prayed, “O Lord, you have said that you would live in a thick cloud of darkness. ¹³ Now I have built a glorious Temple for you, a place where you can live forever!^[a]”

¹⁴ Then the king turned around to the entire community of Israel standing before him and gave this blessing: ¹⁵ “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who has kept the promise he made to my father, David. For he told my father, ¹⁶ ‘From the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have never chosen a city among any of the tribes of Israel as the place where a Temple should be built to honor my name. But I have chosen David to be king over my people Israel.’”

¹⁷ Then Solomon said, “My father, David, wanted to build this Temple to honor the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁸ But the Lord told him, ‘You wanted to build the Temple to honor my name. Your intention is good, ¹⁹ but you are not the one to do it. One of your own sons will build the Temple to honor me.’

²⁰ “And now the Lord has fulfilled the promise he made, for I have become king in my father’s place, and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised. I have built this Temple to honor the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ²¹ And I have prepared a place there for the Ark, which contains the covenant that the Lord made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.”