1 Kings 8
Revised Standard Version
Dedication of the Temple
8 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel, 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. 2 And all the men of Israel assembled to King Solomon at the feast in the month Eth′anim, which is the seventh month. 3 And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. 4 And 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. 5 And 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. 6 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the most holy place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. 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 And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place before the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside; and they are there to this day. 9 There was nothing in the ark except the two tables of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. 10 And when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, 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 set the sun in the heavens,
but[a] has said that he would dwell in thick darkness.
13 I have built thee an exalted house,
a place for thee to dwell in for ever.”
Solomon’s Speech
14 Then the king faced about, and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. 15 And he said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, 16 ‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city in all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.’ 17 Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 18 But the Lord said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart; 19 nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ 20 Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise which he made; for I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 21 And there I have provided a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”
Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication
22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven; 23 and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to thy servants who walk before thee with all their heart; 24 who hast kept with thy servant David my father what thou didst declare to him; yea, thou didst speak with thy mouth, and with thy hand hast fulfilled it this day. 25 Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father what thou hast promised him, saying, ‘There shall never fail you a man before me to sit upon the throne of Israel, if only your sons take heed to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’ 26 Now therefore, O God of Israel, let thy word be confirmed, which thou hast spoken to thy servant David my father.
27 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built! 28 Yet have regard to the prayer of thy servant and to his supplication, O Lord my God, hearkening to the cry and to the prayer which thy servant prays before thee this day; 29 that thy eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which thou hast said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that thou mayest hearken to the prayer which thy servant offers toward this place. 30 And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant and of thy people Israel, when they pray toward this place; yea, hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place; and when thou hearest, forgive.
31 “If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath, and comes and swears his oath before thine altar in this house, 32 then hear thou in heaven, and act, and judge thy servants, condemning the guilty by bringing his conduct upon his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.
33 “When thy people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against thee, if they turn again to thee, and acknowledge thy name, and pray and make supplication to thee in this house; 34 then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again to the land which thou gavest to their fathers.
35 “When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against thee, if they pray toward this place, and acknowledge thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them, 36 then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, thy people Israel, when thou dost teach them the good way in which they should walk; and grant rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people as an inheritance.
37 “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar; if their enemy besieges them in any[b] of their cities; whatever plague, whatever sickness there is; 38 whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by any man or by all thy people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart and stretching out his hands toward this house; 39 then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and render to each whose heart thou knowest, according to all his ways (for thou, thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men); 40 that they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest to our fathers.
41 “Likewise when a foreigner, who is not of thy people Israel, comes from a far country for thy name’s sake 42 (for they shall hear of thy great name, and thy mighty hand, and of thy outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, 43 hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to thee; in order that all the peoples of the earth may know thy name and fear thee, as do thy people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.
44 “If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way thou shalt send them, and they pray to the Lord toward the city which thou hast chosen and the house which I have built for thy name, 45 then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
46 “If they sin against thee—for there is no man who does not sin—and thou art angry with them, and dost give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near; 47 yet if they lay it to heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to thee in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned, and have acted perversely and wickedly’; 48 if they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to thee toward their land, which thou gavest to their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name; 49 then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause 50 and forgive thy people who have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions which they have committed against thee; and grant them compassion in the sight of those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them 51 (for they are thy people, and thy heritage, which thou didst bring out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace). 52 Let thy eyes be open to the supplication of thy servant, and to the supplication of thy people Israel, giving ear to them whenever they call to thee. 53 For thou didst separate them from among all the peoples of the earth, to be thy heritage, as thou didst declare through Moses, thy servant, when thou didst bring our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.”
Solomon Blesses the Assembly
54 Now as Solomon finished offering all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had knelt with hands outstretched toward heaven; 55 and he stood, and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying, 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, which he uttered by Moses his servant. 57 The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers; may he not leave us or forsake us; 58 that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances, which he commanded our fathers. 59 Let these words of mine, wherewith I have made supplication 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 that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other. 61 Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.”
Solomon Offers Sacrifices
62 Then the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the Lord. 63 Solomon offered as peace offerings to the Lord twenty-two thousand oxen and a hundred and 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 before the house of the Lord; for there he offered the burnt offering and the cereal offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to receive the burnt offering and the cereal offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings.
65 So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days.[c] 66 On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their homes joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had shown to David his servant and to Israel his people.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 8:12 Gk: Heb lacks has set the sun in the heavens, but
- 1 Kings 8:37 Gk Syr: Heb the land
- 1 Kings 8:65 Gk: Heb seven days and seven days, fourteen days
1 Kings 8
Tree of Life Version
Dedicating the Temple
8 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel—all the heads of the tribes and the ancestral chieftains of the children of Israel—to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring the ark of the covenant of Adonai up from the city of David, which is Zion. 2 All the men of Israel assembled themselves to King Solomon at the Feast in the month of Ethanim, which is the seventh month. 3 Then all the elders of Israel came and the kohanim brought up the ark. 4 They brought up the ark of Adonai, the Tent of Meeting and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent the kohanim and the Levites brought them up.
5 Now King Solomon—and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled to him—were with him before the ark sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be numbered or counted. 6 The kohanim brought the ark of the covenant of Adonai to its place, into the inner Sanctuary of the House, to the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cheruvim. 7 For the cheruvim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, and the cheruvim covered the ark and its poles from above. 8 But the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before the inner Sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; there they are to this day. 9 Nothing was in the ark except the two tables of stone that Moses put there at Horeb,[a] when Adonai cut a covenant with the children of Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt.
10 Now when the kohanim came out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the House of Adonai, 11 so that the kohanim could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of Adonai filled the House of Adonai. 12 Then Solomon spoke: “Adonai said that He would dwell in the thick cloud. 13 I have surely built You a magnificent House, a place for Your dwelling forever.”
14 Then the king turned his face about and blessed the whole congregation of Israel while the whole congregation of Israel was standing. 15 He said: “Blessed be Adonai, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David, and has fulfilled it by His hand, saying: 16 ‘Since the day I brought My people Israel out from Egypt, I have not chosen a city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a House where My Name would be there. But I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’
17 “Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a House for the Name of Adonai, the God of Israel. 18 But Adonai said to my father David: ‘Because it was in your heart to build a House for My Name, you did well that it was in your heart. 19 Nevertheless you will not build the House, but your son who will come out of your loins, he shall build the House for My Name.’ 20 Now Adonai has fulfilled His word that He spoke, for I have risen in the place of my father David and sit on the throne of Israel, as Adonai promised. Also I have built the House for the Name of Adonai, the God of Israel, 21 and have set there a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of Adonai, which He made with our fathers, when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”
22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of Adonai in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven, 23 and said: “Adonai, God of Israel, there is no God like You, in heaven above or on earth below, keeping covenant and lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart.
24 “You have kept what You promised with Your servant David my father. Yes, You spoke with Your mouth and fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day.
25 “Now therefore, Adonai, God of Israel, keep with Your servant David my father what You have promised him, saying: ‘You shall not lack a man to sit before Me on the throne of Israel, if only your children watch their way, walking before Me as you have walked before Me.’ 26 Now therefore, God of Israel, please, let Your word be confirmed, which You spoke to Your servant my father David. 27 So will God really dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You![b] How much less this House that I have built! 28 Nevertheless, turn to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplication, Adonai my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You this day. 29 Let Your eyes be open toward this House night and day, toward the place of which You have said: ‘My Name shall be there;’ listening to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place.
30 “So listen to the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and when You hear, forgive! 31 If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath, then comes and swears before Your altar in this House, 32 then hear from heaven and act and judge Your servants, condemning the wicked, bringing his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous, giving him according to his righteousness.
33 “When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy, because they have sinned against You, if they turn back to You and confess Your Name and pray and make supplication to You in this House, 34 then hear from 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 skies are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, yet if they pray toward this place and confess Your Name and turn from their sin because You have afflicted them, 36 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel. Teach them the good way in which they should walk, and send rain on Your land which You gave to Your people as an inheritance.
37 “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there be blight or mildew, locust or caterpillar, if their enemy should besiege them in the land of their cities, whatever plague or sickness, 38 when prayer or supplication is made by anyone or by all Your people Israel—each knowing the plague of his own heart—when one spreads his hands toward this House, 39 then may you hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, forgive and act, and give to each man according to all his ways, as You know his heart to be. For You alone know the hearts of all the children of men. [c] 40 Then they will fear You all the days that they live in the land that You gave to our fathers.
41 “Moreover concerning the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel, when he comes from a distant country because of Your Name— 42 for they will hear of Your great Name, of Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm—when he comes to pray toward this House, 43 then may you hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner asks of You. So all the peoples of the earth may know Your Name, to fear You as Your people Israel do, and know that this House that I have built is called by Your Name.
44 “When Your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way You send them, and they pray to Adonai toward the city which You have chosen and toward the House which I have built for Your Name, 45 then hear from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. 46 If they sin against You—for there is no man that does not sin[d]—and You become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and their captors carry them away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near, 47 yet if they take it to the heart in the land which they have been carried captive, and they repent and make supplication to You in the land of their captors, saying: ‘We have sinned, we have committed iniquity, we have acted wickedly,’ 48 and they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who carried them into exile, and pray to You toward their land that You gave to their fathers, the city that You have chosen and the House which I have built for Your Name, 49 then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven Your dwelling place, maintain their cause, 50 and forgive Your people who have sinned against You as well as all their transgressions they have transgressed against You, and grant them mercy before their captors, so they may have mercy on them. 51 For they are Your people and Your inheritance that You brought out of Egypt, out of the middle of the iron furnace.
52 “May Your eyes be open to the supplication of Your servant and to the supplication of Your people Israel, listening to them whenever they cry to You. 53 For You have set them apart from among all the peoples of the earth to be Your inheritance, as You spoke by the hand of Moses Your servant, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, my Lord Adonai.”
54 When Solomon finished praying this entire prayer and petition to Adonai, he arose from before the altar of Adonai, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread out toward heaven. 55 Then he stood and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying: 56 “Blessed be Adonai who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. Not a single word has failed of all His good promise, which He promised by the hand of Moses His servant. 57 May Adonai Eloheinu be with us as He was with our fathers. May He not leave us nor forsake us. [e] 58 May He incline our hearts to Him, to walk in all His ways and to keep His mitzvot, His statutes and His ordinances, which He commanded our fathers. 59 May these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before Adonai, be near Adonai Eloheinu day and night, so that He may maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, as each day requires. 60 May all the peoples of the earth know that Adonai, He is God, there is no other! 61 Let your heart, therefore, be wholly devoted to Adonai Eloheinu, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as it is today.”
62 Now the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifice before Adonai. 63 Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to Adonai: 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the House of Adonai. 64 On that same day, the king consecrated the middle of the court that was before the House of Adonai, for there he offered the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar that was before Adonai was too small to accommodate the burnt offering, the grain offering and the fat of the fellowship offerings.
65 So Solomon and all Israel with him celebrated the Festival at that time—a great congregation from the entrance of Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt—before Adonai Eloheinu, seven days and then seven more days—14 days in all. 66 On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they blessed the king and went to their tents joyful and glad of heart over all the goodness that Adonai had shown to His servant David and to His people Israel.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 8:9 cf. Heb. 9:4.
- 1 Kings 8:27 cf. Acts 7:48-49.
- 1 Kings 8:40 cf. John 2:24; Rev. 2:23.
- 1 Kings 8:46 cf. Rom. 3:9, 23.
- 1 Kings 8:58 cf. Matt. 28:20; Heb. 13:5.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.