Solomon Blesses the Assembly^(A)

^54 (B)And so it was, when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, that he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. ⁵⁵ Then he stood ^(C)and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying: ⁵⁶ “Blessed be the Lord, who has given ^(D)rest^[a] to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. ^(E)There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses. ⁵⁷ May the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers. ^(F)May He not leave us nor forsake us, ⁵⁸ that He may ^(G)incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, which He commanded our fathers. ⁵⁹ And may these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near the Lord our God day and night, that He may maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, as each day may require, ^60 (H)that all the peoples of the earth may know that ^(I)the Lord is God; there is no other. ⁶¹ Let your ^(J)heart therefore be ^[b]loyal to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and keep His commandments, as at this day.”

Solomon Dedicates the Temple^(A)

7 When ^(B)Solomon had finished praying, ^(C)fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and ^(D)the glory of the Lord filled the ^[a]temple. ^2 (E)And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house. ³ When all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped and praised the Lord, saying:

^4 (H)Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. ⁵ King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. ^6 (I)And the priests attended to their services; the Levites also with instruments of the music of the Lord, which King David had made to praise the Lord, saying, “For His mercy endures forever,” whenever David offered praise by their ^[b]ministry. ^(J)The priests sounded trumpets opposite them, while all Israel stood.

⁷ Furthermore ^(K)Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the house of the Lord; for there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat.

^8 (L)At that time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly ^(M)from the entrance of Hamath to ^(N)the^[c] Brook of Egypt. ⁹ And on the eighth day they held a ^(O)sacred assembly, for they observed the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days. ^10 (P)On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their tents, joyful and glad of heart for the good that the Lord had done for David, for Solomon, and for His people Israel.

Solomon’s Other Buildings

7 But Solomon took ^(A)thirteen years to build his own house; so he finished all his house.

² He also built the ^(B)House of the Forest of Lebanon; its length was ^[a]one hundred cubits, its width ^[b]fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, with four rows of cedar pillars, and cedar beams on the pillars. ³ And it was paneled with cedar above the beams that were on forty-five pillars, fifteen to a row. ⁴ There were windows with beveled frames in three rows, and window was opposite window in three tiers. ⁵ And all the doorways and doorposts had rectangular frames; and window was opposite window in three tiers.

⁶ He also made the Hall of Pillars: its length was fifty cubits, and its width thirty cubits; and in front of them was a portico with pillars, and a canopy was in front of them.

⁷ Then he made a hall for the throne, the Hall of Judgment, where he might judge; and it was paneled with cedar from floor to ^[c]ceiling.

⁸ And the house where he dwelt had another court inside the hall, of like workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, ^(C)whom he had taken as wife.

⁹ All these were of costly stones cut to size, trimmed with saws, inside and out, from the foundation to the eaves, and also on the outside to the great court. ¹⁰ The foundation was of costly stones, large stones, some ten cubits and some eight cubits. ¹¹ And above were costly stones, hewn to size, and cedar wood. ¹² The great court was enclosed with three rows of hewn stones and a row of cedar beams. So were the ^(D)inner court of the house of the Lord ^(E)and the vestibule of the temple.

¹¹ Thus ^(A)Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s house; and Solomon successfully accomplished all that came into his heart to make in the house of the Lord and in his own house.

God’s Second Appearance to Solomon^(B)

¹² Then the Lord ^(C)appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, ^(D)and have chosen this ^(E)place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. ^13 (F)When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, ¹⁴ if My people who are ^(G)called by My name will ^(H)humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, ^(I)then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. ¹⁵ Now ^(J)My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. ¹⁶ For now ^(K)I have chosen and ^[a]sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and ^[b]My eyes and ^[c]My heart will be there perpetually. ^17 (L)As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, ¹⁸ then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, ^(M)‘You shall not fail to have a man as ruler in Israel.’

^19 (N)“But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them, ^20 (O)then I will uproot them from My land which I have given them; and this house which I have ^[d]sanctified for My name I will cast out of My sight, and will make it a proverb and a ^(P)byword among all peoples.

²¹ “And as for ^(Q)this ^[e]house, which ^[f]is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be ^(R)astonished and say, ^(S)‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and this house?’ ²² Then they will answer, ‘Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore He has brought all this calamity on them.’ ”