1 Kings 8
New American Standard Bible
The Ark Brought into the Temple
8 (A)Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all (B)the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, (C)to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from (D)the city of David, that is, Zion. 2 So all the men of Israel assembled themselves before King Solomon at (E)the feast, in the month Ethanim, that is, the seventh month. 3 Then all the elders of Israel came, and (F)the priests took up the ark. 4 And they brought up the ark of the Lord, (G)the tent of meeting, and all the holy utensils which were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. 5 And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who were gathered together to him, (H)were with him before the ark, sacrificing [a]so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. 6 Then (I)the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord (J)to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the Most Holy Place, (K)under the wings of the cherubim. 7 For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its carrying poles from above. 8 But (L)the poles were so long that the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; they are there to this day. 9 (M)There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, where (N)the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. 10 And it happened that when the priests came from the holy place, (O)the 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.
Solomon Addresses the People
12 (P)Then Solomon said,
“The Lord has said that (Q)He would dwell in the thick darkness.
13 (R)I have truly built You a lofty house,
(S)A place for Your dwelling forever.”
14 Then the king [b]turned around and (T)blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing. 15 He said, “(U)Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, (V)who spoke with His mouth to my father David, and fulfilled it with His hands, saying, 16 ‘(W)Since the day that I brought My people Israel from Egypt, I did not choose a city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house so that (X)My name would be there, but (Y)I chose David to be over My people Israel.’ 17 (Z)Now it was [c]in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 18 But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Because it was [d]in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it was [e]in your heart. 19 (AA)Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who [f]will be born to you, he will build the house for My name.’ 20 Now the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for (AB)I have risen in place of my father David and I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord [g]promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 21 And there I have set a place for the ark, (AC)in which is the covenant of the Lord, which He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”
The Prayer of Dedication
22 Then (AD)Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and he (AE)spread out his hands toward heaven. 23 And he said, “Lord, God of Israel, (AF)there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth beneath, (AG)keeping the covenant and showing faithfulness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart, 24 You who have kept with Your servant, my father David, that which You [h]promised him; You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day. 25 Now then, Lord, God of Israel, keep with Your servant David my father that which You have [i]promised him, saying, ‘[j](AH)You shall not be deprived of a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are careful about their way, to walk before Me as you have walked.’ 26 Now then, God of Israel, let Your words, please, be confirmed, (AI)which You have spoken to Your servant, my father David.
27 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, (AJ)heaven and the [k]highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built! 28 Nevertheless, turn Your attention to the (AK)prayer of Your servant and to his plea, Lord, my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You today, 29 (AL)so that Your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, toward (AM)the place of which You have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ to listen to the prayer which Your servant will pray toward this place. 30 And (AN)listen to the plea of Your servant and of Your people Israel, (AO)when they pray toward this place; hear in heaven Your dwelling place; hear and (AP)forgive!
31 “(AQ)If a person sins against his neighbor and is compelled to take an oath of innocence, and he comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this house, 32 then hear in heaven and act and judge Your servants, (AR)condemning the wicked by [l]bringing his way on his own head, and acquitting the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.
33 “(AS)When Your people Israel are [m]defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, (AT)if they turn to You again and confess Your name and pray and implore Your [n]favor in this house, 34 then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave their fathers.
35 “(AU)When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and praise Your name, and turn from their sin when You afflict them, 36 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel; (AV)indeed, teach them the good way in which they are to walk. And (AW)provide rain on Your land, which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.
37 “(AX)If there is a famine in the land, if there is a plague, if there is [o]blight or mildew, locust or grasshopper, if their enemy harasses them in the land of their [p]cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, 38 whatever prayer or plea [q]is offered by any person or by all Your people Israel, [r]each knowing the affliction of his own heart, and spreading his [s]hands toward this house; 39 then hear in heaven, Your dwelling place, and forgive and act, and give to each in accordance with all his ways, (AY)whose heart You know—for (AZ)You alone know the hearts of all [t]mankind— 40 so that they will [u]fear You all the days that they live on the [v]land which You have given to our fathers.
41 “Also regarding the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel, when he comes from a far country on account of Your name 42 (for they will hear of Your great name (BA)and Your mighty hand, and of Your outstretched arm); when he comes and prays toward this house, 43 hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and act in accordance with all for which the foreigner calls to You, in order (BB)that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, to [w]fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that [x]this house which I have built is called by Your name.
44 “When Your people go out to battle against [y]their enemy, by whatever way You send them, and (BC)they pray to the Lord [z]toward the city which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your name, 45 then hear in heaven their prayer and their pleading, and maintain their cause.
46 “When they sin against You (for (BD)there is no person who does not sin) and You are angry with them and turn them over to an enemy, so that [aa]they take them away captive (BE)to the land of the enemy, distant or near; 47 (BF)if they [ab]take it to heart in the land where they have been taken captive, and repent and implore Your [ac]favor in the land of those who have taken them captive, saying, ‘(BG)We have sinned and done wrong, we have acted wickedly’; 48 (BH)if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, and (BI)pray to You toward their land which You have given to their fathers, the city which You have chosen, and the house which I have built for Your name; 49 then hear their prayer and their pleading in heaven, Your dwelling place, and maintain their cause, 50 and forgive Your people who have sinned against You and all their wrongdoings which they have committed against You, and (BJ)make them objects of compassion before those who have taken them captive, so that they will have compassion on them 51 ((BK)for they are Your people and Your inheritance which You have brought out of Egypt, (BL)from the midst of the iron furnace), 52 (BM)so that Your eyes may be open to the pleading of Your servant and to the pleading of Your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call to You. 53 For You have singled them out from all the peoples of the earth as Your inheritance, (BN)just as You spoke through Moses Your servant, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, Lord [ad]God.”
Solomon’s Benediction
54 (BO)When Solomon had finished praying this entire prayer and plea to the Lord, (BP)he stood up from the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his [ae]hands spread toward heaven. 55 And he stood and (BQ)blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying:
56 “Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel (BR)in accordance with everything that He [af]promised; (BS)not one word has [ag]failed of all His good [ah]promise, which He [ai]promised through Moses His servant. 57 May the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; (BT)may He not leave us nor forsake us, 58 so that (BU)He may guide our hearts toward Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His ordinances, which He commanded our fathers. 59 And may these words of mine, with which I have implored the [aj]favor of the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, so that He will maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, [ak]as each day requires, 60 so (BV)that all the peoples of the earth may know that (BW)the Lord is God; there is no one else. 61 (BX)Your hearts therefore shall be [al]wholly devoted to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as at this day.”
Dedicatory Sacrifices
62 (BY)Then the king and all Israel with him (BZ)offered sacrifice before the Lord. 63 And Solomon offered for the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to the Lord, twenty-two thousand oxen and 120,000 sheep. (CA)So the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord. 64 On the same day the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard that was in front of the house of the Lord, because there he [am]offered the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat of the peace offerings; for (CB)the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to hold the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat of the peace offerings.
65 So (CC)Solomon held the [an]feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly (CD)from the entrance of Hamath (CE)to the brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God, for seven days and seven more days, that is, fourteen days. 66 On the eighth day he dismissed the people, and they blessed the king. Then they went to their tents joyful and with happy hearts for all the goodness that the Lord had [ao]shown to David His servant, and to Israel His people.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 8:5 Lit sheep and oxen...numbered for multitude
- 1 Kings 8:14 Lit turned his face about
- 1 Kings 8:17 Lit with
- 1 Kings 8:18 Lit with
- 1 Kings 8:18 Lit with
- 1 Kings 8:19 Lit will come forth from your loins
- 1 Kings 8:20 Lit spoke
- 1 Kings 8:24 Lit spoken to
- 1 Kings 8:25 Lit spoken to
- 1 Kings 8:25 Lit There shall not be cut off to you a man from before Me
- 1 Kings 8:27 Lit heaven of heavens
- 1 Kings 8:32 Lit giving
- 1 Kings 8:33 Lit struck
- 1 Kings 8:33 Or compassion
- 1 Kings 8:37 Lit scorching
- 1 Kings 8:37 Lit gates
- 1 Kings 8:38 Lit takes place
- 1 Kings 8:38 Lit who know each
- 1 Kings 8:38 Lit palms
- 1 Kings 8:39 Lit the sons of mankind
- 1 Kings 8:40 Or revere
- 1 Kings 8:40 Lit face of the land
- 1 Kings 8:43 Or revere
- 1 Kings 8:43 Lit Your name is called upon this house which I have built
- 1 Kings 8:44 Lit his
- 1 Kings 8:44 Lit in the way of
- 1 Kings 8:46 Lit their captors take them captive
- 1 Kings 8:47 Lit return to their heart
- 1 Kings 8:47 Or compassion
- 1 Kings 8:53 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- 1 Kings 8:54 Lit palms
- 1 Kings 8:56 Lit spoke
- 1 Kings 8:56 Lit fallen
- 1 Kings 8:56 Lit word
- 1 Kings 8:56 Lit spoke
- 1 Kings 8:59 Or compassion
- 1 Kings 8:59 Lit the matter of a day in its day
- 1 Kings 8:61 Lit complete with
- 1 Kings 8:64 Lit made
- 1 Kings 8:65 I.e., of Booths
- 1 Kings 8:66 Lit done
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
1 Kings 8
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
8 Then all the ancients of Israel with the princes of the tribes, and the heads of the families of the children of Israel were assembled to king Solomon in Jerusalem: that they might carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, that is, out of Sion.
2 And all Israel assembled themselves to king Solomon on the festival day in the month of Ethanim, the same is the seventh month.
3 And all the ancients of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark,
4 And carried the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the covenant, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, that were in the tabernacle: and the priests and the Levites carried them.
5 And king Solomon, and all the multitude of Israel, that were assembled unto him went with him before the ark, and they sacrificed sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered.
6 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord into its place, into the oracle of the temple, into the holy of holies under the wings of the cherubims.
7 For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and covered the art, and the staves thereof above.
8 And whereas the staves stood out, the ends of them were seen without in the sanctuary before the oracle, but were not seen farther out, and there they have been unto this day.
9 Now in the ark there was nothing else but the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.
10 And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the sanctuary, that a cloud filled the house of the Lord,
11 And the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.
12 Then Solomon said: The Lord said that he would dwell in a cloud.
13 Building I have built a house for thy dwelling, to be thy most firm throne for ever.
14 And the king turned his face, and blessed all the assembly of Israel: for all the assembly of Israel stood.
15 And Solomon said: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David my father, and with his own hands hath accomplished it, saying:
16 Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel, for a house to be built, that my name might be there: but I chose David to be over my people Israel.
17 And David my father would have built a house to the name of the Lord the God of Israel:
18 And the Lord said to David my father: Whereas thou hast thought in thy heart to build a house to my name, thou hast done well in having this same thing in thy mind.
19 Nevertheless thou shalt not build me a house, but thy son, that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build a house to my name.
20 The Lord hath performed his word which he spoke: and I stand in the room of David my father, and sit upon the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised: and have built a house to the name of the Lord the God of Israel.
21 And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with our fathers, when they came out of the land of Egypt.
22 And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the sight of the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands towards heaven;
23 And said: Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven above, or on earth beneath: who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that have walked before thee with all their heart.
24 Who hast kept with thy servant David my father what thou hast promised him: with thy mouth thou didst speak, and with thy hands thou hast performed, as this day proveth.
25 Now therefore, O Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father what thou hast spoken to him, saying: There shall not be taken away of thee a man in my sight, to sit on the throne of Israel: yet so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked in my sight.
26 And now, Lord God of Israel, let thy words be established, which thou hast spoken to thy servant David my father.
27 Is it then to be thought that God should indeed dwell upon earth? for if heaven, and the heavens of heavens cannot contain thee, how much less this house which I have built?
28 But have regard to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplications, O Lord my God: hear the hymn and the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee this day:
29 That thy eyes may be open upon this house night and day: upon the house of which thou hast said: My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth in this place to thee.
30 That thou mayest hearken to the supplication of thy servant and of thy people Israel, whatsoever they shall pray for in this place, and hear them in the place of thy dwelling in heaven; and when thou hearest, shew them mercy.
31 If any man trespass against his neighbour, and have an oath upon him, wherewith he is bound: and come because of the oath before thy altar to thy house,
32 Then hear thou in heaven: and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, and bringing his way upon his own head, and justifying the just, and rewarding him according to his justice.
33 If thy people Israel shall fly before their enemies, (because they will sin against thee,) and doing penance, and confessing to thy name, shall come, and pray, and make supplications to thee in this house:
34 Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them back to the land which thou gavest to their fathers.
35 If heaven shall be shut up, and there shall be no rain, because of their sins, and they praying in this place, shall do penance to thy name, and shall be converted from their sins, by occasion of their afflictions:
36 Then hear thou them in heaven, and forgive the sins of thy servants, and of thy people Israel: and shew them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people in possession.
37 If a famine arise in the land, or a pestilence, or corrupt air, or blasting, or locust, or mildew, if their enemy afflict them besieging the gates, whatsoever plague, whatsoever infirmity,
38 Whatsoever curse or imprecation shall happen to any man of thy people Israel: when a man shall know the wound of his own heart, and shall spread forth his hands in this house,
39 Then hear thou in heaven, in the place of thy dwelling, and forgive, and do so as to give to every one according to his ways, as thou shalt see his heart (for thou only knowest the heart of all the children of men)
40 That they may fear thee all the days that they live upon the face of the land, which thou hast given to our fathers.
41 Moreover also the stranger, who is not of thy people Israel, when he shall come out of a far country for thy name's sake, (for they shall hear everywhere of thy great name and thy mighty hand,
42 And thy stretched out arm,) so when he shall come, and shall pray in this place,
43 Then hear thou in heaven, in the firmament of thy dwelling place, and do all those things, for which that stranger shall call upon thee: that all the people of the earth may learn to fear thy name, as do thy people Israel, and may prove that thy name is called upon on this house, which I have built.
44 If thy people go out to war against their enemies, by what way soever thou shalt send them, they shall pray to thee towards the way of the city, which thou hast chosen, and towards the house, which I have built to thy name:
45 And then hear thou in heaven their prayers, and their supplications, and do judgment for them.
46 But if they sin against thee (for there is no man who sinneth not) and thou being angry deliver them up to their enemies, so that they be led away captives into the land of their enemies far or near;
47 Then if they do penance in their heart in the place of captivity, and being converted make supplication to thee in their captivity, saying: We have sinned, we have done unjustly, we have committed wickedness:
48 And return to thee with all their heart, and all their soul, in the land of their enemies, to which they had been led captives: and pray to thee towards the way of their land, which thou gavest to their fathers, and of the city which thou hast chosen, and of the temple which I have built to thy name:
49 Then hear thou in heaven, in the firmament of thy throne, their prayers, and their supplications, and do judgment for them:
50 And forgive thy people, that have sinned against thee, and all their iniquities, by which they have transgressed against thee: and give them mercy before them that have made them captives, that they may have compassion on them.
51 For they are thy people, and thy inheritance, whom thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron.
52 That thy eyes may be open to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, to hear them in all things for which they shall call upon thee.
53 For thou hast separated them to thyself for an inheritance from among all the people of the earth, as thou hast spoken by Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.
54 And it came to pass, when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, that he rose from before the altar of the Lord: for he had fixed both knees on the ground, and had spread his hands towards heaven.
55 And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a, loud voice, saying:
56 Blessed be the Lord, who hath given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed so much as one word of all the good things that he promised by his servant Moses.
57 The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers, and not leave us, nor cast us off:
58 But may he incline our hearts to himself, that we may walk in all his ways, and keep his commandments, and his ceremonies, and all his judgments which he commanded our fathers.
59 And let these my words, wherewith I have prayed before the Lord, he nigh unto the Lord our God day and night, that he may do judgment for his servant, and for his people Israel day by day:
60 That all the people of the earth may know, that the Lord he is God, and there is no other besides him.
61 Let our hearts also be perfect with the Lord our God, that we may walk in his statutes, and keep his commandments, as at this day.
62 And the king, and all Israel him, offered victims before the Lord.
63 And Solomon slew victims of peace offerings, which he sacrificed to the Lord, two and twenty thousand oxen, and hundred and twenty thousand sheep: so the king, and the children of Israel dedicated the temple of the Lord.
64 In that day the king sanctified the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord: for there he offered the holocaust, and sacrifice, and fat of the peace offerings: because the brazen altar that was before the Lord, was too little to receive the holocaust, and sacrifice, and fat of the peace offerings.
65 And Solomon made at the same time a solemn feast, and all Israel with him, a great multitude from the entrance of Emath to the river of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days and seven days, that is, fourteen days.
66 And on the eighth day he sent away the people: and they blessed the king, and went to their dwellings rejoicing, and glad in heart for all the good things that the Lord had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people.
1 Kings 8
The Message
8 1-2 Bringing all this to a climax, King Solomon called in the leaders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the family patriarchs, to bring up the Chest of the Covenant of God from Zion, the City of David. And they came, all Israel before King Solomon in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month, for the great autumn festival.
3-5 With all Israel’s leaders present, the priests took up the Chest of God and carried up the Chest and the Tent of Meeting and all the holy vessels that went with the Tent. King Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel were there at the Chest worshiping and sacrificing huge numbers of sheep and cattle—so many that no one could keep track.
6-9 Then the priests brought the Chest of the Covenant of God to its place in the Inner Sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim. The outspread wings of the cherubim stretched over the Chest and its poles. The poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the entrance to the Inner Sanctuary, but were not noticeable farther out. They’re still there today. There was nothing in the Chest but the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb where God made a covenant with Israel after bringing them up from Egypt.
The Temple Finished, Dedicated, Filled
10-11 When the priests left the Holy Place, a cloud filled The Temple of God. The priests couldn’t carry out their priestly duties because of the cloud—the glory of God filled The Temple of God!
12-13 Then Solomon spoke:
God has told us that he lives in the dark
where no one can see him;
I’ve built this splendid Temple, O God,
to mark your invisible presence forever.
14 The king then turned to face the congregation and blessed them:
15-16 “Blessed be God, the God of Israel, who spoke personally to my father David. Now he has kept the promise he made when he said, ‘From the day I brought my people Israel from Egypt, I haven’t set apart one city among the tribes of Israel to build a Temple to fix my Name there. But I did choose David to rule my people Israel.’
17-19 “My father David had it in his heart to build a Temple honoring the Name of God, the God of Israel. But God told him ‘It was good that you wanted to build a Temple in my honor—most commendable! But you are not the one to do it—your son will build it to honor my Name.’
20-21 “God has done what he said he would do: I have succeeded David my father and ruled over Israel just as God promised; and now I’ve built a Temple to honor God, the God of Israel, and I’ve secured a place for the Chest that holds the covenant of God, the covenant that he made with our ancestors when he brought them up from the land of Egypt.”
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22-25 Before the entire congregation of Israel, Solomon took a position before the Altar, spread his hands out before heaven, and prayed,
O God, God of Israel, there is no God like you in the skies above or on the earth below who unswervingly keeps covenant with his servants and relentlessly loves them as they sincerely live in obedience to your way. You kept your word to David my father, your personal word. You did exactly what you promised—every detail. The proof is before us today!
Keep it up, God, O God of Israel! Continue to keep the promises you made to David my father when you said, “You’ll always have a descendant to represent my rule on Israel’s throne, on the condition that your sons are as careful to live obediently in my presence as you have.”
26 O God of Israel, let this all happen;
confirm and establish it!
27-32 Can it be that God will actually move into our neighborhood? Why, the cosmos itself isn’t large enough to give you breathing room, let alone this Temple I’ve built. Even so, I’m bold to ask: Pay attention to these my prayers, both intercessory and personal, O God, my God. Listen to my prayers, energetic and devout, that I’m setting before you right now. Keep your eyes open to this Temple night and day, this place of which you said, “My Name will be honored there,” and listen to the prayers that I pray at this place.
Listen from your home in heaven
and when you hear, forgive.
When someone hurts a neighbor and promises to make things right, and then comes and repeats the promise before your Altar in this Temple, listen from heaven and act accordingly: Judge your servants, making the offender pay for his offense and setting the offended free of any charges.
33-34 When your people Israel are beaten by an enemy because they’ve sinned against you, but then turn to you and acknowledge your rule in prayers desperate and devout in this Temple,
Listen from your home in heaven,
forgive the sin of your people Israel,
return them to the land you gave their ancestors.
35-36 When the skies shrivel up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, but then they pray at this place, acknowledging your rule and quitting their sins because you have scourged them,
Listen from your home in heaven,
forgive the sins of your servants, your people Israel.
Then start over with them: Train them to live right and well; send rain on the land you gave your people as an inheritance.
37-40 When disasters strike, famine or catastrophe, crop failure or disease, locust or beetle, or when an enemy attacks their defenses—calamity of any sort—any prayer that’s prayed from anyone at all among your people Israel, hearts penetrated by the disaster, hands and arms thrown out to this Temple for help,
Listen from your home in heaven.
Forgive and go to work on us. Give what each deserves, for you know each life from the inside (you’re the only one with such “inside knowledge”!) so that they’ll live before you in lifelong reverent and believing obedience on this land you gave our ancestors.
41-43 And don’t forget the foreigner who is not a member of your people Israel but has come from a far country because of your reputation. People are going to be attracted here by your great reputation, your wonder-working power, who come to pray at this Temple.
Listen from your home in heaven.
Honor the prayers of the foreigner so that people all over the world will know who you are and what you’re like and will live in reverent obedience before you, just as your own people Israel do; so they’ll know that you personally make this Temple that I’ve built what it is.
44-51 When your people go to war against their enemies at the time and place you send them and they pray to God toward the city you chose and this Temple I’ve built to honor your Name,
Listen from heaven to what they pray and ask for,
and do what’s right for them.
When they sin against you—and they certainly will; there’s no one without sin!—and in anger you turn them over to the enemy and they are taken captive to the enemy’s land, whether far or near, but repent in the country of their captivity and pray with changed hearts in their exile, “We’ve sinned; we’ve done wrong; we’ve been most wicked,” and turn back to you heart and soul in the land of the enemy who conquered them, and pray to you toward their homeland, the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you chose, and this Temple I have built to the honor of your Name,
Listen from your home in heaven
to their prayers desperate and devout
and do what is best for them.
Forgive your people who have sinned against you; forgive their gross rebellions and move their captors to treat them with compassion. They are, after all, your people and your precious inheritance whom you rescued from the heart of that iron-smelting furnace, Egypt!
52-53 O be alert and attentive to the needy prayers of me, your servant, and your dear people Israel; listen every time they cry out to you! You handpicked them from all the peoples on earth to be your very own people, as you announced through your servant Moses when you, O God, in your masterful rule, delivered our ancestors from Egypt.
* * *
54-55 Having finished praying to God—all these bold and passionate prayers—Solomon stood up before God’s Altar where he had been kneeling all this time, his arms stretched upward to heaven. Standing, he blessed the whole congregation of Israel, blessing them at the top of his lungs:
56-58 “Blessed be God, who has given peace to his people Israel just as he said he’d do. Not one of all those good and wonderful words that he spoke through Moses has misfired. May God, our very own God, continue to be with us just as he was with our ancestors—may he never give up and walk out on us. May he keep us centered and devoted to him, following the life path he has cleared, watching the signposts, walking at the pace and rhythms he laid down for our ancestors.
59-61 “And let these words that I’ve prayed in the presence of God be always right there before him, day and night, so that he’ll do what is right for me, to guarantee justice for his people Israel day after day after day. Then all the people on earth will know God is the true God; there is no other God. And you, your lives must be totally obedient to God, our personal God, following the life path he has cleared, alert and attentive to everything he has made plain this day.”
* * *
62-63 The king and all Israel with him then worshiped, offering sacrifices to God. Solomon offered Peace-Offerings, sacrificing to God 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. This is how the king and all Israel dedicated The Temple of God.
64 That same day, the king set apart the central area of the Courtyard in front of God’s Temple for sacred use and there sacrificed the Whole-Burnt-Offerings, Grain-Offerings, and fat from the Peace-Offerings—the bronze Altar was too small to handle all these offerings.
65-66 This is how Solomon kept the great autumn feast, and all Israel with him, people there all the way from the far northeast (the Entrance to Hamath) to the far southwest (the Brook of Egypt)—a huge congregation. They started out celebrating for seven days—and then did it another seven days! Two solid weeks of celebration! Then he dismissed them. They blessed the king and went home, exuberant with heartfelt gratitude for all the good God had done for his servant David and for his people Israel.
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