Solomon Addresses the People

^12 (A)Then Solomon said,

¹⁴ Then the king ^[a]turned around and ^(E)blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing. ¹⁵ He said, “^(F)Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(G)who spoke with His mouth to my father David, and fulfilled it with His hands, saying, ¹⁶ ‘^(H)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 ^(I)My name would be there, but ^(J)I chose David to be over My people Israel.’ ^17 (K)Now it was ^[b]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 ^[c]in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it was ^[d]in your heart. ^19 (L)Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who ^[e]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 ^(M)I have risen in place of my father David and I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord ^[f]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, ^(N)in which is the covenant of the Lord, which He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”