Solomon’s Prayer

22 Then Solomon stood(A) before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire congregation of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.(B) 23 He said:

Lord God of Israel,
there is no God like you
in heaven above or on earth below,(C)
who keeps the gracious covenant
with your servants who walk before you
with all their heart.(D)
24 You have kept what you promised
to your servant, my father David.
You spoke directly to him
and you fulfilled your promise by your power
as it is today.(E)
25 Therefore, Lord God of Israel,
keep what you promised
to your servant, my father David:
You will never fail to have a man
to sit before me on the throne of Israel,(F)
if only your sons take care to walk before me
as you have walked before me.(G)
26 Now Lord[a] God of Israel,
please confirm what you promised
to your servant, my father David.(H)
27 But will God indeed live on earth?
Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain you,
much less this temple I have built.(I)
28 Listen[b] to your servant’s prayer and his petition,(J)
Lord my God,
so that you may hear the cry and the prayer
that your servant prays before you today,
29 so that your eyes may watch over this temple night and day,(K)
toward the place where you said,
“My name will be there,”(L)
and so that you may hear the prayer
that your servant prays toward this place.
30 Hear the petition of your servant(M)
and your people Israel,
which they pray toward this place.(N)
May you hear in your dwelling place in heaven.
May you hear and forgive.
31 When a man sins against his neighbor
and is forced to take an oath,[c](O)
and he comes to take an oath
before your altar in this temple,
32 may you hear in heaven and act.
May you judge your servants,
condemning the wicked man by bringing
what he has done on his own head
and providing justice for the righteous
by rewarding him according to his righteousness.(P)
33 When your people Israel are defeated before an enemy,
because they have sinned against you,(Q)
and they return to you and praise your name,
and they pray and plead with you
for mercy in this temple,
34 may you hear in heaven
and forgive the sin of your people Israel.
May you restore them to the land
you gave their ancestors.(R)
35 When the skies are shut and there is no rain,
because they have sinned against you,(S)
and they pray toward this place
and praise your name,
and they turn from their sins
because you are afflicting them,(T)
36 may you hear in heaven
and forgive the sin of your servants
and your people Israel,
so that you may teach them to walk on the good way.(U)
May you send rain on your land
that you gave your people for an inheritance.(V)
37 When there is famine in the land,
when there is pestilence,
when there is blight or mildew, locust or grasshopper,(W)
when their enemy besieges them
in the land and its cities,[d]
when there is any plague or illness,
38 every prayer or petition
that any person or that all your people Israel may have—
they each know their own affliction[e](X)
as they spread out their hands toward this temple,(Y)
39 may you hear in heaven, your dwelling place,
and may you forgive, act, and give to everyone
according to all their ways, since you know each heart,
for you alone know every human heart,(Z)
40 so that they may fear(AA) you
all the days they live on the land(AB)
you gave our ancestors.
41 Even for the foreigner who is not of your people Israel
but has come from a distant land(AC)
because of your name—
42 for they will hear of your great name,
strong hand,(AD) and outstretched arm,
and will come(AE) and pray toward this temple—
43 may you hear in heaven, your dwelling place,
and do according to all the foreigner asks.
Then all peoples of earth will know(AF) your name,
to fear you as your people Israel do
and to know that this temple I have built
bears your name.
44 When your people go out to fight against their enemies,[f]
wherever you send them,
and they pray to the Lord
in the direction of the city you have chosen(AG)
and the temple I have built for your name,
45 may you hear their prayer and petition in heaven
and uphold their cause.(AH)
46 When they sin against you—
for there is no one who does not sin(AI)
and you are angry with them
and hand them over to the enemy,
and their captors deport them to the enemy’s country(AJ)
whether distant or nearby—
47 and when they come to their senses[g]
in the land where they were deported
and repent and petition you in their captors’ land:
“We have sinned and done wrong;
we have been wicked,”(AK)
48 and when they return to you with all their heart and all their soul
in the land of their enemies who took them captive,(AL)
and when they pray to you in the direction of their land
that you gave their ancestors,
the city you have chosen,(AM)
and the temple I have built for your name,
49 may you hear in heaven, your dwelling place,
their prayer and petition and uphold their cause.
50 May you forgive your people
who sinned against you
and all their rebellions[h] against you,
and may you grant them compassion
before their captors,
so that they may treat them compassionately.(AN)
51 For they are your people and your inheritance;(AO)
you brought them out of Egypt,
out of the middle of an iron furnace.(AP)
52 May your eyes be open to your servant’s petition
and to the petition of your people Israel,
listening to them whenever they call to you.
53 For you, Lord God, have set them apart as your inheritance
from all peoples of the earth,
as you spoke through your servant Moses
when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt.(AQ)

Solomon’s Blessing

54 When Solomon finished praying this entire prayer and petition to the Lord, he got up from kneeling before the altar of the Lord, with his hands spread out toward heaven,(AR) 55 and he stood and blessed the whole congregation of Israel(AS) with a loud voice: 56 “Blessed be the Lord! He has given rest(AT) to his people Israel according to all he has said. Not one of all the good promises he made through his servant Moses has failed.(AU) 57 May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors. May he not abandon us or leave us(AV) 58 so that he causes us to be devoted[i] to him,(AW) to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commands, statutes, and ordinances, which he commanded our ancestors. 59 May my words with which I have made my petition before the Lord be near the Lord our God day and night. May he uphold his servant’s cause and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires.(AX) 60 May all the peoples of the earth know that the Lord is God. There is no other!(AY) 61 Be wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord our God(AZ) to walk in his statutes and to keep his commands, as it is today.”

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Footnotes

  1. 8:26 Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr, Tg, Vg, 2Ch 6:16; other Hb mss omit Lord
  2. 8:28 Lit Turn
  3. 8:31 Lit and he lifts a curse against him to curse him
  4. 8:37 Lit land of its gates
  5. 8:38 Lit know in his heart of a plague
  6. 8:44 Some Hb mss, some ancient versions, 2Ch 6:34; other Hb mss read enemy
  7. 8:47 Lit they return to their heart
  8. 8:50 Lit rebellions that they have rebelled
  9. 8:58 Lit causes our hearts to be inclined

22 Solomon stood before the Lord’s altar in front of the entire Israelite assembly and, spreading out his hands toward the sky, 23 he said:

Lord God of Israel, there’s no god like you in heaven above or on earth below. You keep the covenant and show loyalty to your servants who walk before you with all their heart. 24 This is the covenant you kept with your servant David, my father, which you promised him. Today, you have fulfilled what you promised. 25 So now, Lord, Israel’s God, keep what you promised my father David, your servant, when you said to him, “You will never fail to have a successor sitting on Israel’s throne as long as your descendants carefully walk before me just as you walked before me.” 26 So now, God of Israel, may your promise to your servant David, my father, come true.

27 But how could God possibly live on earth? If heaven, even the highest heaven, can’t contain you, how can this temple that I’ve built contain you? 28 Lord my God, listen to your servant’s prayer and request, and hear the cry and prayer that your servant prays to you today. 29 Constantly watch over this temple, the place about which you said, “My name will be there,” and listen to the prayer that your servant is praying toward[a] this place. 30 Listen to the request of your servant and your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Listen from your heavenly dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive!

31 If someone wrongs another and must make a solemn pledge asserting innocence before your altar in this temple,[b] 32 then listen from heaven, act, and decide which of your servants is right. Condemn the guilty party, repaying them for their conduct, but justify the innocent person, repaying them for their righteousness.

33 If your people Israel are defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, but then they change their hearts and lives, give thanks to your name, and ask for mercy before you at this temple, 34 then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel. Return them to the land you gave their ancestors.

35 When the sky holds back its rain because Israel has sinned against you, but they then pray toward this place, give thanks to your name, and turn away from their sin because you have punished them for it,[c] 36 then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the best way for them to follow, and send rain on your land that you gave to your people as an inheritance.

37 Whenever there is a famine or plague in the land; or whenever there is blight, mildew, locust, or grasshopper; or whenever someone’s enemy attacks them in their cities;[d] or any plague or illness comes; 38 whatever prayer or petition is made by any individual or by all of your people Israel—because people will recognize their own pain and spread out their hands toward this temple— 39 then listen from heaven where you live. Forgive, act, and repay each person according to all their conduct, because you know their hearts. You alone know the human heart. 40 Do this so that they may revere you all the days they live on the land that you gave to our ancestors.

41 Listen also to the immigrant who isn’t from your people Israel but who comes from a distant country because of your reputation— 42 because they will hear of your great reputation, your great power, and your outstretched arm. When the immigrant comes and prays toward this temple, 43 then listen from heaven, where you live, and do everything the immigrant asks. Do this so that all the people of the earth may know your reputation and revere you, as your people Israel do, and recognize that this temple I have built bears your name.

44 When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you may send them, and they pray to the Lord toward the city you have chosen and toward this temple that I have built for your name, 45 then listen from heaven to their prayer and request and do what is right for them.

46 When they sin against you (for there is no one who doesn’t sin) and you become angry with them and hand them over to an enemy who takes them away as prisoners to enemy territory, whether distant or nearby, 47 if they change their heart in whatever land they are held captive, changing their lives and begging for your mercy,[e] saying, “We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly!” 48 and if they return to you with all their heart and all their being in the enemy territory where they’ve been taken captive, and pray to you, toward their land, which you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen, and toward the temple I have built for your name, 49 then listen to their prayer and request from your heavenly dwelling place. Do what is right for them, 50 and forgive your people who have sinned against you. Forgive all their wrong that they have done against you. See to it that those who captured them show them mercy. 51 These are your people and your inheritance. You brought them out of Egypt, from the iron furnace.

52 Open your eyes to your servant’s request and to the request of your people Israel. Hear them whenever they cry out to you. 53 You set them apart from all the earth’s peoples as your own inheritance, Lord, just as you promised through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt.

54 As soon as Solomon finished praying and making these requests to the Lord, he got up from before the Lord’s altar, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out to heaven. 55 He stood up and blessed the whole Israelite assembly in a loud voice: 56 “May the Lord be blessed! He has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. He hasn’t neglected any part of the good promise he made through his servant Moses. 57 May the Lord our God be with us, just as he was with our ancestors. May he never leave us or abandon us. 58 May he draw our hearts to him to walk in all his ways and observe his commands, his laws, and his judgments that he gave our ancestors. 59 And may these words of mine that I have cried out before the Lord remain near to the Lord our God day and night so that he may do right by his servant and his people Israel for each day’s need, 60 and so that all the earth’s peoples may know that the Lord is God. There is no other God! 61 Now may you be committed to the Lord our God with all your heart by following his laws and observing his commands, just as you are doing right now.”

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 8:29 Or for, regarding; also used in several verses that follow
  2. 1 Kings 8:31 Heb uncertain
  3. 1 Kings 8:35 Or answered them
  4. 1 Kings 8:37 LXX one of; MT in the land of their gates
  5. 1 Kings 8:47 Heb adds in the land they are held captive.