1 Kings 8:22-61
International Standard Version
Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication(A)
22 Then Solomon took his place in front of the Lord’s altar in the presence of the entire congregation of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven, 23 and said:
“Lord God of Israel, there is no one like you, God in heaven above or on the earth below, who watches over[a] his covenant, showing gracious love to your servants who live their lives in your presence[b] with all their hearts. 24 It is you, Lord God,[c] who have kept your promise to my father, your servant David, that you made to him. Indeed, you made a commitment[d] to my father David and then personally fulfilled[e] what you had promised today.
25 “Now therefore, Lord God of Israel, keep your promise that you made[f] to my father, your servant David, when you said, ‘You will not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel,[g] if only your descendants will watch their lives,[h] to live[i] in my presence just as you have lived[j] in my presence.’[k]
26 “Now therefore, God of Israel, may your promise that you made[l] to your servant David my father be fulfilled… 27 and yet, will God truly reside on earth? Look! Neither the sky nor the highest heaven can contain you! How much less this Temple that I have built! 28 Pay attention to the prayer of your servant and to his request, Lord my God, and listen to the cry and prayer that your servant is praying in your presence today. 29 Let your eyes always look toward this Temple night and day, toward the location where you have said ‘My name will reside there.’ Listen to the prayer that your servant prays in this direction.[m] 30 Listen to the requests from your servant and from your people Israel as they pray in this direction,[n] listen from the place where you reside in heaven, then hear and forgive.
31 “If a man should sin against his neighbor and he is required to take an oath, and he then comes to take an oath in front of your altar in this Temple, 32 then listen in heaven, act, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing back to him the consequences of his choices[o] and by justifying the righteous by recompensing him according to his righteousness.
33 “If your people Israel are defeated in a battle with[p] their enemy because they have sinned against you, when they return to you and confess to you,[q] pray, and in this Temple they ask you to show grace to them, 34 then hear in heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and return them to the soil[r] that you gave to their ancestors.
35 “When heaven remains closed, and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, and they pray in the direction of this place, confessing your name and turning from their sin when you afflict them,[s] 36 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Israel. Indeed, teach them the best way to live and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as an inheritance.
37 “If a famine comes to the land, or if plant diseases, mildew, locust, or grasshoppers[t] appear, or if their enemies attack them in their settlements of the land, no matter what the epidemic or illness is, 38 whatever prayer or request is made, no matter whether it’s made by a single man or by all of your people Israel, each praying out of his own hurting heart and anguish and stretching out his hands toward this Temple, 39 then hear from heaven, the place where you reside, and forgive, repaying each person according to all of his ways, since you know their hearts—for you alone know the hearts of all human beings— 40 so they will fear you every day and live on the surface of the land that you have given to our ancestors.
41 “Now concerning the foreigner who is not from your people Israel, when he comes from a land far away for the sake of your name 42 (for people will hear of your great name, your mighty acts,[u] and your obvious power[v]), when he comes and prays facing this Temple, 43 then hear in heaven where you reside, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the people of the earth may know your name, fear you as do your people Israel, and so they may know that this Temple that I have built is called by your name.
44 “When your people go out to war against their enemies, no matter what way you send them, and they pray to the Lord in the direction of the city that you have chosen and in the direction of the Temple that I have built for your name, 45 then hear their prayer and their request in heaven, and fight for their cause.
46 “When they sin against you—because there isn’t a single human being who doesn’t sin—and you become angry with them and deliver them over to their enemy, who takes them away captive to the land that belongs to their enemy, whether near or far away, 47 if they turn their hearts back to you[w] in the land where they have been taken captive, repent, and pray to you—even if they do so in the land of their captivity—confessing, ‘We have sinned, we have committed abominations, and practiced wickedness,’ 48 if they return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, as they pray to you in the direction of their land that you have given to their ancestors and to the city that you have chosen, and to the Temple that I have built for your name, 49 then hear their prayer and requests in heaven, where you reside, and fight for their cause, 50 forgiving your people who have sinned against you, along with their transgressions by which they have transgressed against you.
“Show your compassion in the presence of those who have taken them captive, so they may show compassion on them, 51 since they are your people and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from an iron fire furnace. 52 Do this[x] so your eyes may remain open to the requests of your servant and to the requests of your people’s prayers, to listen to them whenever they call out to you, 53 because you have separated them to yourself as your heritage from all the people of the earth, as you spoke through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, Lord God.
Solomon’s Blessing to the Assembly(B)
54 When Solomon had completed saying this entire prayer to the Lord, he got up from kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven in the presence of the Lord’s altar, 55 stood up, and blessed all of the assembly of Israel in a loud voice. He said:
56 “Blessed is the Lord, who has given security to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not one of his promises has failed to come about that he gave 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 so that he may turn our hearts toward him, so that we may live life[y] his way, keeping his commands, statutes, and ordinances that he gave to our ancestors. 59 And may what I’ve had to say to the Lord remain with the Lord our God both day and night, so that he may defend the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as the need of the day may require it, 60 so that, in turn,[z] all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God—there is no one else. 61 Now let your heart be completely devoted to the Lord our God, to live according to his statutes and to keep his commands, as we are doing today.”
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 8:23 Or who keeps
- 1 Kings 8:23 Lit. who walk before you
- 1 Kings 8:24 The Heb. lacks It is you, Lord God
- 1 Kings 8:24 Lit. you spoke by your mouth
- 1 Kings 8:24 Lit. and by your hand full
- 1 Kings 8:25 Lit. spoke
- 1 Kings 8:25 Cf. 1King 2:4; 2Chr 7:18
- 1 Kings 8:25 Lit. ways
- 1 Kings 8:25 Lit. walk
- 1 Kings 8:25 Lit. walked
- 1 Kings 8:25 Or have walked before me
- 1 Kings 8:26 Lit. spoke
- 1 Kings 8:29 Lit. prays toward this place
- 1 Kings 8:30 Lit. pray toward this place
- 1 Kings 8:32 Lit. by bringing his way upon his head
- 1 Kings 8:33 Lit. defeated before
- 1 Kings 8:33 Lit. confess your name
- 1 Kings 8:34 Or land
- 1 Kings 8:35 So MT; LXX reads you bring them low
- 1 Kings 8:37 Or caterpillars
- 1 Kings 8:42 Lit. hand
- 1 Kings 8:42 Lit. your outstretched arm
- 1 Kings 8:47 The Heb. lacks back to you
- 1 Kings 8:52 The Heb. lacks Do this
- 1 Kings 8:58 Lit. may walk in
- 1 Kings 8:60 Lit. therefore
1 Kings 8:22-61
Lexham English Bible
Solomon’s Prayer to Yahweh
22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of Yahweh in the presence of all of the assembly of Israel, and he spread out his hands to the heavens, 23 and he said, “O Yahweh, God of Israel, there is no god like you in the heavens above or on the earth beneath, keeping the covenant and the loyal love for your servants who are walking before you with all their heart. 24 You have kept for your servant David my father what you promised to him, and you have spoken with your mouth, and with your hand you have fulfilled it this very day. 25 So then, O Yahweh, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you promised to him, saying, ‘For you, no man will be cut off from before me who will be sitting on the throne of Israel, if only your sons keep their ways to walk before me just as you have walked before me.’ 26 So then, O God of Israel, please let your word be confirmed which you have promised[a] to your servant David my father. 27 For will God really dwell on the earth? Behold, the heavens and the heaven of heavens could not contain you! How could[b] this house that I have built? 28 You must regard the prayer of your servant and his plea! O Yahweh my God, listen to the pleading and to the prayer that your servant is praying before you this day, 29 so that your eyes will be open to this house night and day, to the place which you said, ‘My name will be there,’ to hear the prayer that your servant prays toward this place. 30 You must listen to the plea of your servant and your people Israel which they pray toward this place; and you must hear from the place where you live, from heaven you must hear and you must forgive. 31 If a man sins against his neighbor and he pronounces an oath against him to curse him, and the curse comes before your altar in this house, 32 then you shall hear in heaven and you shall act and you shall judge your servant, to declare the wicked guilty by bringing his way upon his head and to declare the righteous innocent[c] by rewarding him according to his righteousness. 33 When your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because[d] they sinned against you, and when they turn to you and confess your name and pray and beg for mercy from you in this house, 34 then you shall hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and you shall bring them back to the ground which you gave to their ancestors.[e] 35 When you shut up the heavens so there is no rain because they have sinned against you, then they pray to this place and they confess your name and they return from their sin because you punished them, 36 then you shall hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and your people Israel, for you will teach them the good way in which they should go, and you will give rain upon your land which you have given to your people as an inheritance. 37 If there should be in the land famine or disease, if there should be blight or mildew or locust or caterpillars, if it happens that his enemy lays siege against him in the land of his gates, if any plague or any disease, 38 any prayer or any plea which is offered by any person for all of your people Israel, who each knows the infestation of his own heart and spreads out his palms to this house, 39 then you shall hear in heaven the place of your dwelling, and you shall forgive and act and give to the man whose heart you know, according to all his ways, for you alone know the heart of all the sons of man. 40 Do these things so that they may fear you all the days that they live on the face of the land that you gave to our ancestors.[f] 41 Also for the foreigner who is not from your people Israel, and he comes from a distant land because of your name, 42 (for they shall hear of your great name and your powerful hand and your outstretched arm), and he shall come and pray toward this house, 43 you shall hear in heaven, the place of your dwelling, and act according to all that the foreigner calls to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name, to fear you as your people Israel, and to know that your name has been invoked over this house that I have built. 44 If your people go out to battle against his enemy in the way that you shall send them and they pray to Yahweh, toward the city which you have chosen and the house which I have built for your name, 45 then you shall hear in heaven their prayer and their plea, and you shall vindicate[g] them.
46 “If they sin against you (for there is not a person who does not sin) and you are angry with them and you give them to an enemy and they take them captive to the land of the enemy far or near, 47 and then they return their heart in the land where they have been taken captive and they return and plead to you in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned and we did wrong. We acted wickedly,’ 48 if they return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive and they pray to you toward their land which you gave to their ancestors,[h] the city that you have chosen and the house that you[i] built for your name, 49 then you shall hear in heaven, the place of your dwelling, their prayer and their plea, and you shall vindicate them.[j] 50 You shall forgive your people who sinned against you, even for all their transgressions which they committed against you. You shall give them compassion before their captors so that they may have compassion on them, 51 for they are your people and your inheritance whom you brought from Egypt from the middle of the smelter of iron. 52 O, that your eyes may be open to the plea of your servant and to the plea of your people Israel, to listen to them in all things when they call to you. 53 For you have separated them for yourself as an inheritance from all the peoples of the earth, as you promised through the hand of Moses your servant when you brought out our ancestors[k] from Egypt, my Lord Yahweh!”
Solomon Charges the People Israel
54 It happened that when Solomon finished praying to Yahweh all of the prayer and this plea, he got up from before the altar of Yahweh, from kneeling down on his knees with his palms outstretched to heaven. 55 He stood and blessed all of the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying, 56 “Blessed be Yahweh who gave a resting place to his people Israel. According to all that he promised, not one word has fallen from all of his promises concerning the good which he spoke through the hand of Moses his servant. 57 May Yahweh our God be with us as he was with our ancestors,[l] and may he not leave us or abandon us, 58 to incline our hearts toward him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his judgments which he commanded our ancestors.[m] 59 Let these my words which I pleaded before Yahweh be near to Yahweh our God, by day and by night, to maintain the justice of his servant and the justice of his people Israel as each day requires[n] 60 so that all of the people of the earth may know that Yahweh, he is God; there is none other. 61 Let your heart be completely with Yahweh our God by walking in his statutes, by keeping his commands as this day.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Kings 8:26 Or “spoken”
- 1 Kings 8:27 Literally “Even that”
- 1 Kings 8:32 Literally “to declare righteous the righteous”
- 1 Kings 8:33 Literally “who”
- 1 Kings 8:34 Or “fathers”
- 1 Kings 8:40 Or “fathers”
- 1 Kings 8:45 Literally “their judgment”
- 1 Kings 8:48 Or “fathers”
- 1 Kings 8:48 The Hebrew Masoretic text (Kethib) reads “you have built”;Qere reads “I have built”
- 1 Kings 8:49 Literally “and you shall do their justice”
- 1 Kings 8:53 Or “fathers”
- 1 Kings 8:57 Or “fathers”
- 1 Kings 8:58 Or “fathers”
- 1 Kings 8:59 Literally “the word of the day on its day”
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