The Ark Brought into the Temple^(A)

8 Now ^(B)Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, ^(C)that they might bring ^(D)up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the City of David, which is Zion. ² Therefore all the men of Israel assembled with King Solomon at the ^(E)feast in the month of ^[a]Ethanim, which is the seventh month. ³ So all the elders of Israel came, ^(F)and the priests took up the ark. ⁴ Then they brought up the ark of the Lord, ^(G)the ^[b]tabernacle of meeting, and all the holy furnishings that were in the tabernacle. The priests and the Levites brought them up. ⁵ Also King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled with him, were with him before the ark, ^(H)sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered for multitude. ⁶ Then the priests ^(I)brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord to ^(J)its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the Most Holy Place, ^(K)under the wings of the cherubim. ⁷ For the cherubim spread their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles. ⁸ The poles ^(L)extended so that the ^[c]ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place, in front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day. ^9 (M)Nothing was in the ark ^(N)except the two tablets of stone which Moses ^(O)put there at Horeb, ^(P)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 came out of the holy place, that the cloud ^(Q)filled the house of the Lord, ¹¹ so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the ^(R)glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.

^12 (S)Then Solomon spoke:

Solomon’s Speech at Completion of the Work^(W)

¹⁴ Then the king turned around and ^(X)blessed the whole assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing. ¹⁵ And he said: ^(Y)“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who ^(Z)spoke with His mouth to my father David, and with His hand has fulfilled it, saying, ¹⁶ ‘Since the day that I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have chosen no city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house, that ^(AA)My name might be there; but I chose ^(AB)David to be over My people Israel.’ ¹⁷ Now ^(AC)it was in the heart of my father David to build a ^[d]temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel. ^18 (AD)But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a temple for My name, you did well that it was in your heart. ¹⁹ Nevertheless ^(AE)you shall not build the temple, but your son who will come from your body, he shall build the temple for My name.’ ²⁰ So the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke; and I have ^[e]filled the position of my father David, and sit on the throne of Israel, ^(AF)as the Lord promised; and I have built a temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel. ²¹ And there I have made a place for the ark, in which is ^(AG)the covenant of the Lord which He made with our fathers, when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication^(AH)

²² Then Solomon stood before ^(AI)the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and ^(AJ)spread out his hands toward heaven; ²³ and he said: “Lord God of Israel, ^(AK)there is no God in heaven above or on earth below like You, ^(AL)who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who ^(AM)walk before You with all their hearts. ²⁴ You have kept what You promised Your servant David my father; You have both spoken with Your mouth and fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day. ²⁵ Therefore, Lord God of Israel, now keep what You promised Your servant David my father, saying, ^(AN)‘You shall not fail to have a man sit before Me on the throne of Israel, only if your sons take heed to their way, that they walk before Me as you have walked before Me.’ ^26 (AO)And now I pray, O God of Israel, let Your word come true, which You have spoken to Your servant David my father.

²⁷ “But ^(AP)will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the ^(AQ)heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built! ²⁸ Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O Lord my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You today: ²⁹ that Your eyes may be open toward this ^[f]temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ^(AR)‘My name shall be ^(AS)there,’ that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes ^(AT)toward this place. ^30 (AU)And may You hear the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear in heaven Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive.

³¹ “When anyone sins against his neighbor, and is forced to take ^(AV)an oath, and comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this temple, ³² then hear in heaven, and act, and judge Your servants, ^(AW)condemning the wicked, bringing his way on his head, and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.

^33 (AX)“When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and ^(AY)when they turn back to You and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication to You in this temple, ³⁴ then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to their ^(AZ)fathers.

^35 (BA)“When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, when they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin because You afflict them, ³⁶ then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, that You may ^(BB)teach them ^(BC)the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.

^37 (BD)“When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemy besieges them in the land of their ^[g]cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is; ³⁸ whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, when each one knows the plague of his own heart, and spreads out his hands toward this temple: ³⁹ then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone ^(BE)know the hearts of all the sons of men), ^40 (BF)that they may fear You all the days that they live in the land which You gave to our fathers.

⁴¹ “Moreover, concerning a foreigner, who is not of Your people Israel, but has come from a far country for Your name’s sake ⁴² (for they will hear of Your great name and Your ^(BG)strong hand and Your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this temple, ⁴³ hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, ^(BH)that all peoples of the earth may know Your name and ^(BI)fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this temple which I have built is called by Your name.

⁴⁴ “When Your people go out to battle against their enemy, wherever You send them, and when they pray to the Lord toward the city which You have chosen and the temple which I have built for Your name, ⁴⁵ then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their ^[h]cause.

⁴⁶ “When they sin against You ^(BJ)(for there is no one who does not sin), and You become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them captive ^(BK)to the land of the enemy, far or near; ^47 (BL)yet when they ^[i]come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to You in the land of those who took them captive, ^(BM)saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong, we have committed wickedness’; ⁴⁸ and when they ^(BN)return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who led them away captive, and ^(BO)pray to You toward their land which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen and the temple which I have built for Your name: ⁴⁹ then hear in heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their ^[j]cause, ⁵⁰ and forgive Your people who have sinned against You, and all their transgressions which they have transgressed against You; and ^(BP)grant them compassion before those who took them captive, that they may have compassion on them ⁵¹ (for ^(BQ)they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out of Egypt, ^(BR)out of the iron furnace), ^52 (BS)that Your eyes may be open to the supplication of Your servant and the supplication of Your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call to You. ⁵³ For You separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be Your inheritance, ^(BT)as You spoke by Your servant Moses, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.”

Solomon Blesses the Assembly^(BU)

^54 (BV)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 ^(BW)and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying: ⁵⁶ “Blessed be the Lord, who has given ^(BX)rest^[k] to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. ^(BY)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. ^(BZ)May He not leave us nor forsake us, ⁵⁸ that He may ^(CA)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 (CB)that all the peoples of the earth may know that ^(CC)the Lord is God; there is no other. ⁶¹ Let your ^(CD)heart therefore be ^[l]loyal to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and keep His commandments, as at this day.”

Solomon Dedicates the Temple^(CE)

⁶² Then ^(CF)the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord. ⁶³ And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to the Lord, twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord. ⁶⁴ On ^(CG)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 burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the ^(CH)bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to receive the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.

⁶⁵ At that time Solomon held ^(CI)a feast, and all Israel with him, a great assembly from ^(CJ)the entrance of Hamath to ^(CK)the Brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God, ^(CL)seven days and seven more days—fourteen days. ^66 (CM)On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they ^[m]blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the good that the Lord had done for His servant David, and for Israel His people.

Israel Resists the Holy Spirit

⁵¹ “You ^(A)stiff-necked^[a] and ^(B)uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. ^52 (C)Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of ^(D)the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, ^53 (E)who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”

Stephen the Martyr

^54 (F)When they heard these things they were ^[b]cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. ⁵⁵ But he, ^(G)being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the ^(H)glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, ⁵⁶ and said, “Look! ^(I)I see the heavens opened and the ^(J)Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

⁵⁷ Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; ⁵⁸ and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And ^(K)the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹ And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, ^(L)receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰ Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, ^(M)“Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Saul Persecutes the Church

8 Now Saul was consenting to his death.

At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and ^(N)they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. ² And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and ^(O)made great lamentation over him.

³ As for Saul, ^(P)he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.

Christ Is Preached in Samaria

⁴ Therefore ^(Q)those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. ⁵ Then ^(R)Philip went down to ^[c]the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. ⁶ And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. ⁷ For ^(S)unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. ⁸ And there was great joy in that city.

The Sorcerer’s Profession of Faith

⁹ But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously ^(T)practiced ^[d]sorcery in the city and ^(U)astonished the ^[e]people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, ¹⁰ to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God.” ¹¹ And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his ^[f]sorceries for a long time. ¹² But when they believed Philip as he preached the things ^(V)concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. ¹³ Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.

Song of Victory over Zion’s Enemies

A Song of Ascents.

The Lord Tests Hearts