⁶ The priests and the Levites stood in their places. The Levites held the musical instruments that King David had made to thank the Lord. They sang these words to praise the Lord: ‘His faithful love continues for ever.’ The priests stood on the other side and they made music with their trumpets. All the Israelites were standing up while this was happening.

⁷ On the same day, Solomon gave to the Lord the yard that was in front of the temple. He offered burnt offerings and grain offerings to the Lord. He also offered the fat from the friendship offerings there. The bronze altar that Solomon had made was too small to contain all these offerings, so he made these sacrifices in the middle of the yard instead.

⁸ At that time, Solomon and the big crowd of Israelites who were with him had a festival for seven days. There were people from everywhere in Israel, from Hamath in the north to the Stream of Egypt in the south.^[a]