Solomon Dedicates the Temple^(A)

7 When ^(B)Solomon had finished praying, ^(C)fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and ^(D)the glory of the Lord filled the ^[a]temple. ^2 (E)And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house. ³ When all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped and praised the Lord, saying:

^4 (H)Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. ⁵ King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. ^6 (I)And the priests attended to their services; the Levites also with instruments of the music of the Lord, which King David had made to praise the Lord, saying, “For His mercy endures forever,” whenever David offered praise by their ^[b]ministry. ^(J)The priests sounded trumpets opposite them, while all Israel stood.

⁷ Furthermore ^(K)Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the house of the Lord; for there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat.

^8 (L)At that time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly ^(M)from the entrance of Hamath to ^(N)the^[c] Brook of Egypt. ⁹ And on the eighth day they held a ^(O)sacred assembly, for they observed the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days. ^10 (P)On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their tents, joyful and glad of heart for the good that the Lord had done for David, for Solomon, and for His people Israel. ¹¹ Thus ^(Q)Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s house; and Solomon successfully accomplished all that came into his heart to make in the house of the Lord and in his own house.

God’s Second Appearance to Solomon^(R)

¹² Then the Lord ^(S)appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, ^(T)and have chosen this ^(U)place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. ^13 (V)When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, ¹⁴ if My people who are ^(W)called by My name will ^(X)humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, ^(Y)then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. ¹⁵ Now ^(Z)My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. ¹⁶ For now ^(AA)I have chosen and ^[d]sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and ^[e]My eyes and ^[f]My heart will be there perpetually. ^17 (AB)As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, ¹⁸ then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, ^(AC)‘You shall not fail to have a man as ruler in Israel.’

^19 (AD)“But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them, ^20 (AE)then I will uproot them from My land which I have given them; and this house which I have ^[g]sanctified for My name I will cast out of My sight, and will make it a proverb and a ^(AF)byword among all peoples.

²¹ “And as for ^(AG)this ^[h]house, which ^[i]is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be ^(AH)astonished and say, ^(AI)‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and this house?’ ²² Then they will answer, ‘Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore He has brought all this calamity on them.’ ”

Solomon’s Additional Achievements^(AJ)

8 It ^(AK)came to pass at the end of ^(AL)twenty years, when Solomon had built the house of the Lord and his own house, ² that the cities which ^[j]Hiram had given to Solomon, Solomon built them; and he settled the children of Israel there. ³ And Solomon went to Hamath Zobah and seized it. ^4 (AM)He also built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the storage cities which he built in ^(AN)Hamath. ⁵ He built Upper Beth Horon and ^(AO)Lower Beth Horon, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars, ⁶ also Baalath and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the chariot cities and the cities of the cavalry, and all that Solomon ^(AP)desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.

^7 (AQ)All the people who were left of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of Israel— ⁸ that is, their descendants who were left in the land after them, whom the children of Israel did not destroy—from these Solomon raised forced labor, as it is to this day. ⁹ But Solomon did not make the children of Israel ^[k]servants for his work. Some were men of war, captains of his officers, captains of his chariots, and his cavalry. ¹⁰ And others were chiefs of the officials of King Solomon: ^(AR)two hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people.

¹¹ Now Solomon ^(AS)brought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the City of David to the house he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places to which the ark of the Lord has come are holy.”

¹² Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of the Lord which he had built before the vestibule, ¹³ according to the ^(AT)daily rate, offering according to the commandment of Moses, for the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the ^(AU)three appointed yearly ^(AV)feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. ¹⁴ And, according to the ^[l]order of David his father, he appointed the ^(AW)divisions of the priests for their service, ^(AX)the Levites for their duties (to praise and serve before the priests) as the duty of each day required, and the ^(AY)gatekeepers by their divisions at each gate; for so David the man of God had commanded. ¹⁵ They did not depart from the command of the king to the priests and Levites concerning any matter or concerning the ^(AZ)treasuries.

¹⁶ Now all the work of Solomon was well-ordered ^[m]from the day of the foundation of the house of the Lord until it was finished. So the house of the Lord was completed.

¹⁷ Then Solomon went to ^(BA)Ezion Geber and ^[n]Elath on the seacoast, in the land of Edom. ^18 (BB)And Hiram sent him ships by the hand of his servants, and servants who knew the sea. They went with the servants of Solomon to ^(BC)Ophir, and acquired four hundred and fifty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.

Prayer for Israel’s Restoration

To the Chief Musician. ^(A)Set to ^[a]“The Lilies.” A ^[b]Testimony of Asaph. A Psalm.

²⁶ “Men and brethren, sons of the ^[a]family of Abraham, and ^(A)those among you who fear God, ^(B)to you the ^[b]word of this salvation has been sent. ²⁷ For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, ^(C)because they did not know Him, nor even the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning Him. ^28 (D)And though they found no cause for death in Him, they asked Pilate that He should be put to death. ^29 (E)Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, ^(F)they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. ^30 (G)But God raised Him from the dead. ^31 (H)He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people. ³² And we declare to you glad tidings—^(I)that promise which was made to the fathers. ³³ God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm:

³⁴ And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to ^[c]corruption, He has spoken thus:

³⁵ Therefore He also says in another Psalm:

³⁶ “For David, after he had served ^[e]his own generation by the will of God, ^(M)fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and ^[f]saw corruption; ³⁷ but He whom God raised up ^[g]saw no corruption. ³⁸ Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that ^(N)through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; ³⁹ and ^(O)by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. ⁴⁰ Beware therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you:

Blessing and Conflict at Antioch

^42 [h]So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. ⁴³ Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, ^(Q)persuaded them to continue in ^(R)the grace of God.

⁴⁴ On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. ⁴⁵ But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they ^(S)opposed the things spoken by Paul. ⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, ^(T)“It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but ^(U)since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, ^(V)we turn to the Gentiles. ⁴⁷ For so the Lord has commanded us:

⁴⁸ Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. ^(X)And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.

⁴⁹ And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region. ⁵⁰ But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, ^(Y)raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. ^51 (Z)But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and came to Iconium. ⁵² And the disciples ^(AA)were filled with joy and ^(AB)with the Holy Spirit.