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1 Kings 8:22-61
New English Translation

Solomon Prays for Israel

22 Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward the sky.[a] 23 He prayed:[b] “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven above or on earth below! You maintain covenantal loyalty[c] to your servants who obey you with sincerity.[d] 24 You have kept your word to your servant, my father David;[e] this very day you have fulfilled what you promised.[f] 25 Now, O Lord, God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David, when you said, ‘You will never fail to have a successor ruling before me on the throne of Israel,[g] provided that your descendants watch their step[h] and serve me as you have done.’[i] 26 Now, O God of Israel, may the promise you made[j] to your servant, my father David, be realized.[k]

27 “God does not really live on the earth![l] Look, if the sky and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built! 28 But respond favorably to[m] your servant’s prayer and his request for help, O Lord my God. Answer[n] the desperate prayer[o] your servant is presenting to you[p] today. 29 Night and day may you watch over this temple, the place where you promised you would live.[q] May you answer your servant’s prayer for this place.[r] 30 Respond to the request of your servant and your people Israel for this place.[s] Hear from inside your heavenly dwelling place[t] and respond favorably.[u]

31 “When someone is accused of sinning against his neighbor and the latter pronounces a curse on the alleged offender before your altar in this temple, be willing to forgive the accused if the accusation is false.[v] 32 Listen from heaven and make a just decision about your servants’ claims. Condemn the guilty party, declare the other innocent, and give both of them what they deserve.[w]

33 “The time will come when[x] your people Israel are defeated by an enemy[y] because they sinned against you. If they come back to you, renew their allegiance to you,[z] and pray for your help[aa] in this temple, 34 then listen from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to their ancestors.

35 “The time will come when[ab] the skies are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people[ac] sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you,[ad] and turn away from their sin because you punish[ae] them, 36 then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Certainly[af] you will then teach them the right way to live[ag] and send rain on your land that you have given your people to possess.[ah]

37 “The time will come when the land suffers from a famine, a plague, blight and disease, or a locust[ai] invasion, or when their enemy lays siege to the cities of the land,[aj] or when some other type of plague or epidemic occurs. 38 When all your people Israel pray and ask for help,[ak] as they acknowledge their pain[al] and spread out their hands toward this temple, 39 then listen from your heavenly dwelling place, forgive their sin,[am] and act favorably toward each one based on your evaluation of his motives.[an] (Indeed you are the only one who can correctly evaluate the motives of all people.)[ao] 40 Then they will obey[ap] you throughout their lifetimes as[aq] they live on the land you gave to our ancestors.

41 “Foreigners, who do not belong to your people Israel, will come from a distant land because of your reputation.[ar] 42 When they hear about your great reputation[as] and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds,[at] they will come and direct their prayers toward this temple. 43 Then listen from your heavenly dwelling place and answer all the prayers of the foreigners.[au] Then all the nations of the earth will acknowledge your reputation,[av] obey[aw] you as your people Israel do, and recognize that this temple I built belongs to you.[ax]

44 “When you direct your people to march out and fight their enemies,[ay] and they direct their prayers to the Lord[az] toward his chosen city and this temple I built for your honor,[ba] 45 then listen from heaven to their prayers for help[bb] and vindicate them.[bc]

46 “The time will come when your people[bd] will sin against you (for there is no one who is sinless!) and you will be angry with them and deliver them over to their enemies, who will take them as prisoners to their own land,[be] whether far away or close by. 47 When your people[bf] come to their senses[bg] in the land where they are held prisoner, they will repent and beg for your mercy in the land of their imprisonment, admitting, ‘We have sinned and gone astray;[bh] we have done evil.’ 48 When they return to you with all their heart and being[bi] in the land[bj] where they are held prisoner, and direct their prayers to you toward the land you gave to their ancestors, your chosen city, and the temple I built for your honor,[bk] 49 then listen from your heavenly dwelling place to their prayers for help[bl] and vindicate them.[bm] 50 Forgive all the rebellious acts of your sinful people and cause their captors to have mercy on them.[bn] 51 After all,[bo] they are your people and your special possession[bp] whom you brought out of Egypt, from the middle of the iron-smelting furnace.[bq]

52 “May you be attentive[br] to your servant’s and your people Israel’s requests for help and may you respond to all their prayers to you.[bs] 53 After all,[bt] you picked them out of all the nations of the earth to be your special possession,[bu] just as you, O Sovereign Lord, announced through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt.”

54 When Solomon finished presenting all these prayers and requests to the Lord, he got up from before the altar of the Lord where he had kneeled and spread out his hands toward the sky.[bv] 55 When he stood up, he pronounced a blessing over the entire assembly of Israel, saying in a loud voice: 56 “The Lord is worthy of praise because he has made Israel his people secure[bw] just as he promised! Not one of all the faithful promises he made through his servant Moses is left unfulfilled![bx] 57 May the Lord our God be with us, as he was with our ancestors. May he not abandon us or leave us. 58 May he make us submissive,[by] so we can follow all his instructions[bz] and obey[ca] the commandments, rules, and regulations he commanded our ancestors. 59 May the Lord our God be constantly aware of these requests of mine I have presented to him,[cb] so that he might vindicate[cc] his servant and his people Israel as the need arises. 60 Then[cd] all the nations of the earth will recognize that the Lord is the only genuine God.[ce] 61 May you demonstrate wholehearted devotion to the Lord our God[cf] by following[cg] his rules and obeying[ch] his commandments, as you are now doing.”[ci]

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 8:22 tn Or “heaven.”
  2. 1 Kings 8:23 tn Heb “said.”
  3. 1 Kings 8:23 tn Heb “one who keeps the covenant and the loyal love.” The expression is a hendiadys.
  4. 1 Kings 8:23 tn Heb “who walk before you with all their heart.”
  5. 1 Kings 8:24 tn Heb “[you] who kept to your servant David my father that which you spoke to him.”
  6. 1 Kings 8:24 tn Heb “you spoke by your mouth and by your hand you fulfilled, as this day.”
  7. 1 Kings 8:25 tn Heb “there will not be cut off from you a man from before me sitting on the throne of Israel.”
  8. 1 Kings 8:25 tn Heb “watch their way.” The Hebrew and English colloquialisms are similar. The related ideas “way” and “steps” represent behavior in a broad sense in each language.
  9. 1 Kings 8:25 tn Heb “guard their way by walking before me as you have walked before me.”
  10. 1 Kings 8:26 tn Heb “the words that you spoke.”
  11. 1 Kings 8:26 tn Or “prove to be reliable.”
  12. 1 Kings 8:27 tn Heb “Indeed, can God really live on the earth?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course not,” the force of which the translation above seeks to reflect.
  13. 1 Kings 8:28 tn Heb “turn to.”
  14. 1 Kings 8:28 tn Heb “by listening to.”
  15. 1 Kings 8:28 tn Heb “the loud cry and the prayer.”
  16. 1 Kings 8:28 tn Heb “praying before you.”
  17. 1 Kings 8:29 tn Heb “so your eyes might be open toward this house night and day, toward the place about which you said, ‘My name will be there.’”
  18. 1 Kings 8:29 tn Heb “by listening to the prayer which your servant is praying concerning this place.”
  19. 1 Kings 8:30 tn Heb “listen to the request of your servant and your people Israel which they are praying concerning this place.”
  20. 1 Kings 8:30 tn Heb “and you, hear inside your dwelling place, inside heaven.” The precise nuance of the preposition אֶל (ʾel), used here with the verb “hear,” is unclear. One expects the preposition “from,” which appears in the parallel text in 2 Chr 6:21. The nuance “inside; among” is attested for אֶל (see Gen 23:19; 1 Sam 10:22; Jer 4:3), but in each case a verb of motion is employed with the preposition, unlike 1 Kgs 8:30. The translation above (“from inside”) is based on the demands of the immediate context rather than attested usage elsewhere.
  21. 1 Kings 8:30 tn Heb “hear and forgive.”
  22. 1 Kings 8:31 tn Heb “and forgive the man who sins against his neighbor when one takes up against him a curse to curse him and the curse comes before your altar in this house.” In the Hebrew text the words “and forgive” conclude v. 30, but the accusative sign at the beginning of v. 31 suggests the verb actually goes with what follows in v. 31. The parallel text in 2 Chr 6:22 begins with “and if,” rather than the accusative sign. In this case “forgive” must be taken with what precedes, and v. 31 must be taken as the protasis (“if” clause) of a conditional sentence, with v. 32 being the apodosis (“then” clause) that completes the sentence.sn Be willing to forgive the accused if the accusation is false. At first it appears that Solomon is asking God to forgive the guilty party. But in v. 32 Solomon asks the Lord to discern who is guilty and innocent, so v. 31 must refer to a situation where an accusation has been made, but not yet proven. The very periphrastic translation reflects this interpretation.
  23. 1 Kings 8:32 tn Heb “and you, hear [from] heaven and act and judge your servants by declaring the guilty to be guilty, to give his way on his head, and to declare the innocent to be innocent, to give to him according to his innocence.”
  24. 1 Kings 8:33 tn Heb “when.” In the Hebrew text vv. 33-34 actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided into two sentences for stylistic reasons.
  25. 1 Kings 8:33 tn Or “are struck down before an enemy.”
  26. 1 Kings 8:33 tn Heb “confess [or perhaps, “praise”] your name.”
  27. 1 Kings 8:33 tn Heb “and they pray and ask for help.”
  28. 1 Kings 8:35 tn Heb “when.” In the Hebrew text vv. 35-36a actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided into two sentences for stylistic reasons.
  29. 1 Kings 8:35 tn Heb “they”; the referent (your people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  30. 1 Kings 8:35 tn Heb “confess [or perhaps, “praise”] your name.”
  31. 1 Kings 8:35 tn The Hebrew text has “because you answer them,” as if the verb is from עָנָה (ʿanah, “to answer”). However, this reference to a divine answer is premature, since the next verse asks for God to intervene in mercy. It is better to revocalize the consonantal text as תְעַנֵּם (teʿannem, “you afflict them”), a Piel verb form from the homonym עָנָה (ʿanah, “to afflict”).
  32. 1 Kings 8:36 tn The translation understands כִּי (ki) in an emphatic or asseverative sense.
  33. 1 Kings 8:36 tn Heb “the good way in which they should walk.”
  34. 1 Kings 8:36 tn Or “for an inheritance.”
  35. 1 Kings 8:37 tn Actually two Hebrew terms appear here, both of which are usually taken as referring to locusts. Perhaps different stages of growth or different varieties are in view.
  36. 1 Kings 8:37 tn Heb “in the land, his gates.”
  37. 1 Kings 8:38 tn Heb “every prayer, every request for help which will be to all the people, to all your people Israel.”
  38. 1 Kings 8:38 tn Heb “which they know, each the pain of his heart.”
  39. 1 Kings 8:39 tn The words “their sin” are added for clarification.
  40. 1 Kings 8:39 tn Heb “and act and give to each one according to all his ways because you know his heart.” In the Hebrew text vv. 37-39a actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided up for stylistic reasons.
  41. 1 Kings 8:39 tn Heb “Indeed you know, you alone, the heart of all the sons of mankind.”
  42. 1 Kings 8:40 tn Heb “fear.”
  43. 1 Kings 8:40 tn Heb “all the days [in] which.”
  44. 1 Kings 8:41 tn Heb “your name.” In the OT the word “name” sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor. The “name” of the Lord sometimes designates the Lord himself, being indistinguishable from the proper name.
  45. 1 Kings 8:42 tn Heb “your great name.” See the note on the word “reputation” in the previous verse.
  46. 1 Kings 8:42 tn Heb “and your strong hand and your outstretched arm.”
  47. 1 Kings 8:43 tn Heb “and do all which the foreigner calls to [i.e., “requests of”] you.”
  48. 1 Kings 8:43 tn Heb “your name.” See the note on the word “reputation” in v. 41.
  49. 1 Kings 8:43 tn Heb “fear.”
  50. 1 Kings 8:43 tn Heb “that your name is called over this house which I built.” The Hebrew idiom “to call the name over” indicates ownership. See 2 Sam 12:28.
  51. 1 Kings 8:44 tn Heb “When your people go out for battle against their enemies in the way which you send them.”
  52. 1 Kings 8:44 tn Or perhaps “to you, O Lord.” See 2 Chr 6:34.
  53. 1 Kings 8:44 tn Heb “your name.” See the note on the word “reputation” in v. 41.
  54. 1 Kings 8:45 tn Heb “their prayer and their request for help.”
  55. 1 Kings 8:45 tn Heb “and accomplish their justice.”
  56. 1 Kings 8:46 tn Heb “they”; the referent (your people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  57. 1 Kings 8:46 tn Heb “the land of the enemy.”
  58. 1 Kings 8:47 tn Heb “they”; the referent (your people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  59. 1 Kings 8:47 tn Or “stop and reflect”; Heb “bring back to their heart.”
  60. 1 Kings 8:47 tn Or “done wrong.”
  61. 1 Kings 8:48 tn Or “soul.”
  62. 1 Kings 8:48 tn Heb “in the land of their enemies.”
  63. 1 Kings 8:48 tn Heb “your name.” See the note on the word “reputation” in v. 41.
  64. 1 Kings 8:49 tn Heb “their prayer and their request for help.”
  65. 1 Kings 8:49 tn Heb “and accomplish their justice.”
  66. 1 Kings 8:50 tn Heb “and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their rebellious acts by which they rebelled against you, and grant them mercy before their captors so they will show them mercy.”
  67. 1 Kings 8:51 tn Or “for.”
  68. 1 Kings 8:51 tn Heb “inheritance.”
  69. 1 Kings 8:51 tn The Hebrew term כּוּר (kur, “furnace,” cf. Akkadian kūru) is a metaphor for the intense heat of purification. A כּוּר was not a source of heat but a crucible (“iron-smelting furnace”) in which precious metals were melted down and their impurities burned away (see I. Cornelius, NIDOTTE 2:618-19). Thus Egypt served not as a place of punishment for the Israelites, but as a place of refinement to bring Israel to a place of submission to divine sovereignty.sn From the middle of the iron-smelting furnace. The metaphor of a furnace suggests fire and heat and is an apt image to remind the people of the suffering they endured while slaves in Egypt.
  70. 1 Kings 8:52 tn Heb “May your eyes be open.”
  71. 1 Kings 8:52 tn Heb “to listen to them in all their calling out to you.”
  72. 1 Kings 8:53 tn Or “For.”
  73. 1 Kings 8:53 tn Heb “your inheritance.”
  74. 1 Kings 8:54 tn Or “toward heaven.”
  75. 1 Kings 8:56 tn Heb “he has given a resting place to his people Israel.”
  76. 1 Kings 8:56 tn Heb “not one word from his entire good word he spoke by Moses his servant has fallen.”
  77. 1 Kings 8:58 tn Heb “to bend our hearts toward him.” The infinitive is subordinate to the initial prayer, “may the Lord our God be with us.” The Hebrew term לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) here refers to the people’s volition and will.
  78. 1 Kings 8:58 tn Heb “to walk in all his ways.”
  79. 1 Kings 8:58 tn Heb “keep.”
  80. 1 Kings 8:59 tn Heb “May these words of mine, which I have requested before the Lord, be near the Lord our God day and night.”
  81. 1 Kings 8:59 tn Heb “accomplish the justice of.”
  82. 1 Kings 8:60 tn Heb “so that.”
  83. 1 Kings 8:60 tn Heb “the Lord, he is the God, there is no other.”
  84. 1 Kings 8:61 tn Heb “may your hearts be complete with the Lord our God.”
  85. 1 Kings 8:61 tn Heb “walking in.”
  86. 1 Kings 8:61 tn Heb “keeping.”
  87. 1 Kings 8:61 tn Heb “as this day.”
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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.”

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 8:23 Or who keeps
  2. 1 Kings 8:23 Lit. who walk before you
  3. 1 Kings 8:24 The Heb. lacks It is you, Lord God
  4. 1 Kings 8:24 Lit. you spoke by your mouth
  5. 1 Kings 8:24 Lit. and by your hand full
  6. 1 Kings 8:25 Lit. spoke
  7. 1 Kings 8:25 Cf. 1King 2:4; 2Chr 7:18
  8. 1 Kings 8:25 Lit. ways
  9. 1 Kings 8:25 Lit. walk
  10. 1 Kings 8:25 Lit. walked
  11. 1 Kings 8:25 Or have walked before me
  12. 1 Kings 8:26 Lit. spoke
  13. 1 Kings 8:29 Lit. prays toward this place
  14. 1 Kings 8:30 Lit. pray toward this place
  15. 1 Kings 8:32 Lit. by bringing his way upon his head
  16. 1 Kings 8:33 Lit. defeated before
  17. 1 Kings 8:33 Lit. confess your name
  18. 1 Kings 8:34 Or land
  19. 1 Kings 8:35 So MT; LXX reads you bring them low
  20. 1 Kings 8:37 Or caterpillars
  21. 1 Kings 8:42 Lit. hand
  22. 1 Kings 8:42 Lit. your outstretched arm
  23. 1 Kings 8:47 The Heb. lacks back to you
  24. 1 Kings 8:52 The Heb. lacks Do this
  25. 1 Kings 8:58 Lit. may walk in
  26. 1 Kings 8:60 Lit. therefore
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