And Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands, of hundreds, and to the judges and to every leader in all Israel, the heads of the fathers’ households.

So Solomon went from the high place which was at Gibeon, from the tent of meeting, to Jerusalem, and he reigned over Israel.

Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, dedicating it to Him, to burn fragrant incense before Him and to set out the showbread continually, and to offer burnt offerings morning and evening, on Sabbaths, on new moons, and on the appointed feasts of the Lord our God. This is to be done in Israel forever.

Then Huram continued, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who has given King David a wise son, endowed with discretion and understanding, who will build a house for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.

Solomon counted all the foreigners who were in the land of Israel, following the census which his father David had taken; and 153,600 were found.

Then Solomon assembled at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, and the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord up from the city of David, which is Zion.

All the men of Israel assembled themselves before the king at the feast, that is in the seventh month.

Then all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites picked up the ark.

And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who had assembled with him before the ark were sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.

There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.

Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing.

He said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David, and fulfilled it with His hands, saying,

‘Since the day that I brought My people from the land of Egypt, I did not choose a city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, so that My name might be there, nor did I choose a man to be the leader over My people Israel;

but I have chosen Jerusalem so that My name might be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’

Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

Now the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for I have risen in place of my father David and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

There I have placed the ark in which is the covenant of the Lord, which He made with the sons of Israel.”

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication

Then he stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands.

For Solomon had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the courtyard; and he stood on it, knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.

He said, “Lord, God of Israel, there is no god like You in heaven or on earth, keeping Your covenant and Your faithfulness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart;

Now then, Lord, God of Israel, keep to Your servant David, my father, that which You promised him, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay attention to their way, to walk in My Law as you have walked before Me.’

Now then, Lord, God of Israel, let Your word be confirmed which You have spoken to Your servant David.

Listen to the pleadings of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place; hear from Your dwelling place, from heaven; hear and forgive.

“If Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and they return to You and praise Your name, and pray and plead before You in this house,

then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You have given to them and to their fathers.