Beginning

6 Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that He would dwell in the dark cloud.

² “And I have built You a House to dwell in, a habitation for You to dwell in forever.”

³ And the king turned his face and blessed all the Congregation of Israel (for all the Congregation of Israel stood).

⁴ And he said, “Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, Who spoke with His Mouth to David, my father, and has fulfilled it with His Hand, saying,

⁵ ‘Since the day that I brought My people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city of all the tribes of Israel to build a House, so that My Name might be there. Nor did I choose any man to be a ruler over My people Israel.

⁶ ‘But I have chosen Jerusalem, so that My Name might be there. And I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’

⁷ “And it was in the heart of David, my father, to build a House to the Name of the LORD God of Israel.

⁸ “But the LORD said to David, my father, ‘Insofar as it was in your heart to build a House to My Name, you did well to be so minded.

⁹ ‘Notwithstanding, you shall not build the House. Rather, your son who shall come out of your loins, he shall build a House to My Name.’

¹⁰ “And the LORD has performed His Word that He spoke. And I have risen up in the place of David, my father, and am set on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised. And I have built a House to the Name of the LORD God of Israel.

¹¹ “And I have set the Ark there, in which is the Covenant of the LORD that He made with the children of Israel.”

¹² And the king stood before the Altar of the LORD, in the presence of all the Congregation of Israel, and stretched out his hands.

¹³ For Solomon had made a bronze scaffold and set it in the midst of the court, five cubits long and five cubits broad and three cubits of height. And he stood upon it and kneeled down upon his knees before all the Congregation of Israel and stretched out his hands toward Heaven.

¹⁴ And he said, “O LORD God of Israel! There is no God like You in Heaven or on Earth, Who keeps Covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their heart.

¹⁵ “You have kept what You have promised Your servant David, my father. For You spoke with Your Mouth and have fulfilled it with Your Hand, as it is this day.

¹⁶ “Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep what You have promised Your servant David, my father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man in My sight who shall sit upon the throne of Israel, so that Your sons consider their ways, to walk in My Law, as You have walked before Me.’

¹⁷ “And now, O LORD God of Israel, let Your Word be verified which You spoke to Your servant David.

¹⁸ “Is it indeed true that God would dwell with man on Earth? Behold, the heavens, and the heavens of heavens are not able to contain You. How much more so is this House which I have built?

¹⁹ “But do You have respect for the prayer of Your servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hear the cry and prayer which Your servant prays before You,

²⁰ “so that Your Eyes may be open toward this House, day and night toward the place which You have said that You would put Your Name, so that You may listen to the prayer which Your servant prays in this place.

²¹ “Hear, therefore, the supplication of Your servant, and of Your people Israel, which they pray in this place. And hear in the place of Your habitation, in Heaven. And when You hear, be merciful.

²² “When a man shall sin against his neighbor. And he lays an oath upon him, to cause him to swear. And the swearer shall come before Your Altar in this House,

²³ “then hear in Heaven. And do, and judge Your servants, by recompensing the wicked in bringing his way upon his head, and by justifying the righteous in giving to him according to his righteousness.

²⁴ “And when Your people Israel shall be overthrown before the enemy, because they have sinned against You, and turn again and confess Your Name, and pray, and make supplication before You in this House,

²⁵ “then hear in Heaven and be merciful to the sin of Your people Israel. And bring them back to the land which You gave to them and to their fathers.

²⁶ “When heaven shall be shut up, and there shall be no rain, because they have sinned against You, and shall pray in this place and confess Your Name, and turn from their sin when You afflict them,

²⁷ “then hear in Heaven. And pardon the sin of Your servants, and of Your people Israel (after You have taught them the good way in which they may walk) and give rain upon Your land which You have given to Your people for an inheritance.

²⁸ “When there shall be famine in the land, when there shall be pestilence, blasting, or mildew, when there shall be grasshopper, or caterpillar, when their enemy shall besiege them in the cities of their land, or any plague or any sickness,

²⁹ “whatever prayer and supplication shall be made by any man, or by all Your people Israel, when everyone shall know his own plague, and his own disease, and shall stretch forth his hands toward this House,

³⁰ “then hear in Heaven, Your dwelling place, and be merciful. And give every man according to all his ways, as You know his heart (for You only know the hearts of the children of men),

³¹ “so that they may fear You, and walk in Your ways, as long as they live in the land which You gave to our fathers.

³² “Moreover, as touching the stranger who is not of Your people Israel, who shall come out of a far country for Your great Name’s sake, and Your mighty Hand, and Your stretched out Arm, when they shall come and pray in this House,

³³ “hear in Heaven, Your dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calls for to You, so that all the people of the Earth may know Your Name and fear You like Your people Israel, and that they may know that Your Name is called upon in this House which I have built.

³⁴ “When your people shall go out to battle against their enemies, by the way that You shall send them, and they pray to You on the way toward this city, which You have chosen, toward the House which I have built to Your Name,

³⁵ “then hear their prayer and their supplication in Heaven. And judge their cause.

³⁶ If they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin). And You are angry with them and deliver them to the enemies. And they take them and carry them away captive to a land far or near,

³⁷ “if they turn back to their heart in the land where they have been carried as captives and turn and pray to You in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned. We have transgressed and have done wickedly,’

³⁸ “if they turn back to You with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their captivity where they have been carried captives, and pray toward their land which You gave to their fathers, and toward the city which You have chosen, and toward the House which I have built for Your Name,

³⁹ “then hear in Heaven, in the place of Your habitation. Hear their prayer and their supplication and judge their cause and be merciful to Your people who have sinned against You.

⁴⁰ “Now, my God, I pray. Let Your Eyes be open and Your Ears attentive to the prayer in this place.

⁴¹ “Now therefore, arise, O LORD God, into Your rest, You and the Ark of Your strength! O LORD God, let Your Priests be clothed with salvation! And let Your saints rejoice in goodness!

⁴² “O LORD God, do not refuse the face of Your anointed. Remember the mercies promised to David, Your servant.

7 And when Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from Heaven and consumed the Burnt Offering and the Sacrifices. And the Glory of the LORD filled the House,

² so that the priests could not enter into the House of the LORD because the Glory of the LORD had filled the LORD’s House.

³ And when all the children of Israel saw the fire, and the Glory of the LORD come down upon the House, they bowed themselves with their faces to the earth, upon the pavement, and worshipped and praised the LORD, saying, “For He is good, because His mercy endures forever!”

⁴ Then the king and all the people offered Sacrifices before the LORD.

⁵ And King Solomon offered a Sacrifice of twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred twenty thousand sheep. So, the king and all the people dedicated the House of God.

⁶ And the Priests waited on their offices, and the Levites, with the instruments of music of the LORD which King David had made to “praise the LORD, because His mercy endures forever”. When David praised with them, the priests also blew trumpets opposite them. And all those of Israel stood by.

⁷ Moreover, Solomon sanctified the middle of the court that was in front of the House of the LORD. For he had prepared Burnt Offerings there, and the fat of the Peace Offerings, because the bronze Altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the Burnt Offering and the Meat Offering and the fat.

⁸ And Solomon made a seven-day Feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a very great Congregation, from the entrance of Hamath to the River of Egypt.

⁹ And on the eighth day, they had a solemn assembly. For they had made the dedication of the Altar for seven days, and the Feast for seven days.

¹⁰ And the twenty-third day of the seventh month, he sent the people away into their tents, joyous and with glad hearts, because of the goodness that the LORD had done for David and for Solomon and for Israel, His people.

¹¹ So, Solomon finished the House of the LORD, and the king’s house, and all that came into Solomon’s heart to make in the House of the LORD. And he prospered in his house.

¹² And the LORD appeared to Solomon at night, and said to him, “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself, to be a House of Sacrifice.

¹³ “If I shut the heaven, so that there is no rain, or if I command the grasshopper to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people—

¹⁴ “if my people among whom My Name is called upon will humble themselves and pray and seek My presence and turn from their wicked ways—then will I hear in Heaven and be merciful to their sin and will heal their land.

¹⁵ “Then My Eyes shall be open and My Ears attentive to the prayers in this place.

¹⁶ “For I have now chosen and sanctified this House, so that My Name may be there forever. And My Eyes and My Heart shall be there perpetually.

¹⁷ “And if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, to do according to all that I have Commanded you, and shall observe My Statutes and My Judgments,

¹⁸ “then will I establish the throne of your kingdom, just as I made the Covenant with David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to be ruler in Israel.’

¹⁹ “But if you turn away, and forsake My Statutes and My Commandments which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them,

²⁰ “then will I pluck them up out of My land which I have given them. And I will cast this House which I have sanctified for My Name out of My sight and will make it a proverb and common talk among all people.

²¹ “And this House which is Most High shall be an astonishment to everyone who passes by it, so that he shall say, ‘Why has the LORD done this to this land, and to this House?’

²² “And they shall answer, ‘Because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, Who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold of other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them. Therefore, He has brought all this misery upon them.”

8 And after twenty years, once Solomon had built the House of the LORD and his own house,

² then Solomon built the cities that Huram gave to Solomon and had the children of Israel live there.

³ And Solomon went to Hamath Zobah and overcame it.

⁴ And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and repaired all the storage cities which he built in Hamath.

⁵ And he built Beth Horon the upper, and Beth Horon the lower, cities defensed 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 horsemen, and every pleasant place that Solomon had a mind to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and throughout all the land of his dominion.

⁷ All the people who were left to the Hittites and the Amorites and Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites—who were not of Israel

⁸ but of their children who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel had not consumed—those Solomon made tributaries until this day.

⁹ But Solomon made no children of Israel servants for his work. For they were men of war, and his chief princes, and the captains of his chariots and of his horsemen.

¹⁰ So, these were the chief of the officers whom Solomon had, two hundred fifty who bore rule over the people.

¹¹ Then, Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David, into the house that he had built for her. For he said, “My wife shall not dwell in the house of David, king of Israel. For it is holy, because the Ark of the LORD came to it.”

¹² Then Solomon offered Burnt Offerings to the LORD on the Altar of the LORD which he had built in front of the porch,

¹³ to offer according to the commandment of Moses every day, on the Sabbaths, and at the new moons, and at the solemn Feasts, three times in the year: at the Feast of the Unleavened Bread, and at the Feast of the Weeks, and at the Feast of the Tabernacles.

¹⁴ And he set the divisions of the priests to their offices, according to the order of David his father and the Levites in their watches, to praise and minister before the priests every day and the gatekeepers by their divisions, at every gate. For so was the commandment of David, the man of God.

¹⁵ And they did not decline from the commandment of the king concerning the priests and the Levites, touching all things and touching the treasures.

¹⁶ Now, Solomon had made provision for all the work, from the day of the foundation of the House of the LORD until it was finished. The House of the LORD was perfect.

¹⁷ Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and to Eloth by the Seaside, in the land of Edom.

¹⁸ And by the hands of his servants, Huram sent him ships and servants who had knowledge of the sea. And they went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir and brought four hundred fifty talents of gold from there, and brought them to King Solomon.