Beginning

6 Then Solomon said, “The Lord said he would live in the dark cloud. ² I have built a great Temple for you, Lord. It is a place for you to live forever.”

Solomon’s Speech

³ King Solomon turned around and blessed all the Israelites gathered in front of him. ⁴ He said, “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel. He has done what he promised my father David. The Lord said, ⁵ ‘I brought my people out of Egypt. But I have not yet chosen a city in any tribe of Israel for my temple. This is where I have chosen to be worshiped. I have not chosen a man to lead my people, the Israelites. ⁶ But now I have chosen Jerusalem as the place I am to be worshiped. And I have chosen David to lead my people Israel.’

⁷ “My father David wanted to build a temple as a place to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁸ But the Lord said to my father, ‘David, it was good that you wanted to build a temple as a place to worship me. ⁹ But you are not the one who will build the temple. Your own son will build my temple.’

¹⁰ “Now the Lord has kept his promise. I have taken my father David’s place. Now I am Israel’s king. This is what the Lord promised. And I have built the Temple where the Lord, the God of Israel, will be worshiped. ¹¹ I have put the Ark of the Covenant there. The agreement that the Lord made with the people of Israel is kept in the Ark of the Covenant.”

Solomon’s Prayer

¹² Solomon stood in front of the Lord’s altar. He was standing before all the people gathered there. Then he spread his arms out. ¹³ He had made a bronze platform. It was 7½ feet long, 7½ feet wide and 7½ feet high. And he had placed it in the middle of the outer courtyard. Solomon stood on the platform. Then he kneeled in front of all the people of Israel who were gathered there. Solomon spread his hands out toward the sky. ¹⁴ He said, “Lord, God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven or on earth. You keep your agreement of love with your servants who completely obey you. ¹⁵ You have kept your promise to my father David, your servant. With your words you made a promise. And with the work of your hands, you have made that promise come true today.

¹⁶ “Now, Lord, God of Israel, also keep this promise you made to my father David, your servant. You said, ‘David, you will always have someone from your family rule Israel. But this will happen only if they are careful to obey my teachings in everything they do. They must obey my teachings just as you have.’ ¹⁷ Now, Lord, God of Israel, keep your promise. Let this promise to your servant David come true.

¹⁸ “But, God, can you really live here on the earth with people? Not even the highest of heavens can hold you. And this Temple I built cannot hold you. ¹⁹ But pay attention to my prayer and my cry for mercy. Lord my God, listen to my cry. Listen to the prayer I, your servant, pray to you. ²⁰ I pray that you will watch over this Temple day and night. You said you would make this the place to worship you. I pray that you will hear my prayers when I pray facing this Temple. ²¹ Hear my prayers and the prayers of your people Israel. Hear us when we pray facing this Temple. Hear from your home in heaven. And when you hear our prayers, forgive us.

²² “A person might do something wrong against someone else. The person who did the wrong will have to swear he is innocent. He will come to swear this before your altar in the Temple. ²³ When he does this, listen from heaven and act. Judge your servants. Punish the one who did wrong. Make him suffer the same things he made others suffer. Prove that the person who has done right is innocent.

²⁴ “An enemy might defeat your people Israel because they have sinned against you. Then the people of Israel will return to you and say you are God. They will pray and beg you for help in this Temple. ²⁵ When this happens, listen from heaven. Forgive the sin of your people, the Israelites. Bring them back into the land you gave to them and their ancestors.

²⁶ “The sky might not let it rain because your people have sinned against you. Then they will pray, facing this Temple. They will say you are God. They will stop doing their sin because you are punishing them. ²⁷ When that happens, then listen from heaven. Forgive the sins of your servants, the Israelites. Then teach them the right way to live. And send rain on your land. This is the land you gave your people as their own.

²⁸ “There might be a time without food in the land. Or there might be terrible sicknesses, disease in the crops, mildew, locusts or grasshoppers. Or enemies might attack Israel’s cities. There might be a disaster in Israel. ²⁹ Then one of your people, an Israelite, will pray or cry for help. Each person knows his own trouble and pain. He will spread his arms out, facing this Temple. ³⁰ When that happens, then listen from heaven, your home. Forgive and treat each person as he should be treated. You know what is in his heart. (Only you know what is in a person’s heart.) ³¹ Then the people will fear and obey you as long as they live in this land. This is the land you gave our ancestors.

³² “A foreigner might come here from a country far away. He is not one of your people, the people of Israel. But he will come because he has heard about your greatness and power. He knows about the things you have done. When he comes and prays, facing this Temple, ³³ then listen. Listen from heaven, your home. And do what he asks you to do. Then all the peoples of the earth will know you and respect you, just as your people Israel do. And they will know that this Temple I built is for worshiping you.

³⁴ “You might send your people to fight their enemies. They will pray to you, facing this city you chose and the Temple I built for worshiping you. ³⁵ If they do, then listen from heaven to their prayer. Listen to their cry and help them.

³⁶ “People will sin against you. There is not a person who does not sin. And you will become angry with them. You will let an enemy defeat them. The enemy will capture them and take them away. It may be to a land far away or near. ³⁷ But then they will be sorry for what they have done. As captives in that land, they will cry out to you. They will say, ‘We have sinned. We have done wrong and acted wickedly.’ ³⁸ In the land where they are captives, they will come back to you. They will want to obey you completely. They will pray, facing their land, the land you gave their ancestors. They will pray, facing the city you chose and the Temple I built for you. ³⁹ When this happens, listen from your home in heaven. Listen to their cries and help them. Forgive your people who have sinned against you.

⁴⁰ “Now, my God, look at us. Listen to the prayers we will pray in this place.

The Temple Is Given to the Lord

7 When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from the sky. It burned up the burnt offering and the sacrifices. The Lord’s glory filled the Temple. ² The priests could not enter the Temple of the Lord because the Lord’s glory filled it. ³ All the people of Israel saw the fire come down from heaven. They also saw the Lord’s glory on the Temple. Then they bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground. They worshiped and thanked the Lord. They said,

⁴ Then King Solomon and all the Israelites offered sacrifices before the Lord. ⁵ King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people gave the Temple for the worship of God. ⁶ The priests stood ready to do their work. The Levites also stood with the instruments of the Lord’s music. King David had made these instruments for praising the Lord. The priests and Levites were saying, “The Lord’s love continues forever.” The priests, who stood across from the Levites, blew their trumpets. And all the Israelites were standing.

⁷ Solomon made the middle part of the courtyard holy for the Lord. That courtyard is in front of the Temple of the Lord. There Solomon offered burnt offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings. He used the middle of the courtyard because the bronze altar he had made could not hold everything. It couldn’t hold the burnt offerings, grain offerings and fat.

⁸ Solomon and all the Israelites celebrated the festival for seven days. There were many people. They came from as far away as Lebo Hamath. And they came all the way from the brook of Egypt. ⁹ They had given the altar for the worship of the Lord. And they celebrated that for seven days. Then they celebrated the festival for seven days. On the eighth day they had a meeting. ¹⁰ On the twenty-third day of the seventh month Solomon sent the people home. They were full of joy. They were happy because the Lord had been so good to David, Solomon and his people the Israelites.

The Lord Appears to Solomon

¹¹ Solomon finished the Temple of the Lord and the king’s palace. He had success in doing everything he planned in the Temple of the Lord and his own palace. ¹² Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night. The Lord said, “Solomon, I have heard your prayer. And I have chosen this place for myself to be a Temple for sacrifices.

¹³ “I may stop the sky from sending rain. I may command the locusts to destroy the land. I may send sicknesses to my people. ¹⁴ Then my people, who are called by my name, will be sorry for what they have done. They will pray and obey me and stop their evil ways. If they do, I will hear them from heaven. I will forgive their sin, and I will heal their land. ¹⁵ Now I will see them. And I will listen to the prayers prayed in this place. ¹⁶ I have chosen this Temple and made it holy. So I will be worshiped here forever. Yes, I will always watch over it and love it.

¹⁷ “Solomon, obey me as your father David did. Obey all I have commanded. Obey my laws and rules. ¹⁸ If you do, I will make your kingdom strong. This is the agreement I made with your father David. I told him, ‘David, someone from your family will always be king in Israel.’

¹⁹ “But you must not turn away from me. You must not stop obeying the laws and commands I gave you. You must not serve and worship other gods. ²⁰ If you do, I will take the Israelites out of my land, the land I gave them. And I will leave this Temple that I have made holy. All the nations will make fun of it and speak evil about it. ²¹ This Temple is honored now. But then, everyone who passes by will be surprised. They will say, ‘Why has the Lord done this terrible thing to this land and this Temple?’ ²² Then people will answer, ‘It’s because the Israelites left the Lord, the God their ancestors obeyed. He is the God who led them out of Egypt. But they accepted other gods and worshiped and served them. That is why the Lord brought this disaster on them.’”

Solomon’s Other Achievements

8 It took Solomon 20 years to build the Temple of the Lord and his own palace. ² Then Solomon rebuilt the towns that Hiram had given him. And Solomon sent Israelites to live in them. ³ Then he went to Hamath Zobah and captured it. ⁴ Solomon also built the town of Tadmor in the desert. He built all the towns in Hamath as towns for storing things. ⁵ He rebuilt the towns of Upper Beth Horon and Lower Beth Horon. He made them protected towns with strong walls, gates and bars in the gates. ⁶ He also rebuilt the town of Baalath. And he built all the other towns where he stored things. He built all the cities where the chariots and horses were kept. Solomon built all he wanted in Jerusalem, Lebanon and in all the country he ruled.

^7-8 Many people who were not Israelites were left living in the country. These people were the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. They were descendants of the people that the Israelites had not destroyed. Solomon forced all of them to be slave workers. This is still true today. ⁹ But Solomon did not force any of the Israelites to be slave workers. They were his fighting men. They were the commanders of his army officers, his chariots and his chariot drivers. ¹⁰ Some of them were his most important officers. There were 250 of them to direct the people.

¹¹ Solomon brought the daughter of the king of Egypt from the older part of Jerusalem. He brought her to the palace he had built for her. Solomon said, “My wife must not live in King David’s palace. This is because the places where the Ark of the Covenant has been are holy places.”

¹² Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the Lord’s altar. Solomon built that altar in front of the Temple porch. ¹³ He offered sacrifices every day as Moses had commanded. Sacrifices were to be offered on the Sabbath days, New Moons and the three yearly feasts. The three yearly feasts were the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Shelters. ¹⁴ Solomon followed his father David’s instructions. Solomon chose the groups of priests for their service. He chose the Levites to lead the praise. And they were to help the priests do their daily work. And he chose the gatekeepers by their groups to serve at each gate. This is what David, the man of God, had commanded. ¹⁵ They obeyed all of Solomon’s commands to the priests and Levites. And they obeyed his commands about the treasuries.

¹⁶ All Solomon’s work was done. Everything was done as he had said from the day the Temple of the Lord was begun until it was finished. So the Temple was finished.

¹⁷ Then Solomon went to the towns of Ezion Geber and Elath. They were near the Red Sea in the country of Edom. ¹⁸ Hiram sent to Solomon ships commanded by his own men. They were skilled sailors. Hiram’s men went with Solomon’s men to Ophir. And they brought back about 34,000 pounds of gold to King Solomon.