Beginning

6 Then Solomon said, The Lord promised, that he would dwell in [the] darkness;

² and I have built an house to his name, that he should dwell therein without end. (and I have built a House in honour of his name, so that he can live in it forevermore.)

³ And Solomon turned his face, and blessed all the multitude of Israel; for all the company stood attentive (for all the congregation stood attentive);

⁴ and he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath fulfilled in work that thing, that he spake to David, my father, and said,

⁵ From the day in which I led my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose not a city of all the lineages of Israel, that an house should be builded therein to my name, neither I chose any other man, that he should be duke upon my people Israel; (From the day in which I led my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel, where a House would be built in honour of my name, nor did I choose any man, who would be the leader of my people Israel;)

⁶ but (then) I chose Jerusalem, that my name (would) be therein, and I chose David, to ordain him upon my people Israel.

⁷ And when it was of the will of David, my father, to build an house to the name of the Lord God of Israel, (And when it was the desire of my father David, to build a House in honour of the name of the Lord God of Israel,)

⁸ the Lord said to him, For this was thy will, to build an house to my name, soothly thou didest well, having such a will, (the Lord said to him, For this was thy desire, to build a House in honour of my name, truly thou didest well, having such a desire,)

⁹ but yet thou shalt not build an house to me; nevertheless the son, that shall go out of thy loins, he shall build an house to my name. (but yet thou shalt not build a House for me; but the son, who shall go out of thy loins, he shall build a House in honour of my name.)

¹⁰ Therefore the Lord hath fulfilled his word, that he spake; and I rose up for David, my father, and I sat on the throne of Israel, as the Lord spake, and I have builded an house to the name of the Lord God of Israel (and I have built a House in honour of the name of the Lord God of Israel);

¹¹ and I have put therein the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord, which he covenanted with the sons of Israel. (and I have put the Ark in it, in which is the covenant of the Lord, which he covenanted with the Israelites.)

¹² Therefore Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord even against all the multitude of Israel, and stretched forth his hands. (And so Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of all the multitude of Israel, and stretched out his hands.)

¹³ For Solomon had made a brazen foundament, and had set it in the midst of the great house, and it had five cubits of length, and five (cubits) of breadth, and three cubits of height, and he stood there upon [it]; and from that time he kneeled against all the multitude of Israel, and he raised up his hands into heaven, (For Solomon had made a bronze foundation, or platform, and had set it in the midst of the great courtyard, and it had five cubits of length, and five cubits of breadth, and three cubits of height, and he stood upon it; and then he knelt before all the multitude of Israel, and he raised up his hands toward heaven,)

¹⁴ and said, Lord God of Israel, none is like thee; thou art God in heaven, and in earth, which keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants, that go before thee in all their heart; (and said, Lord God of Israel, there is no god like thee, in heaven, or on earth, who keepest covenant with thy servants, and showest them love, yea, to those who go before thee with all their heart;)

¹⁵ thou hast given to David thy servant, my father, whatever thing thou hast spoken, or promised, to him; and thou hast fulfilled in work those things, which thou promisedest by mouth, as also this present time proveth. (thou hast given to thy servant David, my father, whatever thou hast promised to him; and thou hast fulfilled in work those things, which thou promisedest with thy mouth, as this present time proveth.)

¹⁶ Now therefore, Lord God of Israel, fulfill thou to thy servant, my father David, whatever things thou hast spoken, saying, A man of thee shall not fail before me, that shall sit upon the throne of Israel; so nevertheless if thy sons keep my ways (so shall it be if thy sons keep my ways), and go in my law, as and thou hast gone before me.

¹⁷ And now, Lord God of Israel, thy word be made steadfast, which thou spakest to thy servant David.

¹⁸ Therefore whether it is believeful, that the Lord dwell with men on earth? If heaven and the heavens of heavens (may not) take, either may not hold thee, Lord, how much more this house, which I have builded? (And so is it believable, that the Lord can live with people here on earth? If heaven and the heavens of heavens cannot hold thee, Lord, how much less this House, Lord, which I have built for thee?)

¹⁹ But hereto only it is made, that thou, my Lord God, behold there the prayer of thy servant, and the beseeching of him, and that thou hear the prayers, which thy servant poureth [out] before thee;

²⁰ that thou open thine eyes upon this house by days and nights, upon the place in which thou promisedest, that thy name should be in-called, and that thou wouldest hear the prayer, which thy servant prayeth therein. (and that thou open thine eyes upon this House day and night, yea, upon the place in which thou promisedest, that thy name would be there, and that thou wouldest hear the prayer, which thy servant prayeth in it.)

²¹ Hear thou the prayers of thy servant, and of thy people Israel; whoever prayeth in this place, hear thou from thy dwelling place, that is, from heaven, and do thou mercy to him.

²² If any man sinneth against his neighbour, and cometh ready to swear against him, and bindeth himself with cursing before the altar in this house, (If any man sinneth against his neighbour, and must swear an oath, and bindeth himself with that oath before the altar in this House,)

²³ thou shalt hear from heaven, and shalt do the doom of thy servants; so that thou yield to the wicked man his way into his own head, and that thou venge the just man, and yield to him after his rightwiseness. (thou shalt hear from heaven, and shalt do justice for thy servants/and shalt make judgement for thy servants; so that thou yield to the wicked person his way upon his own head, and that thou avenge the just person, and reward him because of his righteousness.)

²⁴ If thy people Israel is overcome of enemies, for they shall do sin against thee, and if they converted do penance, and beseech thy name, and pray in this place, (And if thy people Israel be overcome by enemies, for they have sinned against thee, and if they be turned and do penance, and beseech thy name, and pray in this place,)

²⁵ thou shalt hear from heaven, and do thou mercy to the sin of thy people Israel (and forgive the sin of thy people Israel), and bring them again into the land, which thou hast given to them, and to their fathers.

²⁶ If when heaven is closed, rain come not down for the sin of thy people, and they beseech thee in this place, and acknowledge to thy name, and be turned from their sins, when thou hast tormented them, (And when the heavens be closed up, and rain come not down for the sin of thy people, and they beseech thee in this place, and acknowledge, or confess, thy name, and be turned from their sins, when thou hast tormented them,)

²⁷ hear thou, Lord, from heaven, and forgive thou the sins to thy servants, and to thy people Israel (and forgive thou the sins of thy servants, and of thy people Israel), and teach thou them a good way, by which they shall enter, and give thou rain to the land, which thou hast given to thy people to have in possession.

²⁸ (And) If that hunger riseth in the land, and pestilence, and rust, and wind destroying corns, (or crops,) and if that a locust, and (a) bruchus cometh; and if enemies besiege the gates of the city, after that the countries be destroyed (after that the countryside is destroyed); and if (in) any manner vengeance and sickness oppresseth thy people;

²⁹ if any of thy people Israel beseecheth, and knoweth his vengeance, that is, his sin wherefore he hath deserved (this) vengeance, and sickness, and if he spreadeth abroad his hands in this house,

³⁰ thou shalt hear from heaven, that is, from thine high dwelling place, and do thou mercy, and yield thou to each man after his ways, which thou knowest, that he hath in his heart; for thou alone knowest the hearts of the sons of men; (thou shalt hear from heaven, that is, from thy high dwelling place, and then do thou mercy, and yield thou to each person after their ways, which thou knowest, that they have in heir heart; for thou alone knowest the hearts of people;)

³¹ that they dread thee (so that they shall fear thee/so that they shall revere thee), and go in thy ways in all days, in which they live on the face of [the] earth, which thou hast given to our fathers.

³² Also thou shalt hear from heaven, thy most steadfast dwelling place, a stranger, which is not of thy people Israel, if he cometh from a far land for thy great name, and for thy strong hand, and thine arm stretched forth, and prayeth in this place; (And thou shalt hear from heaven, thy most steadfast dwelling place, a stranger, who is not of thy people Israel, if he cometh from a far land for thy great name’s sake, and for thy strong hand, and thy out-stretched arm, and prayeth in this place;)

³³ and thou shalt do all things, for which that pilgrim inwardly calleth thee, that all the people of (the) earth know thy name, and dread thee, as thy people Israel doeth; and that they know, that thy name is called on (in) this house, which I have builded to thy name. (and thou shalt do all the things, for which that pilgrim inwardly calleth thee, so that all the people of the earth can know thy name, and fear thee/and revere thee, as thy people Israel doeth; and so that they can know, that thy name is called on in this House, which I have built in honour of thy name.)

³⁴ If thy people goeth out to battle against his adversaries, by the way in which thou sendest them, they shall worship thee against the way in which this city is set, which thou hast chosen, and the house which I [have] builded to thy name, (If thy people goeth out to battle against their adversaries, by the way in which thou sendest them, they shall worship thee toward the way in which this city is set, which thou hast chosen, and the House which I have built in honour of thy name,)

³⁵ that thou hear from heaven their prayers and their beseeching, and do thou vengeance to their adversaries.

³⁶ And if they sin against thee, for no man is alive that sinneth not, and if thou art wroth with them, and betakest them to their enemies (and deliverest them to their enemies); and (the) enemies lead them (away as) prisoners into a far land, either certainly which land is nigh;

³⁷ and if they be converted in their heart in the land, to which they be led prisoners, and they do penance, and beseech thee in the land of their captivity, and say, We have sinned, we have done wickedly, we did unjustly;

³⁸ and if they turn again to thee in all their heart, and in all their soul, in the land of their captivity, to which they be led, and if they shall worship thee against the way of their land, which thou hast given to the fathers of them, and against the way of the city which thou hast chosen, and of the house which I [have] builded to thy name; (and if they turn again to thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their captivity to which they be led away, and if they shall worship thee toward the way of their land, which thou hast given to their fathers, and toward the way of the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the way of the House which I have built in honour of thy name;)

³⁹ that thou hear from heaven, that is, from thy steadfast dwelling place, the prayers of them, and that thou make doom, and forgive to thy people, though they be sinful; (that thou hear from heaven, that is, from thy steadfast dwelling place, their prayers, and that thou give them justice/and that thou make judgement, and forgive thy people, even though they have been sinful;)

⁴⁰ for thou art my God; I beseech thee, be thine eyes opened (let thine eyes be opened), and thine ears be attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.

⁴¹ Now therefore, Lord God, rise up into thy rest, thou and the ark of thy strength; Lord God, thy priests be clothed with health (Lord God, let thy priests be clothed with salvation), and thy holy men be glad in good things.

⁴² Lord God, turn thou not away the face of thy christ; have thou mind on the mercies of David thy servant. (Lord God, turn thou not away the face of thy anointed; remember thy abiding love for thy servant David.)

7 And when Solomon shedding out his prayers had full ended them, fire came down from heaven, and it devoured the burnt sacrifices, and the slain sacrifices; and the majesty, or shining, of the Lord full-filled the house (and the majesty, or the shining, of the Lord filled the House full).

² And the priests might not enter into the temple of the Lord; for the mighty shining of the Lord had full-filled the temple of the Lord. (And the priests could not enter into the Temple of the Lord; for the mighty shining of the Lord had fully filled the Temple of the Lord.)

³ But also all the sons of Israel saw fire coming down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house, and they felled down low to the earth, upon the pavement arrayed, or paved, with stone, and they worshipped, and praised the Lord, (and said,) For he is good, for his mercy is into the world. (And all the Israelites saw the fire coming down, and the glory of the Lord on the House, and they fell down low to the ground, on the pavement paved with stone, and they worshipped, and praised the Lord, and said, For he is good, for his love is forevermore.)

⁴ And the king and all the people offered slain sacrifices before the Lord.

⁵ Therefore king Solomon killed sacrifices of oxen two and twenty thousand, of wethers sixscore thousand; and the king and all the people hallowed the house of God. (And so King Solomon and the people killed for a sacrifice twenty-two thousand oxen, and one hundred and twenty thousand rams; and the king and all the people dedicated the House of God.)

⁶ And the priests stood in their offices, and [the] deacons in organs of songs of the Lord, which king David made to praise the Lord (with), For his mercy is into the world; and they sang the hymns of David by their hands in organs and other instruments; and the priests sang with trumps before them, and all the people of Israel stood. (And the priests stood in their places, and the Levites with the musical instruments for the Lord, which King David had made to praise the Lord with, For his love is forevermore; and they sang the hymns of David with the instruments; and the priests blew their trumpets opposite them, and all the people of Israel stood.)

⁷ Therefore Solomon hallowed the middle of the large place before the temple of the Lord; for he had offered there burnt sacrifices, and the inner fatnesses of peaceable sacrifices, for the brazen altar which he had made might not sustain, or hold, the burnt sacrifices, and slain sacrifices, and inner fatnesses of peaceable sacrifices. (And so Solomon consecrated the centre of the courtyard, in front of the Temple of the Lord; for he offered the burnt sacrifices, and the inner fatnesses of the peace offerings there, because the bronze altar which he had made could not hold all the burnt sacrifices, and the slain sacrifices, and the inner fatnesses of the peace offerings.)

⁸ Therefore Solomon made a solemnity in that time in seven days, and all Israel with him, a full great church, or congregation, from the entering of Hamath unto the strand of Egypt. (And so Solomon made a feast at that time for seven days, and all Israel with him, the full great congregation, from the entrance to Hamath unto the River of Egypt, that is, unto the Nile.)

⁹ And in the eighth day he made a gathering of money, that is, for necessaries of the temple, for he had hallowed the altar in seven days, and had made [the] solemnity in seven (more) days. (And on the eighth day they gathered money for the necessities of the Temple, for they had celebrated the dedication of the altar for seven days, and then had kept the feast for another seven days.)

¹⁰ Therefore in the three and twentieth day of the seventh month, he let the peoples go to their tabernacles (he let the people go back to their tents, or their homes), joying and gladding upon the goodness that God had done to David, and to Solomon, and to his people Israel.

¹¹ And Solomon performed the house of the Lord, and the house of the king, and all things which he had disposed in his heart for to do in the house of the Lord, and in his own house; and he had prosperity. (And Solomon finished the House of the Lord, and the king’s house, and all the things that he had disposed in his heart to do for the House of the Lord, and for his own house; and he prospered.)

¹² Forsooth the Lord appeared to him in the night, and said, I have heard thy prayer, and I have chosen this place to me into an house of sacrifice. (And the Lord appeared to him in the night, and said, I have heard thy prayer, and I have chosen this place to be a House of sacrifice to me.)

¹³ If I close heaven, and rain cometh not down, and if I send, and command to the locust, that he devour the land, and if I send pestilence into my people; (And if I close up the heavens, and rain cometh not down, or if I command to the locusts, that they devour the land, or if I send pestilence into my people;)

¹⁴ forsooth if my people is converted, on which my name is called, and if it beseecheth me, and seeketh my face, and doeth penance of his full evil ways, then I shall hear from heaven, and I shall be merciful to the sins of them, and I shall heal the land of them. (and if my people, who be called by my name, be turned, and if they beseech me, and seek my face, and do penance for their full evil ways, then I shall hear from heaven, and I shall be merciful to their sins, and I shall heal their land.)

¹⁵ And mine eyes shall be opened, and mine ears shall be raised up to the prayer of him, that prayeth in this place (who prayeth in this place);

¹⁶ for I have chosen, and hallowed this place, that my name be there without end, and that mine eyes and mine heart dwell there in all days.

¹⁷ Also if thou goest before me, as David thy father went, and doest by all those things which I commanded to thee, and keepest my rightfulnesses and my dooms, (And if thou goest before me, as thy father David went, and doest by all those things which I commanded to thee, and obeyest my statutes and my judgements,)

¹⁸ I shall raise up the throne of thy realm, as I promised to David thy father, and said, A man of thy generation shall not be taken away, that shall be prince in Israel. (I shall raise up the throne of thy kingdom, as I promised to thy father David, and said, There shall always be a man of thy descendants, who shall be the leader of Israel.)

¹⁹ But if ye turn away, and forsake my rightfulnesses and my commandments, which I have set forth to you, and ye go, and serve alien gods, and worship them, (But if ye turn away, and abandon my statutes and my commandments, which I have set forth to you, and ye go, and serve other gods, and worship them,)

²⁰ I shall draw you away from my land, which I gave to you, and I shall cast away from my face this house which I have builded to my name, and I shall give it into a parable, and into ensample to all peoples. (I shall draw you away from my land, which I gave you, and this House, which I have consecrated in honour of my name, I shall throw it away from my face, and I shall make it into a parable, and into an example, for all the peoples.)

²¹ And this house shall be into a proverb to all men passing forth; and they shall say, wondering in themselves, Why did the Lord so to this land, and to this house? (And this House shall be like a proverb for all people passing forth; and they shall say, wondering to themselves, Why hath the Lord done so to this land, and to this House?)

²² And they shall answer, For they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, that led them out of the land of Egypt, and they took (hold of) alien gods, and worshipped [them], and praised them; therefore all these evils came upon them. (And they shall answer to them, For they deserted the Lord God of their fathers, who led them out of the land of Egypt, and they clung to foreign, or other, gods, and worshipped them, and praised them; and so all these evils came upon them.)

8 Forsooth when twenty years were [ful]filled, after that Solomon had builded the house of the Lord, and his own house,

² he builded the cities, which Hiram^[a] had given to Solomon; and he made the sons of Israel to dwell there. (he rebuilt the cities, which Hiram had given to Solomon; and he ordered the Israelites to live there.)

³ Also he went into Hamath of Zobah, and got it.

⁴ And he builded Palmyra in (the) desert, and he builded other full strong cities in Hamath.

⁵ And he builded the higher Bethhoron and the lower Bethhoron, walled cities, having gates, and locks, and bars;

⁶ also he builded Baalath, and all the strong cities that were of Solomon; and all the cities of carts, and the cities of knights (and all the cities for the chariots, and the cities for the horsemen), (and) king Solomon builded, and disposed all things, whichever he would, in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his power.

⁷ And Solomon made subject into tributaries till into this day all the people that was left of (the) Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites, that were not of the generations of Israel,

⁸ and of the sons of them, and of the after-comers of them, which the sons of Israel had not slain, (and their descendants, and their after-comers, whom the Israelites had not killed.)

⁹ For of the sons of Israel Solomon set not, that they should serve the works of the king; for they were men warriors, and the first, or chief, dukes, and princes of his chariots, and of his knights; (For Solomon ordained, that the Israelites should not serve in the forced labour for the public works of the king; for they were men of war, and the first, or the chief, officers, and the leaders of his chariots, and of his horsemen;)

¹⁰ and all the princes of the host of king Solomon were two hundred and fifty, that taught, or ruled, the people.

¹¹ And Solomon translated the daughter of Pharaoh from the city of David into an house, that he had builded to her; for the king said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David, king of Israel, for it is hallowed, for the ark of the Lord entered into that house. (And Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up from the City of David to the house, that he had built for her; for the king said, My wife shall not live in the house of David, the king of Israel, for it is holy, for the Ark of the Lord hath entered into that house.)

¹² Then Solomon offered burnt sacrifices to the Lord on the altar of the Lord, which he had builded before the porch (which he had built in front of the vestibule),

¹³ that by all days offering should be offered in it, by the commandment of Moses, in sabbaths, and in calends, and in feast days, thrice by the year, that is, in the solemnity of therf loaves, and in the solemnity of weeks, and in the solemnity of tabernacles. (so that by all days the offerings would be offered on it, by the command of Moses, yea, on sabbaths, and calends, and Feast days, three times in the year, that is, on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles.)

¹⁴ And he ordained by the ordinance of David, his father, the offices of priests in their services, and the deacons in their order, that they should praise and minister before [the] priests by the custom of each day; and he ordained [the] porters in their partings by gate and gate. For David, the man of God, had commanded so; (And he ordained by the ordinance of his father David, the offices of the priests in their services, and the Levites in their order, to praise and to minister before the priests by the custom of each day; and he ordained the guards, or the doorkeepers, in their divisions by each gate. For David, the man of God, had so commanded;)

¹⁵ and both priests and deacons passed not from the commandments of the king of all things which he had commanded. (and the priests and the Levites followed all the king’s commands concerning everything which he commanded, including his orders about the treasuries.)

¹⁶ And Solomon had all [the] costs, or dispenses (or expenses), made ready in the keepings of [the] treasuries, from that day in which he founded the house of the Lord, till into the day in which he performed it. (And so Solomon founded the House of the Lord, and he finished it; and he successfully completed all of his work.)

¹⁷ Then Solomon went into Eziongeber, and into Elath, at the brink of the Red Sea (and into Elath, on the Gulf of Akabah), which is in the land of Edom.

¹⁸ Therefore Hiram sent to him, by the hands of his servants, ships, and shipmen knowing of the sea (And so Hiram sent to him, under the command of his servants, ships, and shipmen who were knowledgeable about the sea), and they went with the servants of Solomon into Ophir, and they took from thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and they brought it (back) to king Solomon.