The Daily Audio Bible

The Ark Brought to the Temple^(A)

8 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, so that they could ensure that the ark of the covenant of the Lord would be brought out of the City of David in Zion. ² All the men of Israel assembled themselves before King Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.

³ All the elders of Israel came, and the priests carried the ark. ⁴ The priests and Levites brought up the ark of the Lord, the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy implements that were in the tabernacle. ⁵ King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled before him stood together in front of the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be told or numbered.

⁶ The priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, to the Most Holy Place under the wings of the cherubim. ⁷ For the cherubim spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark and covered the ark and the poles from above. ⁸ The poles were so long that the ends of the poles could be seen out in the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside, and they are there to this day. ⁹ There was nothing in the ark except for the two tablets of stone that Moses put there at Horeb when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel after they had come out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁰ And when the priests came out of the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the Lord, ¹¹ so that the priests could not continue to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.

¹² Then Solomon spoke, saying, “The Lord said that He would dwell in the thick darkness. ¹³ I have surely built You a house to dwell in, a settled place for You to abide in forever.”

¹⁴ Then the king turned around and blessed all the congregation of Israel (and all the congregation of Israel stood), ¹⁵ and he said,

“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David and has with His hand fulfilled His word, saying, ¹⁶ ‘Since the day that I brought forth My people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city from any tribe of Israel to build a house where My name might be praised, but I chose David to be over My people Israel.’

¹⁷ “My father David had it in mind to build a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel. ¹⁸ The Lord said to my father David, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for My name, you had good intentions. ¹⁹ Nevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son who will come out of your loins, he shall build the house for My name.’

²⁰ “The Lord has fulfilled His word that He spoke, and I have been elevated to the position of my father David, to sit on the throne of Israel as the Lord promised, and have built a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel. ²¹ I have set a place there for the ark, which houses the covenant of the Lord which He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication^(B)

²² Then Solomon stood in front of the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel and spread his hands toward heaven. ²³ and he said,

“Lord God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth below who keeps covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts, ²⁴ who have kept what You promised Your servant David my father. You spoke also with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day.

²⁵ “Therefore, Lord God of Israel, now keep what You promised Your servant David my father, saying, ‘You will not fail to have a man sit before Me on the throne of Israel, so long as your sons take heed to their way, that they walk before Me as you have walked before Me.’ ²⁶ Now, O God of Israel, let Your word, I pray, be fulfilled, which You spoke to Your servant David my father.

²⁷ “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? See, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less can this house that I have built? ²⁸ Yet give consideration to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplication, O Lord my God; listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You today, ²⁹ that Your eyes may be upon this house night and day, even toward the place of which You have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that You may listen to the prayer which Your servant shall make toward this place. ³⁰ Please listen to the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. May You hear in heaven, Your dwelling place, and when You hear, forgive.

³¹ “If any man sins against his neighbor, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath comes before Your altar in this house, ³² then may You hear in heaven and act and judge Your servants, condemning the wicked, bringing his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous, giving him according to his righteousness.

³³ “When Your people Israel are defeated by their enemies, because they have sinned against You, and they turn back to You and call upon Your name and pray and make supplication to You in this house, ³⁴ then may You hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel and bring them again to the land which You gave to their fathers.

³⁵ “When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against You, if they pray toward this place and call upon Your name and turn from their sin when You afflict them, ³⁶ then may You hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel, that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk and give rain upon Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.

³⁷ “When there is famine in the land, if there is plague, blight, mildew, locust, or grasshopper; if their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities; whatever plague, whatever sickness there is; ³⁸ whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart, and spreading his hands toward this house; ³⁹ then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and render to everyone according to all his ways, whose hearts You know—for only You know the hearts of the sons of men— ⁴⁰ so that they may fear You all the days that they live in the land that You gave to our fathers.

⁴¹ “Also concerning the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel and comes from a far country for Your name’s sake ⁴² (for they will hear of Your great name and of Your strong hand and of Your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, ⁴³ may You hear in heaven, Your dwelling place, and do all that the foreigner asks of You, so all people of the earth will know Your name, to fear You as Your people Israel do, and that they may know that this house, which I have built, is called by Your name.

⁴⁴ “If Your people go out to battle against their enemy wherever You send them, and they pray to the Lord toward the city which You have chosen and toward the house that I have built for Your name, ⁴⁵ then may You hear their prayer and supplication in heaven and maintain their cause.

⁴⁶ “If they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin), and You get angry with them and hand them over to the enemy so that they are carried away as captives to the land of the enemy, far or near, ⁴⁷ yet when they come to their senses while in the land where they were carried captives and repent and make supplication to You, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and have committed wickedness,’ ⁴⁸ and so return to You with all their hearts and with all their souls in the land of their enemies, who carried them away as captives, and pray to You toward their land, which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your name, ⁴⁹ then may You hear their prayers and supplications in heaven, Your dwelling place, and maintain their cause, ⁵⁰ and forgive Your people who have sinned against You and all their transgressions which they committed against You and grant them compassion before those who carried them away as captives, so they will have compassion on them. ⁵¹ For they are Your people and Your inheritance whom You brought forth out of Egypt from the midst of the furnace of iron.

⁵² “Let Your eyes be open to the supplication of Your servant and to the supplication of Your people Israel, to listen to them regarding all for which they call upon You. ⁵³ For You did call them out from among all the people of the earth to be Your inheritance, as You spoke by the hand of Moses Your servant when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.”

⁵⁴ Now when Solomon finished praying this prayer and making supplication to the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. ⁵⁵ He stood up and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying,

⁵⁶ “Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to His people Israel according to all that He promised. Not one word of His promises which He gave by the hand of Moses His servant has failed. ⁵⁷ The Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers. Let Him neither leave us nor forsake us, ⁵⁸ that He may incline our hearts to Him, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments, statutes, and judgments, which He commanded our fathers. ⁵⁹ And let these my words, with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be close to the Lord our God day and night, that He will maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel at all times as the situation demands, ⁶⁰ so that all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is none else. ⁶¹ Let your hearts, therefore, be perfect with the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and keep His commandments, as at this day.”

The Dedication of the Temple^(C)

⁶² The king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord. ⁶³ Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to the Lord, twenty-two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord.

⁶⁴ The same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the house of the Lord, for there he offered burnt offerings and meat offerings and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too little to receive the burnt offerings and meat offerings and the fat of the peace offerings.

⁶⁵ At that time, Solomon held a feast for all Israel, a great congregation, from the entry of Lebo Hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days and another seven days, a total of fourteen days. ⁶⁶ On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they blessed the king and went to their tents rejoicing in their hearts for all the goodness that the Lord had done for David His servant and for Israel His people.

⁵¹ “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. ⁵² Which of the prophets have your fathers not persecuted? They have even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become the betrayers and murderers, ⁵³ who have received the law by the disposition of angels, but have not kept it.”

The Stoning of Stephen

⁵⁴ When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed their teeth at him. ⁵⁵ But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, ⁵⁶ and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

⁵⁷ Then they cried out with a loud voice, closed their ears, and rushed at him in unison. ⁵⁸ And they threw him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.

⁵⁹ They stoned Stephen as he was calling on God, praying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰ Then he knelt down and cried with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” Having said this, he fell asleep.

8 And Saul was consenting to his death.

Saul Persecutes the Church

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem. And they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. ² Devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over him. ³ But Saul ravaged the church, entering house by house and dragging out both men and women and committing them to prison.

The Gospel Preached in Samaria

⁴ Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. ⁵ Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. ⁶ When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miracles which he did, they listened in unity to what he said. ⁷ For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed. And many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. ⁸ So there was much joy in that city.

Simon the Sorcerer Believes

⁹ Now a man named Simon was previously in the city practicing sorcery and astonishing the nation of Samaria, saying he was someone great, ¹⁰ to whom they all listened, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God.” ¹¹ They listened to him, because for a long time he had astonished them by his sorceries. ¹² But when they believed Philip preaching about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. ¹³ Even Simon himself believed. And when he was baptized, he continued with Philip and was amazed as he watched the miracles and signs which were done.

Psalm 129

A Song of Ascents.