1 Kings 8
1Then all those greater by birth of Israel, with the leaders of the tribes and the rulers of the families of the sons of Israel, gathered together before king Solomon at Jerusalem, so that they might carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, from the city of David, that is, from Zion.
2And all of Israel assembled before king Solomon, on the solemn day in the month of Ethanim, which is the seventh month.
3And all the elders of Israel arrived, and the priests took up the ark.
4And they carried the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the covenant, and all the vessels of the Sanctuary, which were in the tabernacle; and the priests and the Levites carried these.
5Then king Solomon, and the entire multitude of Israel, who had assembled before him, advanced with him before the ark. And they immolated sheep and oxen, which could not be numbered or estimated.
6And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the oracle of the temple, in the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim.
7For indeed, the cherubim extended their wings over the place of the ark, and they protected the ark and its bars from above.
8And since the bars projected outward, their ends were visible from without, in the Sanctuary before the oracle; but they were not visible farther outward. And they have been in that place even to the present day.
9Now inside the ark, there was nothing other than the two tablets of stone, which Moses had placed in it at Horeb, when the Lord formed a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they departed from the land of Egypt.
10Then it happened that, when the priests had exited from the Sanctuary, a cloud filled the house of the Lord.
11And the priests were unable to stand and minister, because of the cloud. For the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.
12Then Solomon said: “The Lord has said that he would dwell in a cloud.
13Building, I have built a house as your dwelling place, your most firm throne forever.”
14And the king turned his face, and he blessed the entire assembly of Israel. For the entire assembly of Israel was standing.
15And Solomon said: “Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to my father David, and who, with his own hands, has perfected it, saying:
16‘From the day when I led my people Israel away from Egypt, I did not choose any city out of all the tribes of Israel, so that a house would be built, and so that my name might be there. Instead, I chose David to be over my people Israel.’
17And my father David wanted to build a house to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
18But the Lord said to my father David: ‘Since you have planned in your heart to build a house to my name, you have done well by considering this plan in your mind.
19Yet truly, you shall not build a house for me. Instead, your son, who shall go forth from your loins, he himself shall build a house to my name.’
20The Lord has confirmed his word which he spoke. And so I stand in place of my father David, and I sit upon the throne of Israel, just as the Lord said. And I have built a house to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
21And there I have appointed a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he struck with our fathers, when they went forth from the land of Egypt.”
22Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord, in the sight of the assembly of Israel, and he extended his hands toward heaven.
23And he said: “Lord God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above, nor on the earth below. You preserve covenant and mercy with your servants, who walk before you with all their heart.
24You have fulfilled, for your servant David, my father, that which you said to him. With your mouth, you spoke; and with your hands, you completed; just as this day proves.
25Now therefore, O Lord God of Israel, fulfill, for your servant David, my father, that which you spoke to him, saying, ‘There shall not be taken away from you a man before me, who may sit upon the throne of Israel, if only your sons will guard their way, so that they walk before me, just as you have walked in my sight.’
26And now, O Lord God of Israel, establish your words, which you spoke to your servant David, my father.
27Is it, then, to be understood that truly God would dwell upon the earth? For if heaven, and the heavens of heavens, are not able to contain you, how much less this house, which I have built?
28Yet look with favor upon the prayer of your servant and upon his petitions, O Lord, my God. Listen to the hymn and the prayer, which your servant prays before you this day,
29so that your eyes may be open over this house, night and day, over the house about which you said, ‘My name shall be there,’ so that you may heed the prayer that your servant is praying in this place to you.
30So may you heed the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel, whatever they will pray for in this place, and so may you heed them in your dwelling place in heaven. And when you heed, you will be gracious.
31But if any man sins against his neighbor, and he has any kind of an oath by which he is bound, and he arrives because of the oath, before your altar in your house,
32you will hear in heaven, and you will act and judge your servants, condemning the impious, and repaying his own way upon his own head, but justifying the just, and rewarding him in accord with his justice.
33And if your people Israel will have fled from their enemies, because they have sinned against you, and doing penance and confessing to your name, shall arrive and pray and petition you in this house,
34listen in heaven, and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and lead them back to the land, which you gave to their fathers.
35And if the heavens have closed, so that there is no rain, because of their sins, and they, praying in this place, shall do penance to your name, and shall be converted from their sins, by occasion of their afflictions,
36hear them from heaven, and forgive the sins of your servants and of your people Israel. And reveal to them the good way, along which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as a possession.
37Then, if famine rises over the land, or pestilence, or corrupt air, or blight, or locust, or mildew, or if their enemy afflicts them, besieging the gates, or any harm or infirmity,
38or whatever curse or divine intervention may happen to any man among your people Israel, if anyone understands, having been wounded in his heart, and if he will have extended his hands in this house,
39you will hear in heaven, in your dwelling place, and you will forgive. And you will act so that you give to each one in accord with his own ways, just as you see in his heart, for you alone know the heart of all the sons of men.
40So may they fear you, all the days that they live upon the face of the land, which you have given to our fathers.
41Moreover, the foreigner too, who is not of your people Israel, when he will have arrived from a distant land because of your name, for they shall hear about your great name, and your strong hand,
42and your outstretched arm everywhere: so when he arrives and prays in this place,
43you will listen in heaven, in the firmament of your dwelling place. And you will do all the things, for which that foreigner will have called upon you. So may all the peoples of the earth learn to fear your name, just as your people Israel do. And so may they show that your name has been invoked over this house, which I have built.
44And if your people have gone out to war against their enemies, along whatever way you will send them, they shall pray to you in the direction of the city, which you have chosen, and toward the house, which I have built to your name.
45And you will hear in heaven their prayers and their petitions. And you will accomplish judgment for them.
46But if they sin against you, for there is no man who does not sin, and you, being angry, deliver them to their enemies, and they will have been led away as captives to the land of their enemies, whether far or near,
47and if they do penance in their heart, in the place of captivity, and having been converted, make supplication to you in their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned; we acted unjustly; we committed impiety,’
48and they return to you with all their heart and all their soul, in the land of their enemies, to which they have been led away as captives, and if they pray to you in the direction of their land, which you gave to their fathers, and of the city, which you have chosen, and of the temple, which I have built to your name:
49you will hear in heaven, in the firmament of your throne, their prayers and their petitions. And you will accomplish their judgment.
50And you will forgive your people, who have sinned against you, and all their iniquities, by which they have transgressed against you. And you will grant to them mercy in the sight of those who have made them captives, so that they may take pity on them.
51For they are your people and your inheritance, whom you have led away from the land of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron.
52So may your eyes be open to the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel. And so may you heed them in all the things about which they will call upon you.
53For you have separated them to yourself as an inheritance, from among all the peoples of the earth, just as you spoke by Moses, your servant, when you led our fathers away from Egypt, O Lord God.”
54And it happened that, when Solomon had completed praying this entire prayer and supplication to the Lord, he rose up from the sight of the altar of the Lord. For he had fixed both knees upon the ground, and he had extended his hands toward heaven.
55Then he stood and blessed the entire assembly of Israel in a great voice, saying:
56“Blessed is the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel, in accord with all that he said. Not even one word, out of all the good things that he spoke by his servant Moses, has fallen away.
57May the Lord our God be with us, just as he was with our fathers, not abandoning us, and not rejecting us.
58But may he incline our hearts to himself, so that we may walk in all his ways, and keep his commandments, and his ceremonies, and whatever judgments he commanded to our fathers.
59And may these my words, by which I have prayed before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God, day and night, so that he may accomplish judgment for his servant and for his people Israel, throughout each day.
60So may all the peoples of the earth know that the Lord himself is God, and there is no other beside him.
61Also, may our hearts be perfect with the Lord our God, so that we may walk in his decrees, and keep his commandments, as also on this day.”
62Then the king, and all of Israel with him, immolated victims before the Lord.
63And Solomon slew sacrifices of peace offerings, which he immolated to the Lord: twenty-two thousand oxen, and twenty thousand one hundred sheep. And the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the temple of the Lord.
64On that day, the king sanctified the middle of the atrium, which was before the house of the Lord. For in that place, he offered holocaust, and sacrifice, and the fat of peace offerings. For the bronze altar, which was before the Lord, was too small and was not able to hold the holocaust, and the sacrifice, and the fat of the peace offerings.
65Then Solomon made, at that time, a celebratory festival, and all of Israel with him, a great multitude, from the entrance of Hamath to the river of Egypt, in the sight of the Lord our God, for seven days plus seven days, that is, fourteen days.
66And on the eighth day, he dismissed the people. And blessing the king, they set out for their tents, rejoicing and cheerful in heart over all the good things that the Lord had done for his servant David and for his people Israel.
1Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion.
2And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.
3And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.
4And they brought up the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up.
5And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude.
6And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims.
7For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.
8And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day.
9There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.
10And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord,
11So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.
12Then spake Solomon, The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
13I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever.
14And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation of Israel: (and all the congregation of Israel stood;)
15And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which spake with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it, saying,
16Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that my name might be therein; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.
17And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.
18And the Lord said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart.
19Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name.
20And the Lord hath performed his word that he spake, and I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and have built an house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.
21And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.
22And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven:
23And he said, Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart:
24Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day.
25Therefore now, Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me.
26And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father.
27But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?
28Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day:
29That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place.
30And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive.
31If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house:
32Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.
33When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house:
34Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers.
35When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them:
36Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.
37If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpiller; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be;
38What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house:
39Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;)
40That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.
41Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name’s sake;
42(For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house;
43Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by thy name.
44If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the Lord toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name:
45Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
46If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;
47Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;
48And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name:
49Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause,
50And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them:
51For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron:
52That thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto thee.
53For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.
54And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven.
55And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying,
56Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.
57The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us:
58That he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers.
59And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the Lord, be nigh unto the Lord our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require:
60That all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is none else.
61Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.
62And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the Lord.
63And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the Lord, two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord.
64The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord: for there he offered burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brasen altar that was before the Lord was too little to receive the burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.
65And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days and seven days, even fourteen days.
66On the eighth day he sent the people away: and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people.