1 Kings 8

1Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ houses of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh from the city of David, that is, Zion.

2And all the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon at the festival, in the month of Ethanim, which is the seventh month.

3And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests carried the ark.

4They brought up the ark of Yahweh, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up.

5And King Solomon, and all the assembly of Israel who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and cattle that could not be counted or numbered because of their great number.

6Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, into the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim.

7For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles from above.

8And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside; and they are there to this day.

9There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed there at Horeb, where Yahweh made a covenant with the sons of Israel when they came out from the land of Egypt.

10And when the priests came out from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of Yahweh.

11and the priests were not able to stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of Yahweh filled the house of Yahweh.

12Then Solomon said, “Yahweh said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.”

13I have indeed built you an exalted house, a settled place for you to dwell forever.

14Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing.

15And he said, “Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David my father and has fulfilled it with his hand, saying,”

16From the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a house for my name to be there, but I chose David to be over my people Israel.

17It was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

18But Yahweh said to David my father, ‘Because it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart.’

19Nevertheless, you shall not build the house; rather, your son who comes from your own body, he shall build the house for my name.

20And Yahweh has fulfilled his word that he spoke, and I have risen in the place of David my father and sit on the throne of Israel, just as Yahweh spoke, and I have built the house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

21And there I have set a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of Yahweh that he made with our fathers when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

22Then Solomon stood before the altar of Yahweh in front of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.

23And he said, “O Yahweh, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping the covenant and the steadfast love for your servants who walk before you with all their heart.”

24who have kept for your servant David my father what you spoke to him; you spoke with your mouth, and with your hand you have fulfilled it, as it is this day.

25And now, Yahweh, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you spoke to him, saying, ‘A man shall not be cut off from before me for you, one sitting on the throne of Israel, if only your sons keep their way, by walking before me as you have walked before me.’

26And now, God of Israel, please let your word that you spoke to your servant David my father be confirmed.

27For will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!

28Yet turn toward the prayer of your servant and to his plea for favor, O Yahweh my God, to hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying before you today.

29that your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which you said, ‘My name will be there,’ to hear the prayer that your servant prays toward this place.

30And hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. And hear in heaven, the place of your dwelling; hear and forgive.

31If a man sins against his neighbor, and an oath is laid on him to make him swear, and the oath comes before your altar in this house,

32then hear in heaven and act, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing his way upon his own head, and justifying the righteous by giving to him according to his righteousness.

33When your people Israel are struck down before an enemy because they have sinned against you, and they turn back to you and confess your name and pray and plead with you in this house,

34then may you hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land that you gave to their fathers.

35When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, and they pray toward this place and give thanks to your name and turn from their sin because you afflict them,

36then may you hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk. And may you give rain on your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.

37If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, blight, mildew, locust, or caterpillar; if his enemy besieges him in the land of his gates; whatever plague, whatever sickness—

38whatever prayer, whatever plea, may be made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart and spreading out his hands toward this house,

39then may you hear in heaven, the place where you dwell, and forgive, and act, and give to each man according to all his ways, whose heart you know—for you alone know the heart of all the sons of man—

40so that they may fear you all the days that they live on the face of the land that you gave to our fathers.

41And also concerning the foreigner, who is not from your people Israel, but comes from a distant land for the sake of your name—

42for they will hear of your great name, and of your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, and he will come and pray toward this house—

43may you hear in heaven, the place where you dwell, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you for, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name, to fear you as your people Israel do, and to know that your name is called on this house that I have built.

44When your people go out to battle against their enemy by the way you send them, and they pray to Yahweh toward the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name,

45then hear in heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.

46When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to an enemy, and their captors carry them away captive to the land of the enemy, whether far away or near,

47and if they come to their senses in the land where they were taken captive, and return and plead with you in the land of those who took them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned and acted perversely; we have acted wickedly,’

48and they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to you toward their land that you gave to their fathers, the city that you chose, and the house that I have built for your name,

49then hear in heaven, the place of your dwelling, their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause,

50and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you, and grant them compassion before those who took them captive, so that they may have compassion on them.

51For they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, out of the midst of the iron furnace.

52that your eyes may be open to the plea of your servant and to the plea of your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call to you.

53For you set them apart for yourself as an inheritance from all the peoples of the earth, just as you spoke by the hand of Moses your servant when you brought our fathers out from Egypt, Lord GOD.

54And when Solomon had finished praying to Yahweh with all this prayer and plea for favor, he rose from before the altar of Yahweh, from kneeling on his knees with his palms spread out toward heaven.

55And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying:

56Blessed be Yahweh, who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he spoke. Not one word has failed of all his good words that he spoke by the hand of Moses his servant.

57May Yahweh our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not forsake us or abandon us.

58that he may incline our hearts to himself, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers.

59And may these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before Yahweh, be near Yahweh our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires,

60so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD, he is God; there is no other.

61Let your heart therefore be wholly with Yahweh our God, to walk in his statutes and to keep his commandments, as at this day.

62And the king and all Israel with him were sacrificing sacrifices before Yahweh.

63And Solomon sacrificed the sacrifice of peace offerings that he sacrificed to Yahweh: twenty-two thousand cattle and one hundred twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the house of Yahweh.

64On that day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of Yahweh, because there he offered the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat portions of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before Yahweh was too small to contain the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat portions of the peace offerings.

65At that time Solomon held the feast, and all Israel with him, a great assembly from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before Yahweh our God, seven days and seven days, fourteen days.

66On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they blessed the king and went to their tents, rejoicing and glad of heart because of all the good that Yahweh had done for David his servant and for Israel his people.