1 Kings 8
8
1 Kings 8
1¶ Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the families of the sons 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 in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month, on the solemn day.
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 testimony and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, which the priests and the Levites carried.
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 counted 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, in the holy of holies, under the wings of the cherubim.
7For the cherubim had their wings extended over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and its staves from above.
8And they drew out the staves so that the ends of the staves could be seen out in the holy place in front of the oracle, but they could not be seen from outside, and thus they remained until today.
9 There was nothing in the ark except the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord cut a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.
10And when the priests came out of the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the Lord.
11And the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.
12¶ Then Solomon said, The Lord has said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
13I have surely built thee a 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 were standing.
15And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth unto David my father, and with his hand has fulfilled it, saying,
16Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I have chosen no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there, but I chose David to be over my people Israel.
17And it was in the heart of David, my father, to build a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.
18But the Lord said unto David, my father, Whereas it was in thy heart to build a house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thy heart;
19nevertheless, thou shalt not build the house, but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build a house unto my name.
20And the Lord has established his word that he spoke, and I have risen up in the place of David, my father, and sit on the throne of Israel as the Lord had said and have built a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.
21And I have set there a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with our fathers when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.
22¶ And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and extending his hands toward heaven,
23he said, Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in the heavens above or on earth beneath, who keeps the covenant and mercy with thy slaves that walk before thee with all their heart,
24who hast kept unto thy slave David, my father, what thou didst declare unto him; thou didst say it with thy mouth and hast fulfilled it with thy hand, as we see this day.
25Therefore, now, Lord God of Israel, fulfill unto thy slave David, my father, what thou didst promise him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if thy sons keep 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 made firm, which thou didst speak unto thy slave David, my father.
27But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heavens, the heavens of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have built?
28Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy slave and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy slave prays before thee today,
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 may hearken unto the prayer which thy slave shall make in this place.
30Therefore, thou shalt hearken unto the supplication of thy slave and of thy people Israel when they shall pray in this place and hear in thy dwelling place, from the heavens; please hear and forgive.
31When anyone shall have sinned against his neighbour, and an oath is laid upon him to cause him to swear and the oath comes before thy altar in this house,
32thou shalt hear from heaven and do and judge thy slaves, 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 are 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 with humility unto thee in this house,
34then thou shalt hear in the heavens and forgive the sin of thy people Israel and bring them again unto the land which thou didst give unto their fathers.
35When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against thee, if they pray in this place and confess thy name and turn from their sin when thou hast afflicted them,
36then thou shalt hear in the heavens and forgive the sin of thy slaves and of thy people Israel, teaching them the good way in which they should walk and shalt give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.
37When there is famine in the land or pestilence or blasting or mildew or locusts or caterpillars, if their enemy besieges them in the land of their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is,
38every prayer and every supplication made by any man or by all thy people Israel, when anyone knows the plague of his own heart and spreads forth his hands toward this house,
39then thou shalt hear in the heavens, in the habitation of thy dwelling place, and forgive and do and give to each one according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the sons of men),
40that they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou didst give unto our fathers.
41Likewise concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but comes out of a far country for thy name’s sake
42(for they shall have heard of thy great name and of thy strong hand and of thy stretched out arm), when he shall come to pray in this house,
43thou shalt hear in the heavens, in the habitation of thy dwelling place, and do according to all that for which the stranger shall have called unto thee, that all peoples of the earth may know thy name and fear thee as do thy people Israel and that they may know that thy name is invoked upon this house, which I have built.
44If thy people go out to battle against their enemies by the way which 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,
45thou shalt hear in the heavens their prayer and their supplication and do their judgment.
46If they have sinned against thee (for there is no man that does not sin) and thou should 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,
47and they return unto their heart in the land where they were carried captives and return and make supplication unto thee in the land of those that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned and have done iniquity, we have committed wickedness;
48and so convert themselves unto thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who led them away captive and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou didst give unto their fathers, toward the city which thou hast chosen and the house which I have built for thy name,
49thou shalt hear in the heavens, in the habitation of thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplication and do what is right unto them
50and forgive thy people that have sinned against thee and all their rebellions by which they have rebelled against thee and cause those who carried them captive to have mercy on them,
51for they are thy people and thy inheritance, which thou didst bring forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace.
52Let thine eyes be open unto the supplication of thy slave 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 peoples of the earth, to be thy inheritance, as thou didst speak by the hand of Moses, thy slave, when thou didst bring our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.
54¶ And 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 extended toward heaven.
55And he stood and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying,
56Blessed be the Lord that has given rest unto his people Israel according to all that he had said; not one word has failed of all his good word, which he spoke by the hand of Moses, his slave.
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 rights, which he commanded our fathers.
59And let these my words, with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near unto the Lord our God day and night that he maintain the judgment of his slave and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require;
60that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is no other.
61Let your heart, therefore, be perfect with the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.
62¶ Then the king and all Israel with him, offered sacrifices before the Lord.
63And Solomon offered sacrifices of peace, which he offered unto the Lord, which were twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord.
64That same day the king sanctified the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord, for there he offered the burnt offerings and the presents and the fat of the peace offerings because the brasen altar that was before the Lord was too small to receive the burnt offerings and the presents 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, for seven days and another seven days, even fourteen days.
66On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they, blessing the king, went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had done unto David, his slave, and unto Israel his people.
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1 Kings 8: JUB
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The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International
1 Kings 8
8
The Covenant Box is Brought to the Temple
(2 Chr 5.2—6.2)
1 #
2 Sam 6.12–16; 1 Chr 15.25–29 Then King Solomon summoned all the leaders of the tribes and clans of Israel to come to him in Jerusalem in order to take the LORD's Covenant Box from Zion, David's City, to the Temple. 2#Lev 23.24They all assembled during the Festival of Shelters in the seventh month, in the month of Ethanim. 3When all the leaders had gathered, the priests lifted the Covenant Box 4and carried it to the Temple. The Levites and the priests also moved the Tent of the LORD's presence and all its equipment to the Temple. 5King Solomon and all the people of Israel assembled in front of the Covenant Box and sacrificed a large number of sheep and cattle — too many to count. 6Then the priests carried the Covenant Box into the Temple and put it in the Most Holy Place, beneath the winged creatures. 7Their outstretched wings covered the box and the poles it was carried by. 8The ends of the poles could be seen by anyone standing directly in front of the Most Holy Place, but from nowhere else. (The poles are still there today.) 9#Deut 10.5There was nothing inside the Covenant Box except the two stone tablets which Moses had placed there at Mount Sinai, when the LORD made a covenant with the people of Israel as they were coming from Egypt.
10 #
Ex 40.34–35
As the priests were leaving the Temple, it was suddenly filled with a cloud 11shining with the dazzling light of the LORD's presence, and they could not go back in to perform their duties. 12#Ps 18.11; 97.2Then Solomon prayed:
“You, LORD, have placed the sun in the sky,#8.12 One ancient translation You… sky; Hebrew does not have these words.
yet you have chosen to live in clouds and darkness.
13Now I have built a majestic temple for you,
a place for you to live in for ever.”
Solomon's Address to the People
(2 Chr 6.3–11)
14As the people stood there, King Solomon turned to face them, and he asked God's blessing on them. 15He said, “Praise the LORD God of Israel! He has kept the promise he made to my father David, when he said, 16#2 Sam 7.4–11; 1 Chr 17.3–10‘From the time I brought my people out of Egypt, I have not chosen any city in all the land of Israel in which a temple should be built where I would be worshipped. But I chose you, David, to rule my people.’ ”
17 #
2 Sam 7.1–3; 1 Chr 17.1–2 And Solomon continued, “My father David planned to build a temple for the worship of the LORD God of Israel, 18but the LORD said to him, ‘You were right in wanting to build a temple for me, 19#2 Sam 7.12–13; 1 Chr 17.11–12but you will never build it. It is your son, your own son, who will build my temple.’
20“And now the LORD has kept his promise. I have succeeded my father as king of Israel, and I have built the Temple for the worship of the LORD God of Israel. 21I have also provided a place in the Temple for the Covenant Box containing the stone tablets of the covenant which the LORD made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.”
Solomon's Prayer
(2 Chr 6.12–42)
22Then in the presence of the people Solomon went and stood in front of the altar, where he raised his arms 23and prayed, “LORD God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven above or on earth below! You keep your covenant with your people and show them your love when they live in wholehearted obedience to you. 24You have kept the promise you made to my father David; today every word has been fulfilled. 25#1 Kgs 2.4And now, LORD God of Israel, I pray that you will also keep the other promise you made to my father when you told him that there would always be one of his descendants ruling as king of Israel, provided they obeyed you as carefully as he did. 26So now, O God of Israel, let everything come true that you promised to my father David, your servant.
27 #
2 Chr 2.6
“But can you, O God, really live on earth? Not even all heaven is large enough to hold you, so how can this Temple that I have built be large enough? 28LORD my God, I am your servant. Listen to my prayer, and grant the requests I make to you today. 29#Deut 12.11Watch over this Temple day and night, this place where you have chosen to be worshipped. Hear me when I face this Temple and pray. 30Hear my prayers and the prayers of your people when they face this place and pray. In your home in heaven hear us and forgive us.
31“When a person is accused of wronging another and is brought to your altar in this Temple to take an oath that he is innocent, 32O LORD, listen in heaven and judge your servants. Punish the guilty one as he deserves, and acquit the one who is innocent.
33“When your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you, and then when they turn to you and come to this Temple, humbly praying to you for forgiveness, 34listen to them in heaven. Forgive the sins of your people, and bring them back to the land which you gave to their ancestors.
35“When you hold back the rain because your people have sinned against you, and then when they repent and face this Temple, humbly praying to you, 36listen to them in heaven. Forgive the sins of the king and of the people of Israel. Teach them to do what is right. Then, O LORD, send rain on this land of yours, which you gave to your people as a permanent possession.
37“When there is famine in the land or an epidemic, or the crops are destroyed by scorching winds or swarms of locusts, or when your people are attacked by their enemies, or when there is disease or sickness among them, 38listen to their prayers. If any of your people Israel, out of heartfelt sorrow, stretch out their hands in prayer towards this Temple, 39hear their prayer. Listen to them in your home in heaven, forgive them, and help them. You alone know the thoughts of the human heart. Deal with each person as he deserves, 40so that your people may obey you all the time they live in the land which you gave to our ancestors.
41-42“When a foreigner who lives in a distant land hears of your fame and of the great things you have done for your people, and comes to worship you and to pray at this Temple, 43listen to his prayer. In heaven, where you live, hear him and do what he asks you to do, so that all the peoples of the world may know you and obey you, as your people Israel do. Then they will know that this Temple I have built is the place where you are to be worshipped.
44“When you command your people to go into battle against their enemies and they pray to you, wherever they are, facing this city which you have chosen and this Temple which I have built for you, 45listen to their prayers. Hear them in heaven, and give them victory.
46“When your people sin against you — and there is no one who does not sin — and in your anger you let their enemies defeat them and take them as prisoners to some other land, even if that land is far away, 47listen to your people's prayers. If there in that land they repent and pray to you, confessing how sinful and wicked they have been, hear their prayers, O LORD. 48If in that land they truly and sincerely repent, and pray to you as they face towards this land which you gave to our ancestors, this city which you have chosen, and this Temple which I have built for you, 49then listen to their prayers. In your home in heaven hear them and be merciful to them. 50Forgive all their sins and their rebellion against you, and make their enemies treat them with kindness. 51They are your own people, whom you brought out of Egypt, that blazing furnace.
52“Sovereign LORD, may you always look with favour on your people Israel and their king, and hear their prayer whenever they call to you for help. 53You chose them from all the peoples to be your own people, as you told them through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt.”
The Final Prayer
54After Solomon had finished praying to the LORD, he stood up in front of the altar, where he had been kneeling with uplifted hands. 55In a loud voice he asked God's blessings on all the people assembled there. He said, 56#Deut 12.10; Josh 21.44–45“Praise the LORD who has given his people peace, as he promised he would. He has kept all the generous promises he made through his servant Moses. 57May the LORD our God be with us, as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us, or abandon us; 58may he make us obedient to him, so that we will always live as he wants us to live, and keep all the laws and commands he gave our ancestors. 59May the LORD our God remember at all times this prayer and these petitions I have made to him. May he always be merciful to the people of Israel and to their king, according to their daily needs. 60And so all the nations of the world will know that the LORD alone is God — there is no other. 61May you, his people, always be faithful to the LORD our God, obeying all his laws and commands, as you do today.”
The Dedication of the Temple
(2 Chr 7.4–10)
62Then King Solomon and all the people there offered sacrifices to the LORD. 63He sacrificed 22,000 head of cattle and 120,000 sheep as fellowship offerings. And so the king and all the people dedicated the Temple. 64That same day he also consecrated the central part of the courtyard, the area in front of the Temple, and then he offered there the sacrifices burnt whole, the grain offerings, and the fat of the animals for the fellowship offerings. He did this because the bronze altar was too small for all these offerings.
65There at the Temple, Solomon and all the people of Israel celebrated the Festival of Shelters for seven#8.65 One ancient translation seven; Hebrew fourteen. days. There was a huge crowd of people from as far away as Hamath Pass in the north and the Egyptian border in the south. 66On the eighth day Solomon sent the people home. They all praised him and went home happy because of all the blessings that the LORD had given his servant David and his people Israel.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.