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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1 Kings 8: GNBUK
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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.
Melaḵim Aleph (1 Kings) 8
8
1Then Shelomoh assembled the elders of Yisra’ĕl and all the heads of the tribes, the chief fathers of the children of Yisra’ĕl, to Sovereign Shelomoh in Yerushalayim, to bring up the ark of the covenant of יהוה from the City of Dawiḏ, which is Tsiyon.
2And all the men of Yisra’ĕl assembled to Sovereign Shelomoh at the festival in the month of Ěythanim, which is the seventh new moon.
3And all the elders of Yisra’ĕl came, and the priests took up the ark,
4and brought up the ark of יהוה, and the Tent of Appointment, and all the set-apart utensils that were in the Tent. And the priests and the Lĕwites brought them up,
5and Sovereign Shelomoh, and all the congregation of Yisra’ĕl who had assembled with him, were with him before the ark, slaughtering so many sheep and cattle, that they could not be counted or numbered.
6And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of יהוה to its place, into the Speaking Place of the House, to the Most Set-apart Place, under the wings of the keruḇim,
7for the keruḇim spread two wings over the place of the ark, and the keruḇim covered over the ark and its poles.
8And the poles extended so that the ends of the poles were seen from the set-apart place, in front of the Speaking Place, but they were not seen from outside. And they are there to this day.
9There was naught in the ark, only the two tablets of stone which Mosheh put there at Ḥorĕḇ, where יהוה made a covenant with the children of Yisra’ĕl, when they came out of the land of Mitsrayim.
10And it came to be, when the priests came out of the Set-apart Place, that the cloud filled the House of יהוה,
11so that the priests were unable to stand and perform the service because of the cloud, for the esteem of יהוה filled the House of יהוה.
12And Shelomoh said, “יהוה has said He would dwell in the dark cloud.
13I have indeed built You an exalted house, an established place for You to dwell in forever.”
14And the sovereign turned around and blessed all the assembly of Yisra’ĕl, while all the assembly of Yisra’ĕl was standing.
15And he said, “Blessed be יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, who spoke with His mouth to my father Dawiḏ, and with His hand has filled it, saying,
16Since the day I brought My people Yisra’ĕl out of Mitsrayim, I have chosen no city from any tribe of Yisra’ĕl in which to build a house for My Name to be there, but I chose Dawiḏ to be over My people Yisra’ĕl.’
17“And it was in the heart of my father Dawiḏ to build a house for the Name of יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl.
18“But יהוה said to my father Dawiḏ, ‘Because it has been in your heart to build a house for My Name, you did well that it was in your heart.
19Only, you do not build the house, but your son, who is coming from your loins, he does build the house for My Name.’
20“Now יהוה has established His word which He spoke, and I have been raised up instead of my father Dawiḏ, and sit on the throne of Yisra’ĕl, as יהוה promised, and built a house for the Name of יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl,
21and have appointed there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of יהוה which He made with our fathers, when He brought them out of the land of Mitsrayim.”
22And Shelomoh stood before the slaughter-place of יהוה in front of all the assembly of Yisra’ĕl, and spread out his hands toward the heavens,
23and said, “יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, there is no Elohim in the heavens above or on earth below like You, guarding Your covenant and loving-commitment with Your servants who walk before You with all their heart,
24who has guarded that which You did promise Your servant Dawiḏ my father. Indeed, You have both spoken with Your mouth and have filled it with Your hand, as it is this day.
25“And now, יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, guard what You promised Your servant Dawiḏ my father, saying, ‘There is not to cease a man of yours before Me, sitting on the throne of Yisra’ĕl – only, if your sons guard their way, to walk before Me as you have walked before Me.’
26“And now, O Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, please let Your word come true which You have spoken to Your servant Dawiḏ my father.
27“For is it true: Elohim dwells on the earth? See, the heavens and the heavens of the heavens are unable to contain You, how much less this House which I have built!
28“Yet, shall You turn to the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O יהוה my Elohim, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You today?
29“For Your eyes to be open toward this House night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My Name is there,’ to listen to the prayer which Your servant makes toward this place.
30“Then, shall You hear the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Yisra’ĕl when they pray toward this place, when You hear in Your dwelling place, in the heavens? And shall You hear, and forgive?
31“If anyone sins against his neighbour, and he has lifted up an oath on him, to cause him to swear, and comes and swears before Your slaughter-place in this House,
32then hear in the heavens, and act and rightly rule Your servants, declaring the wrongdoer wrong, bringing his way on his head, and declaring the righteous right by giving him according to his righteousness.
33“When Your people Yisra’ĕl are smitten before an enemy, because they have sinned against You, and they shall turn back to You and confess Your Name, and pray and make supplication to You in this House,
34then hear in the heavens, and forgive the sin of Your people Yisra’ĕl, and bring them back to the land which You gave to their fathers.
35“When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they sin against You, when they pray toward this place and confess Your Name, and turn from their sin because You afflict them,
36then hear in the heavens, and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Yisra’ĕl – for You teach them the good way in which they should walk – and shall give rain on Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.
37“When there is scarcity of food in the land; when there is pestilence, blight, mildew, locusts, grasshoppers; when their enemy distresses them in the land of their cities; any plague, any sickness,
38whatever prayer, whatever supplication made by anyone of all Your people Yisra’ĕl, each knowing the plague of his own heart, and shall spread out his hands toward this House,
39then hear in the heavens, Your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and render unto everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know. Because You – You alone – know the hearts of all the sons of men,
40so that they fear You all the days that they live in the land which You gave to our fathers.
41“Also, concerning a foreigner, who is not of Your people Yisra’ĕl, but has come from a far land for Your Name’s sake –
42since they hear of Your great Name and Your strong hand and Your outstretched arm – and he shall come and pray toward this House,
43hear in the heavens Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, so that all peoples of the earth know Your Name and fear You, as do Your people Yisra’ĕl, and know that this House which I have built is called by Your Name.
44“When Your people go out to battle against their enemy, in the way that You send them, and they shall pray to יהוה toward the city which You have chosen and toward the House which I have built for Your Name,
45then shall You hear in the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause?
46“When they sin against You – for there is no one who does not sin – and You become enraged with them and give them to the enemy, and they take them captive to the land of the enemy, far or near;
47and they shall turn back unto their heart in the land where they have been taken captive, and shall turn, and make supplication to You in the land of those who took them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned and acted crookedly, we have committed wrong,’
48and they shall turn back to You with all their heart and with all their being in the land of their enemies who led them away captive, and shall 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,
49then shall You hear in the heavens Your dwelling place their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause,
50and forgive Your people who have sinned against You, and all their transgressions which they have transgressed against You? And give them compassion before those who took them captive, and they shall have compassion on them.
51For they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out of Mitsrayim, out of the iron furnace.
52“Let Your eyes be open to the supplication of Your servant and the supplication of Your people Yisra’ĕl, to listen to them whenever they call to You.
53“For You have separated them unto Yourself for an inheritance, out of all the peoples of the earth, as You spoke by the hand of Your servant Mosheh, when You brought our fathers out of Mitsrayim, O Master יהוה.”
54And it came to be, when Shelomoh had ended praying all this prayer and supplication to יהוה, that he rose up from before the slaughter-place of יהוה, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to the heavens.
55And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Yisra’ĕl with a loud voice, saying,
56“Blessed be יהוה, who has given rest to His people Yisra’ĕl, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good word, which He promised through His servant Mosheh.
57“יהוה our Elohim is with us as He was with our fathers – He does not leave us nor forsake us –
58to incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways, and to guard His commands and His laws and His right-rulings, which He commanded our fathers.
59“And let these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before יהוה, be near יהוה our Elohim day and night, to maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Yisra’ĕl, the matter of each day in its day,
60so that all the peoples of the earth might know that יהוה is Elohim, there is no one else.
61“Let your heart therefore be perfect to יהוה our Elohim, to walk in His laws and guard His commands, as at this day.”
62And the sovereign and all Yisra’ĕl with him slaughtered slaughterings before יהוה.
63And Shelomoh slaughtered slaughterings of peace offerings, which he slaughtered to יהוה, twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. Thus the sovereign and all the children of Yisra’ĕl dedicated the House of יהוה.
64On that day the sovereign set apart the middle of the courtyard that was in front of the House of יהוה, for there he made ascending offerings, and the grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze slaughter-place that was before יהוה was too small to contain the ascending offerings, and the grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.
65And Shelomoh at that time performed the Festival, and all Yisra’ĕl with him, a great assembly from the entrance of Ḥamath to the wadi of Mitsrayim, before יהוה our Elohim, seven days and seven days – fourteen days.#It seems that the first seven were the Festival of Ḥanukkah (Dedication), and the last seven the Festival of Sukkot (Booths).
66On the eighth day he sent the people away. And they blessed the sovereign, and went to their tents rejoicing and glad of heart for all the goodness that יהוה had done for His servant Dawiḏ, and for Yisra’ĕl His people.
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