1 Kings 8
8
1 Then 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.
2 And all of Israel assembled before king Solomon, on the solemn day in the month of Ethanim, which is the seventh month.
3 And all the elders of Israel arrived, and the priests took up the ark.
4 And 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.
5 Then 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.
6 And 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.
7 For indeed, the cherubim extended their wings over the place of the ark, and they protected the ark and its bars from above.
8 And 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.
9 Now 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.
10 Then it happened that, when the priests had exited from the Sanctuary, a cloud filled the house of the Lord.
11 And 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.
12 Then Solomon said: "The Lord has said that he would dwell in a cloud.
13 Building, I have built a house as your dwelling place, your most firm throne forever."
14 And the king turned his face, and he blessed the entire assembly of Israel. For the entire assembly of Israel was standing.
15 And 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.'
17 And my father David wanted to build a house to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
18 But 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.
19 Yet 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.'
20 The 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.
21 And 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."
22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord, in the sight of the assembly of Israel, and he extended his hands toward heaven.
23 And 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.
24 You 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 this day proves.
25 Now 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.'
26 And now, O Lord God of Israel, establish your words, which you spoke to your servant David, my father.
27 Is 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?
28 Yet 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,
29 so 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.
30 So 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.
31 But 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,
32 you 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.
33 And 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,
34 listen in heaven, and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and lead them back to the land, which you gave to their fathers.
35 And 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,
36 hear 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.
37 Then, 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,
38 or 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,
39 you 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.
40 So may they fear you, all the days that they live upon the face of the land, which you have given to our fathers.
41 Moreover, 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,
42 and your outstretched arm everywhere: so when he arrives and prays in this place,
43 you 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.
44 And 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.
45 And you will hear in heaven their prayers and their petitions. And you will accomplish judgment for them.
46 But 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,
47 and 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,'
48 and 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:
49 you will hear in heaven, in the firmament of your throne, their prayers and their petitions. And you will accomplish their judgment.
50 And 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.
51 For 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.
52 So 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.
53 For 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."
54 And 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.
55 Then 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.
57 May the Lord our God be with us, just as he was with our fathers, not abandoning us, and not rejecting us.
58 But 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.
59 And 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.
60 So may all the peoples of the earth know that the Lord himself is God, and there is no other beside him.
61 Also, 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."
62 Then the king, and all of Israel with him, immolated victims before the Lord.
63 And 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.
64 On 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.
65 Then 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.
66 And 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.
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1 Kings 8
8
The Ark Brought into the Temple
1 # For ver. 1-9, see 2 Chr. 5:2-10 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, #Num. 1:16 the leaders of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, #[2 Sam. 6:17] to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of #See 2 Sam. 5:7the city of David, which is Zion. 2And all the men of Israel assembled to King Solomon at #ver. 65; Lev. 23:34; See 2 Chr. 7:8-10the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. 3And all the elders of Israel came, and #[Num. 4:15; Deut. 31:9; Josh. 3:3, 6; 1 Chr. 15:14, 15]the priests took up the ark. 4And they brought up the ark of the Lord, #[ch. 3:4; 2 Chr. 1:3]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 congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, #[2 Sam. 6:13]sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. 6#2 Sam. 6:17 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord #Ex. 26:33, 34 to its place in #See ch. 6:5the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. 7For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles. 8#Ex. 25:13-15 And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before #[See ver. 6 above]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 #Ex. 25:21; 40:20; Deut. 10:2, 5; Heb. 9:4 the two tablets of stone that Moses put there at Horeb, where #Ex. 34:27, 28; Deut. 4:13the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. 10And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, #Ex. 40:34, 35; 2 Chr. 5:13, 14; 7:1, 2; [Ezek. 10:3, 4]a 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 filled the house of the Lord.
Solomon Blesses the Lord
12 # For ver. 12-50, see 2 Chr. 6:1-39 Then Solomon said, “The Lord#8:12 Septuagint The Lord has set the sun in the heavens, but has said that he would dwell #Ps. 18:11; 97:2; [Lev. 16:2]in thick darkness. 13#2 Sam. 7:13 I have indeed built you an exalted house, #Ex. 15:17; [Ps. 132:14]a place for you to dwell in forever.” 14Then the king turned around and #ver. 55; 2 Sam. 6:18blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. 15And he said, #Luke 1:68 “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled #ch. 6:12what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, 16#See 2 Sam. 7:4-16, 25 ‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, #ver. 29; Deut. 12:11 that my name might be there. #1 Sam. 16:1; 2 Sam. 7:8; 1 Chr. 28:4But I chose David to be over my people Israel.’ 17#2 Sam. 7:2, 3; 1 Chr. 17:1, 2Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 18But the Lord said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. 19#ch. 5:3, 5; 2 Sam. 7:5, 12, 13Nevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ 20Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, #1 Chr. 28:5, 6as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 21And there I have provided a place for the ark, #ver. 9; Deut. 31:26in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”
Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication
22Then Solomon #ver. 54; 2 Chr. 6:12, 13 stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and #[Ex. 9:33; Ezra 9:5; Isa. 1:15]spread out his hands toward heaven, 23and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, #Ex. 15:11; 2 Sam. 7:22 there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, #See Deut. 7:9keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart; 24you have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. #[See ver. 15 above]You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. 25Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, #See ch. 2:4‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’ 26#2 Sam. 7:25Now therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David my father.
27“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, #2 Chr. 2:6; [Isa. 66:1; Jer. 23:24; Acts 7:49; 17:24]heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! 28Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, 29#ver. 52; [2 Chr. 7:15; Neh. 1:6] that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, #ver. 16; ch. 9:3; Deut. 12:11‘My name shall be there,’ that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. 30And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.
31“If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take #[Ex. 22:11]an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, 32then hear in heaven and act and judge your servants, #Deut. 25:1condemning the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.
33 #
Lev. 26:17; Deut. 28:45 “When your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and #Lev. 26:40; [Neh. 1:9]if they turn again to you and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house, 34then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to their fathers.
35 #
Deut. 11:17; Luke 4:25; [Lev. 26:17; Deut. 28:25] “When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflict them, 36then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when #[Ps. 25:4; 27:11; 86:11] you teach them #1 Sam. 12:23the good way in which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.
37 # [Lev. 26:16, 25, 26; Deut. 28:21, 22, 37, 38, 42, 52; 2 Chr. 20:9] “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemy besieges them in the land at their gates,#8:37 Septuagint, Syriac in any of their cities whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, 38whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart and stretching out his hands toward this house, 39then hear in heaven your dwelling place and forgive and act and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways (#1 Chr. 28:9; Acts 1:24; [1 Sam. 16:7; Jer. 17:10]for you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind), 40that they may fear you #Deut. 12:1all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers.
41“Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name’s sake 42(for they shall hear of your great name #Deut. 3:24; 2 Chr. 6:32and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, 43hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order #ver. 60; [Josh. 4:24] that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and #Ps. 102:15fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.
44“If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to the Lord #[ver. 48]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 maintain their cause.
46“If they sin against you—#Prov. 20:9; Eccles. 7:20; Rom. 3:23; James 3:2; 1 John 1:8, 10 for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive #Lev. 26:34, 44; Deut. 28:36, 64to the land of the enemy, far off or near, 47yet #Lev. 26:40 if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, #Neh. 1:6; Ps. 106:6; Dan. 9:5‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ 48#1 Sam. 7:3; Jer. 29:12-14 if they repent with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you #Dan. 6:10; [ver. 44; Ps. 5:7; Jonah 2:4]toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name, 49then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause 50and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you, and #Ps. 106:46grant them compassion in the sight of those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them 51(#Deut. 9:29; [Neh. 1:10] for they are your people, and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, #Deut. 4:20; Jer. 11:4from the midst of the iron furnace). 52#[ver. 29]Let your eyes be open to the plea of your servant and to the plea of your people Israel, giving ear to them whenever they call to you. 53For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be your heritage, #Ex. 19:5, 6; Deut. 9:26, 29; 14:2as you declared through Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.”
Solomon’s Benediction
54 #
2 Chr. 7:1 Now as Solomon finished offering all this prayer and plea to the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had #[2 Chr. 6:13]knelt with hands outstretched toward heaven. 55And he stood and #ver. 14blessed all the assembly 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. #Josh. 21:45; 23:14Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. 57The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. #[Deut. 31:6; Josh. 1:5; 1 Sam. 12:22]May he not leave us or forsake us, 58that he may #Ps. 119:36incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers. 59Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires, 60that #ver. 43 all the peoples of the earth may know that #Deut. 4:35, 39; [ch. 18:39]the Lord is God; there is no other. 61#2 Kgs. 20:3; [ch. 11:4; 15:3, 14]Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.”
Solomon’s Sacrifices
62 # For ver. 62-66, see 2 Chr. 7:4-10 Then #[Ezra 6:16, 17]the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the Lord. 63Solomon offered as peace offerings to the Lord 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord. 64The same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord, for there he offered the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings, because #See 2 Chr. 4:1the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to receive the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings.
65So Solomon held #ver. 2; Lev. 23:34 the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from #Num. 13:21; 34:8 Lebo-hamath to #Num. 34:5; 2 Kgs. 24:7the Brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days.#8:65 Septuagint; Hebrew 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 homes joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had shown to David his servant and to Israel his people.
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