1 Kings 8
8
The Dedication of the Temple
1At that time, Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, and the leaders of the families#Literally “fathers” of the Israelites#Literally “sons/children of Israel” before King Solomon, in order to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh from the city of David, that is, Zion. 2All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon at the festival in the month of Ethnaim, that is, the seventh month. 3All the elders of Israel came, and the priests carried the ark. 4So they brought up the ark of Yahweh and the tent of assembly#Or “meeting” and all of the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. 5King Solomon and all the assembly of Israel who were assembling with him in the presence of the ark were sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted nor numbered because of abundance. 6The priests brought the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place,#Literally “holy of the holiest” under the wings of the cherubim, 7for the cherubim were spreading their wings over the place of the ark. The cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles from above. 8The poles were long, and the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place in front of#Literally “on the face of” the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from the outside, and they are there until this day. 9There was not anything in the ark except#Hebrew “only” the two tablets of stone which Moses had placed there at Horeb, where Yahweh made#Literally “cut” a covenant with the Israelites#Literally “sons/children of Israel” after they went out from the land of Egypt. 10When the priests went out from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of Yahweh. 11The priests were not able to stand to minister because of the presence of#Literally “from the face of” the cloud, for the glory of Yahweh filled the house of Yahweh.
Solomon’s Proclamation to the Assembly of Israel
12Then Solomon said, “Yahweh has said that he would dwell in the very thick cloud. 13I have certainly built a lofty house for you, a place for you to live forever.” 14Then the king turned his face around, and he blessed all of the assembly of Israel. (Now all the assembly of Israel was standing). 15Then he said, “Blessed be Yahweh the God of Israel who has promised with his mouth to David my father and fulfilled by his oath,#Literally “by his hand” saying, 16‘From the day that I brought out my people Israel from Egypt I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a house where my name might be, but I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’ 17David my father desired#Literally “It had been within 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 you desired#Literally “it was within your heart” to build a house for my name, you did well in that it was within your heart. 19However, you will not build the house, but your son who has come from your loins, he shall build the house for my name.’ 20Yahweh has carried out his promise which he had made; I have risen in place of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel as Yahweh promised, and I have built the house for the name of Yahweh the God of Israel. 21I have provided a place there for the ark, in which is the covenant which Yahweh made with our ancestors#Or “fathers” when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”
Solomon’s Prayer to Yahweh
22Then Solomon stood before the altar of Yahweh in the presence of all of the assembly of Israel, and he spread out his hands to the heavens, 23and he said, “O Yahweh, God of Israel, there is no god like you in the heavens above or on the earth beneath, keeping the covenant and the loyal love for your servants who are walking before you with all their heart. 24You have kept for your servant David my father what you promised to him, and you have spoken with your mouth, and with your hand you have fulfilled it this very day. 25So then, O Yahweh, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you promised to him, saying, ‘For you, no man will be cut off from before me who will be sitting on the throne of Israel, if only your sons keep their ways to walk before me just as you have walked before me.’ 26So then, O God of Israel, please let your word be confirmed which you have promised#Or “spoken” to your servant David my father. 27For will God really dwell on the earth? Behold, the heavens and the heaven of heavens could not contain you! How could#Literally “Even that” this house that I have built? 28You must regard the prayer of your servant and his plea! O Yahweh my God, listen to the pleading and to the prayer that your servant is praying before you this day, 29so that your eyes will be open to this house night and day, to the place which you said, ‘My name will be there,’ to hear the prayer that your servant prays toward this place. 30You must listen to the plea of your servant and your people Israel which they pray toward this place; and you must hear from the place where you live, from heaven you must hear and you must forgive. 31If a man sins against his neighbor and he pronounces an oath against him to curse him, and the curse comes before your altar in this house, 32then you shall hear in heaven and you shall act and you shall judge your servant, to declare the wicked guilty by bringing his way upon his head and to declare the righteous innocent#Literally “to declare righteous the righteous” by rewarding him according to his righteousness. 33When your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because#Literally “who” they sinned against you, and when they turn to you and confess your name and pray and beg for mercy from you in this house, 34then you shall hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and you shall bring them back to the ground which you gave to their ancestors.#Or “fathers” 35When you shut up the heavens so there is no rain because they have sinned against you, then they pray to this place and they confess your name and they return from their sin because you punished them, 36then you shall hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and your people Israel, for you will teach them the good way in which they should go, and you will give rain upon your land which you have given to your people as an inheritance. 37If there should be in the land famine or disease, if there should be blight or mildew or locust or caterpillars, if it happens that his enemy lays siege against him in the land of his gates, if any plague or any disease, 38any prayer or any plea which is offered by any person for all of your people Israel, who each knows the infestation of his own heart and spreads out his palms to this house, 39then you shall hear in heaven the place of your dwelling, and you shall forgive and act and give to the man whose heart you know, according to all his ways, for you alone know the heart of all the sons of man. 40Do these things so that they may fear you all the days that they live on the face of the land that you gave to our ancestors.#Or “fathers” 41Also for the foreigner who is not from your people Israel, and he comes from a distant land because of your name, 42(for they shall hear of your great name and your powerful hand and your outstretched arm), and he shall come and pray toward this house, 43you shall hear in heaven, the place of your dwelling, and act according to all that the foreigner calls to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name, to fear you as your people Israel, and to know that your name has been invoked over this house that I have built. 44If your people go out to battle against his enemy in the way that you shall send them and they pray to Yahweh, toward the city which you have chosen and the house which I have built for your name, 45then you shall hear in heaven their prayer and their plea, and you shall vindicate#Literally “their judgment” them.
46“If they sin against you (for there is not a person who does not sin) and you are angry with them and you give them to an enemy and they take them captive to the land of the enemy far or near, 47and then they return their heart in the land where they have been taken captive and they return and plead to you in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned and we did wrong. We acted wickedly,’ 48if they return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive and they pray to you toward their land which you gave to their ancestors,#Or “fathers” the city that you have chosen and the house that you#The Hebrew Masoretic text (Kethib) reads “you have built”;Qere reads “I have built” built for your name, 49then you shall hear in heaven, the place of your dwelling, their prayer and their plea, and you shall vindicate them.#Literally “and you shall do their justice” 50You shall forgive your people who sinned against you, even for all their transgressions which they committed against you. You shall give them compassion before their captors so that they may have compassion on them, 51for they are your people and your inheritance whom you brought from Egypt from the middle of the smelter of iron. 52O, that your eyes may be open to the plea of your servant and to the plea of your people Israel, to listen to them in all things when they call to you. 53For you have separated them for yourself as an inheritance from all the peoples of the earth, as you promised through the hand of Moses your servant when you brought out our ancestors#Or “fathers” from Egypt, my Lord Yahweh!”
Solomon Charges the People Israel
54It happened that when Solomon finished praying to Yahweh all of the prayer and this plea, he got up from before the altar of Yahweh, from kneeling down on his knees with his palms outstretched to heaven. 55He stood and blessed all of the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying, 56“Blessed be Yahweh who gave a resting place to his people Israel. According to all that he promised, not one word has fallen from all of his promises concerning the good which he spoke through the hand of Moses his servant. 57May Yahweh our God be with us as he was with our ancestors,#Or “fathers” and may he not leave us or abandon us, 58to incline our hearts toward him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his judgments which he commanded our ancestors.#Or “fathers” 59Let these my words which I pleaded before Yahweh be near to Yahweh our God, by day and by night, to maintain the justice of his servant and the justice of his people Israel as each day requires#Literally “the word of the day on its day” 60so that all of the people of the earth may know that Yahweh, he is God; there is none other. 61Let your heart be completely with Yahweh our God by walking in his statutes, by keeping his commands as this day.”
The Great Confirming Sacrifice
62Then the king and all of Israel with him offered a sacrifice in the presence of Yahweh. 63Solomon sacrificed the fellowship offerings which he offered to Yahweh: twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep; and the king and all of the Israelites#Literally “sons/children of Israel” dedicated the house of Yahweh. 64On that day the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard before the house of Yahweh because he offered there the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the fellowship offerings because the bronze altar that was in the presence of Yahweh was too small to hold the burnt offerings and the grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings. 65Solomon held the festival at that time and all of Israel with him, a great assembly from Lebo Hamath up to the wadi#A valley that is dry most of the year, but contains a stream during the rainy season of Egypt before Yahweh our God, for seven days and seven days, a total of fourteen days. 66On the eighth day, he sent the people away, and they blessed the king, and they went to their tents rejoicing and in good spirits#Literally “and good of heart” because of all the goodness that Yahweh had shown to David his servant and to Israel his people.
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1 Kings 8
8
Solomon dedicates the temple
1Then Solomon assembled Israel’s elders, all the tribal leaders, and the chiefs of Israel’s clans at Jerusalem to bring up the chest containing the LORD’s covenant from David’s City Zion. 2Everyone in Israel assembled before King Solomon in the seventh month, the month of Ethanim,#8.2 September–October, Tishrei; Ethanim is a month from a Canaanite calendar. during the festival. 3When all of Israel’s elders had arrived, the priests picked up the chest. 4They brought the LORD’s chest, the meeting tent, and all the holy equipment that was in the tent. The priests and the Levites brought them up, 5while King Solomon and the entire Israelite assembly that had joined him before the chest sacrificed countless sheep and oxen. 6The priests brought the chest containing the LORD’s covenant to its designated spot beneath the wings of the winged creatures in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the most holy place. 7The winged creatures spread their wings over the place where the chest rested, covering the chest and its carrying poles. 8The carrying poles were so long that their tips could be seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, though they weren’t visible from outside. They are still there today. 9Nothing was in the chest except the two stone tablets Moses had placed there while at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites after they left Egypt. 10When the priests left the holy place, the cloud filled the LORD’s temple, 11and the priests were unable to carry out their duties due to the cloud because the LORD’s glory filled the LORD’s temple.
12Then Solomon said, “The LORD said that he would live in a dark cloud, 13but I have indeed built you a lofty temple as a place where you can live forever.” 14The king turned around, and while the entire assembly of Israel was standing there, he blessed them, 15saying, “Bless Israel’s God, the LORD, who spoke directly to my father David and now has kept his promise: 16‘From the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt I haven’t selected a city from any Israelite tribe as a site for the building of a temple for my name. But now I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’ 17My father David wanted to build a temple for the name of the LORD, Israel’s God.
18“But the LORD said to my father David, ‘It is very good that you thought to build a temple for my name. 19Nevertheless, you yourself won’t build that temple. Instead, your very own son will build the temple for my name.’ 20The LORD has kept his promise—I have succeeded my father David on Israel’s throne just as the LORD said, and I have built the temple for the name of the LORD, Israel’s God. 21There I’ve placed the chest that contains the covenant that the LORD made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.”
22Solomon stood before the LORD’s altar in front of the entire Israelite assembly and, spreading out his hands toward the sky, 23he said:
LORD God of Israel, there’s no god like you in heaven above or on earth below. You keep the covenant and show loyalty to your servants who walk before you with all their heart. 24This is the covenant you kept with your servant David, my father, which you promised him. Today, you have fulfilled what you promised. 25So now, LORD, Israel’s God, keep what you promised my father David, your servant, when you said to him, “You will never fail to have a successor sitting on Israel’s throne as long as your descendants carefully walk before me just as you walked before me.” 26So now, God of Israel, may your promise to your servant David, my father, come true.
27But how could God possibly live on earth? If heaven, even the highest heaven, can’t contain you, how can this temple that I’ve built contain you? 28LORD my God, listen to your servant’s prayer and request, and hear the cry and prayer that your servant prays to you today. 29Constantly watch over this temple, the place about which you said, “My name will be there,” and listen to the prayer that your servant is praying toward#8.29 Or for, regarding; also used in several verses that follow this place. 30Listen to the request of your servant and your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Listen from your heavenly dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive!
31If someone wrongs another and must make a solemn pledge asserting innocence before your altar in this temple,#8.31 Heb uncertain 32then listen from heaven, act, and decide which of your servants is right. Condemn the guilty party, repaying them for their conduct, but justify the innocent person, repaying them for their righteousness.
33If your people Israel are defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, but then they change their hearts and lives, give thanks to your name, and ask for mercy before you at this temple, 34then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel. Return them to the land you gave their ancestors.
35When the sky holds back its rain because Israel has sinned against you, but they then pray toward this place, give thanks to your name, and turn away from their sin because you have punished them for it,#8.35 Or answered them 36then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the best way for them to follow, and send rain on your land that you gave to your people as an inheritance.
37Whenever there is a famine or plague in the land; or whenever there is blight, mildew, locust, or grasshopper; or whenever someone’s enemy attacks them in their cities;#8.37 LXX one of; MT in the land of their gates or any plague or illness comes; 38whatever prayer or petition is made by any individual or by all of your people Israel—because people will recognize their own pain and spread out their hands toward this temple— 39then listen from heaven where you live. Forgive, act, and repay each person according to all their conduct, because you know their hearts. You alone know the human heart. 40Do this so that they may revere you all the days they live on the land that you gave to our ancestors.
41Listen also to the immigrant who isn’t from your people Israel but who comes from a distant country because of your reputation— 42because they will hear of your great reputation, your great power, and your outstretched arm. When the immigrant comes and prays toward this temple, 43then listen from heaven, where you live, and do everything the immigrant asks. Do this so that all the people of the earth may know your reputation and revere you, as your people Israel do, and recognize that this temple I have built bears your name.
44When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you may send them, and they pray to the LORD toward the city you have chosen and toward this temple that I have built for your name, 45then listen from heaven to their prayer and request and do what is right for them.
46When they sin against you (for there is no one who doesn’t sin) and you become angry with them and hand them over to an enemy who takes them away as prisoners to enemy territory, whether distant or nearby, 47if they change their heart in whatever land they are held captive, changing their lives and begging for your mercy,#8.47 Heb adds in the land they are held captive. saying, “We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly!” 48and if they return to you with all their heart and all their being in the enemy territory where they’ve been taken captive, and pray to you, toward their land, which you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen, and toward the temple I have built for your name, 49then listen to their prayer and request from your heavenly dwelling place. Do what is right for them, 50and forgive your people who have sinned against you. Forgive all their wrong that they have done against you. See to it that those who captured them show them mercy. 51These are your people and your inheritance. You brought them out of Egypt, from the iron furnace.
52Open your eyes to your servant’s request and to the request of your people Israel. Hear them whenever they cry out to you. 53You set them apart from all the earth’s peoples as your own inheritance, LORD, just as you promised through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt.
54As soon as Solomon finished praying and making these requests to the LORD, he got up from before the LORD’s altar, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out to heaven. 55He stood up and blessed the whole Israelite assembly in a loud voice: 56“May the LORD be blessed! He has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. He hasn’t neglected any part of the good promise he made through his servant Moses. 57May the LORD our God be with us, just as he was with our ancestors. May he never leave us or abandon us. 58May he draw our hearts to him to walk in all his ways and observe his commands, his laws, and his judgments that he gave our ancestors. 59And may these words of mine that I have cried out before the LORD remain near to the LORD our God day and night so that he may do right by his servant and his people Israel for each day’s need, 60and so that all the earth’s peoples may know that the LORD is God. There is no other God! 61Now may you be committed to the LORD our God with all your heart by following his laws and observing his commands, just as you are doing right now.”
62Then the king and all Israel with him sacrificed to the LORD. 63Solomon offered well-being sacrifices to the LORD: twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred twenty thousand sheep when the king and all Israel dedicated the LORD’s temple. 64On that day the king made holy the middle of the courtyard in front of the LORD’s temple. He had to offer the entirely burned offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of well-being sacrifices there, because the bronze altar that was in the LORD’s presence was too small to contain the entirely burned offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the well-being sacrifices. 65At that time Solomon, together with all Israel, held a celebration. It was a large assembly from Lebo-hamath to the border of Egypt. They celebrated for seven days and then for another seven days in the presence of the LORD our God: fourteen days in all. 66On the eighth day,#8.66 The second seven-day celebration (see 2 Chron 7:8-9); but contrast LXX. Solomon dismissed the people. They blessed the king and went back to their tents happy and pleased about all the good that the LORD had done for his servant David and for his people Israel.
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