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
The Ark Brought to the Temple
1Solomon then summoned to Jerusalem the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes—the leaders of the ancestral families of the Israelites. They were to bring the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant to the Temple from its location in the City of David, also known as Zion. 2So all the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon at the annual Festival of Shelters, which is held in early autumn in the month of Ethanim.#8:2 Hebrew at the festival in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. The Festival of Shelters began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This day occurred in late September, October, or early November.
3When all the elders of Israel arrived, the priests picked up the Ark. 4The priests and Levites brought up the Ark of the Lord along with the special tent#8:4 Hebrew the Tent of Meeting; i.e., the tent mentioned in 2 Sam 6:17 and 1 Chr 16:1. and all the sacred items that had been in it. 5There, before the Ark, King Solomon and the entire community of Israel sacrificed so many sheep, goats, and cattle that no one could keep count!
6Then the priests carried the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant into the inner sanctuary of the Temple—the Most Holy Place—and placed it beneath the wings of the cherubim. 7The cherubim spread their wings over the Ark, forming a canopy over the Ark and its carrying poles. 8These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place, which is in front of the Most Holy Place, but not from the outside. They are still there to this day. 9Nothing was in the Ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Mount Sinai,#8:9 Hebrew at Horeb, another name for Sinai. where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel when they left the land of Egypt.
10When the priests came out of the Holy Place, a thick cloud filled the Temple of the Lord. 11The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple of the Lord.
Solomon Praises the Lord
12Then Solomon prayed, “O Lord, you have said that you would live in a thick cloud of darkness. 13Now I have built a glorious Temple for you, a place where you can live forever!#8:13 Some Greek texts add the line Is this not written in the Book of Jashar?”
14Then the king turned around to the entire community of Israel standing before him and gave this blessing: 15“Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who has kept the promise he made to my father, David. For he told my father, 16‘From the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have never chosen a city among any of the tribes of Israel as the place where a Temple should be built to honor my name. But I have chosen David to be king over my people Israel.’”
17Then Solomon said, “My father, David, wanted to build this Temple to honor the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 18But the Lord told him, ‘You wanted to build the Temple to honor my name. Your intention is good, 19but you are not the one to do it. One of your own sons will build the Temple to honor me.’
20“And now the Lord has fulfilled the promise he made, for I have become king in my father’s place, and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised. I have built this Temple to honor the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 21And I have prepared a place there for the Ark, which contains the covenant that the Lord made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.”
Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication
22Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire community of Israel. He lifted his hands toward heaven, 23and he prayed,
“O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in all of heaven above or on the earth below. You keep your covenant and show unfailing love to all who walk before you in wholehearted devotion. 24You have kept your promise to your servant David, my father. You made that promise with your own mouth, and with your own hands you have fulfilled it today.
25“And now, O Lord, God of Israel, carry out the additional promise you made to your servant David, my father. For you said to him, ‘If your descendants guard their behavior and faithfully follow me as you have done, one of them will always sit on the throne of Israel.’ 26Now, O God of Israel, fulfill this promise to your servant David, my father.
27“But will God really live on earth? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this Temple I have built! 28Nevertheless, listen to my prayer and my plea, O Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is making to you today. 29May you watch over this Temple night and day, this place where you have said, ‘My name will be there.’ May you always hear the prayers I make toward this place. 30May you hear the humble and earnest requests from me and your people Israel when we pray toward this place. Yes, hear us from heaven where you live, and when you hear, forgive.
31“If someone wrongs another person and is required to take an oath of innocence in front of your altar in this Temple, 32then hear from heaven and judge between your servants—the accuser and the accused. Punish the guilty as they deserve. Acquit the innocent because of their innocence.
33“If your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you, and if they turn to you and acknowledge your name and pray to you here in this Temple, 34then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and return them to this land you gave their ancestors.
35“If the skies are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and if they pray toward this Temple and acknowledge your name and turn from their sins because you have punished them, 36then hear from heaven and forgive the sins of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them to follow the right path, and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as their special possession.
37“If there is a famine in the land or a plague or crop disease or attacks of locusts or caterpillars, or if your people’s enemies are in the land besieging their towns—whatever disaster or disease there is— 38and if your people Israel pray about their troubles, raising their hands toward this Temple, 39then hear from heaven where you live, and forgive. Give your people what their actions deserve, for you alone know each human heart. 40Then they will fear you as long as they live in the land you gave to our ancestors.
41“In the future, foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel will hear of you. They will come from distant lands because of your name, 42for they will hear of your great name and your strong hand and your powerful arm. And when they pray toward this Temple, 43then hear from heaven where you live, and grant what they ask of you. In this way, all the people of the earth will come to know and fear you, just as your own people Israel do. They, too, will know that this Temple I have built honors your name.
44“If your people go out where you send them to fight their enemies, and if they pray to the Lord by turning toward this city you have chosen and toward this Temple I have built to honor your name, 45then hear their prayers from heaven and uphold their cause.
46“If they sin against you—and who has never sinned?—you might become angry with them and let their enemies conquer them and take them captive to their land far away or near. 47But in that land of exile, they might turn to you in repentance and pray, ‘We have sinned, done evil, and acted wickedly.’ 48If they turn to you with their whole heart and soul in the land of their enemies and pray toward the land you gave to their ancestors—toward this city you have chosen, and toward this Temple I have built to honor your name— 49then hear their prayers and their petition from heaven where you live, and uphold their cause. 50Forgive your people who have sinned against you. Forgive all the offenses they have committed against you. Make their captors merciful to them, 51for they are your people—your special possession—whom you brought out of the iron-smelting furnace of Egypt.
52“May your eyes be open to my requests and to the requests of your people Israel. May you hear and answer them whenever they cry out to you. 53For when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, O Sovereign Lord, you told your servant Moses that you had set Israel apart from all the nations of the earth to be your own special possession.”
The Dedication of the Temple
54When Solomon finished making these prayers and petitions to the Lord, he stood up in front of the altar of the Lord, where he had been kneeling with his hands raised toward heaven. 55He stood and in a loud voice blessed the entire congregation of Israel:
56“Praise the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the wonderful promises he gave 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 give us the desire to do his will in everything and to obey all the commands, decrees, and regulations that he gave our ancestors. 59And may these words that I have prayed in the presence of the Lord be before him constantly, day and night, so that the Lord our God may give justice to me and to his people Israel, according to each day’s needs. 60Then people all over the earth will know that the Lord alone is God and there is no other. 61And may you be completely faithful to the Lord our God. May you always obey his decrees and commands, just as you are doing today.”
62Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices to the Lord. 63Solomon offered to the Lord a peace offering of 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats. And so the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the Temple of the Lord.
64That same day the king consecrated the central area of the courtyard in front of the Lord’s Temple. He offered burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of peace offerings there, because the bronze altar in the Lord’s presence was too small to hold all the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.
65Then Solomon and all Israel celebrated the Festival of Shelters#8:65a Hebrew the festival; see note on 8:2. in the presence of the Lord our God. A large congregation had gathered from as far away as Lebo-hamath in the north and the Brook of Egypt in the south. The celebration went on for fourteen days in all—seven days for the dedication of the altar and seven days for the Festival of Shelters.#8:65b Hebrew seven days and seven days, fourteen days; compare parallel text at 2 Chr 7:8-10. 66After the festival was over,#8:66 Hebrew On the eighth day, probably referring to the day following the seven-day Festival of Shelters; compare parallel text at 2 Chr 7:9-10. Solomon sent the people home. They blessed the king and went to their homes joyful and glad because the Lord had been good to his servant David and to his people Israel.
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