1 KingsChapter 8

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¹Then Solomon called together the elders of Israel in Jerusalem. He called all the leaders of the tribes and the heads of the families of Israel. He wanted them to bring up the ark of the LORD's covenant from Zion, the City of David. ²All the men of Israel came together to King Solomon. This was at the feast in the seventh month, the month of Ethanim. ³All the elders of Israel arrived. Then the priests picked up the ark. ⁴They brought up the ark of the LORD and the Tent of Meeting with all its holy things. The priests and the Levites carried them up. ⁵King Solomon and all the people of Israel who had gathered with him stood in front of the ark. They sacrificed so many sheep and oxen that no one could count them. ⁶Then the priests brought the ark of the LORD's covenant to its place. They put it in the inner room of the temple, the Most Holy Place. They set it under the wings of the cherubim. ⁷The cherubim spread their wings over the place where the ark was. They covered the ark and the poles used to carry it. ⁸The poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner room. But they could not be seen from outside the Holy Place. They are still there today. ⁹There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets. Moses had put them there at Horeb. That is where the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt. ¹⁰Then the priests came out of the Holy Place. And the cloud filled the house of the LORD. ¹¹The priests could not stand there to do their work because of the cloud. For the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD. ¹²Then Solomon said, "The LORD has said that he would live in the thick cloud. ¹³I have truly built you a great and lofty house. It is a place for you to live forever." ¹⁴All the people of Israel were standing there. The king turned around and blessed them all. ¹⁵He said, "Praise the LORD, the God of Israel! He has done with his own hand what he promised with his mouth to my father David. He said, ¹⁶'I brought my people Israel out of Egypt. Since that day I have not chosen a city in any tribe of Israel. I have not chosen a place to build a house for my Name to be there. But I have chosen David to rule over my people Israel.' ¹⁷My father David had it in his heart to build a house for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel. ¹⁸But the LORD said to my father David, 'Since you had it in your heart to build a house for my Name, you did well to have this in your heart. ¹⁹But you are not the one who will build it. Your son, your own child, will build the house for my Name.' ²⁰Now the LORD has kept the promise he made. I have become king after my father David. I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the LORD promised. And I have built the house for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel. ²¹I have made a place there for the ark. The ark holds the covenant of the LORD. He made it with our fathers when he brought them out of Egypt." ²²Then Solomon stood in front of the altar of the LORD. All the people of Israel were watching. He spread out his hands toward heaven. ²³He said, "LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below. You keep your covenant of faithful love with your servants. You keep it with those who follow you with all their hearts. ²⁴You have kept your promise to your servant, my father David. You promised it with your mouth. Today you have done it with your hand. ²⁵So now, LORD, God of Israel, keep what you promised your servant, my father David. You said, 'You will always have a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are careful to live before me as you have done.' ²⁶Now, God of Israel, please make your promise come true. It is the promise you made to your servant, my father David. ²⁷But will God really live on the earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot hold you. So this temple I have built surely cannot hold you! ²⁸But LORD my God, please pay attention to my prayer. I am your servant, and I am asking for your help. Please hear my cry. Hear the prayer I am praying to you today. ²⁹May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day. You said about this place, 'My Name will be there.' Then you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. ³⁰Hear your servant and your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, the place where you live. And when you hear, forgive. ³¹Someone may sin against his neighbor. He may have to make a promise that he is not guilty. He may come and swear to it in front of your altar in this temple. ³²Then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants. If one is guilty, bring on his own head what he has done. If one has done right, show that he is not guilty. Reward him for doing what is right. ³³Your people Israel may be beaten by an enemy because they sinned against you. Then they may turn back to you and confess your name. They may pray to you and beg for help in this temple. ³⁴Then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel. Bring them back to the land you gave their fathers. ³⁵The sky may be shut so there is no rain because your people have sinned against you. Then they may pray toward this place and confess your name. They may turn from their sins because you have punished them. ³⁶Then hear from heaven. Forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, so that you may teach them the good way they should live. And send rain on the land you gave your people to keep. ³⁷There may be a famine or a deadly sickness in the land. Crops may be ruined by blight or mildew, or eaten by locusts or grasshoppers. An enemy may surround their cities. Any kind of disaster or sickness may come. ³⁸Then any of your people Israel may pray and ask for help. Each one knows the pain in his own heart. He may spread out his hands toward this temple. ³⁹Then hear from heaven, the place where you live. Forgive and act. Pay back each person for all he has done, since you know his heart. You alone know what is in every human heart. ⁴⁰Then they will fear you as long as they live in the land you gave our fathers. ⁴¹A foreigner who is not one of your people Israel may come from a faraway land. He may come because of your name. ⁴²People will hear about your great name. They will hear about your mighty hand and your powerful arm. A foreigner may come and pray toward this temple. ⁴³Then hear from heaven, the place where you live. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you. Then all the peoples of the earth will know your name. They will fear you, just as your people Israel do. And they will know that this house I built is called by your Name. ⁴⁴Your people may go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them. They may pray to the LORD toward the city you have chosen. They may pray toward the house I have built for your Name. ⁴⁵Then hear their prayer from heaven. Hear them when they ask for help. And stand up for them. ⁴⁶They may sin against you, for there is no one who does not sin. You may become angry with them and hand them over to an enemy. The enemy may take them away as prisoners to his own land, far away or near. ⁴⁷Then they may come to their senses in the land where they were taken. They may turn back to you and beg you for help in the land of their enemies. They may say, 'We have sinned. We have done wrong. We have done evil.' ⁴⁸They may come back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies. They may pray to you toward the land you gave their fathers. They may pray toward the city you have chosen and the house I have built for your Name. ⁴⁹Then hear their prayer from heaven, the place where you live. Hear them when they ask for help. And stand up for them. ⁵⁰Forgive your people who have sinned against you. Forgive all the wrongs they have done against you. Make their enemies feel sorry for them and be kind to them. ⁵¹They are your people. They belong to you. You brought them out of Egypt. It was like a hot furnace for melting iron. ⁵²Keep your eyes open to the prayers of your servant and your people Israel. Listen to them whenever they call to you. ⁵³Lord GOD, you set them apart from all the peoples of the earth to belong to you. You said so through your servant Moses. You said it when you brought our fathers out of Egypt." ⁵⁴Solomon finished praying this whole prayer to the LORD. He had been kneeling in front of the altar of the LORD with his hands spread out toward heaven. Now he got up. ⁵⁵He stood and blessed all the people of Israel in a loud voice. He said, ⁵⁶"Praise the LORD! He has given rest to his people Israel, just as he promised. He made many good promises through his servant Moses. Not one word of them has failed. ⁵⁷May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our fathers. May he never leave us or turn away from us. ⁵⁸May he turn our hearts toward him. Then we will walk in all his ways. We will keep the commands, rules, and laws he gave our fathers. ⁵⁹I have prayed these words to the LORD. May the LORD our God keep them close to him day and night. Then he will stand up for his servant and his people Israel, as each day requires. ⁶⁰Then all the peoples of the earth will know that the LORD is God. There is no other God! ⁶¹So give your hearts fully to the LORD our God, as you are doing today. Live by his rules and keep his commands." ⁶²Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices to the LORD. ⁶³Solomon offered peace offerings to the LORD. He offered 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. In this way the king and all the Israelites set apart the house of the LORD for God. ⁶⁴That same day the king made the middle of the courtyard holy. It was the courtyard in front of the house of the LORD. There he offered the burnt offerings and the grain offerings. He also offered the fat of the peace offerings. He did this because the bronze altar in front of the LORD was too small to hold all these offerings. ⁶⁵So Solomon and all Israel with him held the feast at that time. It was a huge crowd of people. They came from as far as Lebo-hamath and the Brook of Egypt. They celebrated before the LORD our God for seven days, and then seven more days. That was fourteen days in all. ⁶⁶On the fifteenth day Solomon sent the people away. They blessed the king and went home. They were full of joy and glad in their hearts. They were happy for all the good things the LORD had done for his servant David and for his people Israel.