CHAPTER 8
At that time
Solomon
assembled
before
him
in Jerusalem
the elders
of Israel—
all
the tribal
heads
and family leaders
of the Israelites—
to bring up
the ark
of the covenant
of the LORD
from Zion,
the City
of David.
And all
the men
of Israel
came together
to
King
Solomon
at the feast
in the seventh
month,
the month
of Ethanim.
and they brought up
the ark
of the LORD
and
the Tent
of Meeting
with
all
its
sacred
furnishings.
So the priests
and Levites
carried them up.
There, before
the ark,
King
Solomon
and all
the congregation
of Israel
who had assembled
with him
sacrificed
so many
sheep
and oxen
that
they could not
be counted
or numbered.
Then the priests
brought
the ark
of the covenant
of the LORD
to
its place
in
the inner sanctuary
of the temple,
the Most Holy Place,
beneath
the wings
of the cherubim.
For
the cherubim
spread
their wings
over
the place
of the ark
and overshadowed
the ark
and
its poles.
The poles
were so long
that their
ends
could be seen
from
the Holy Place
in
front
of the inner sanctuary,
but not
from outside the Holy Place;
and they are
there
to
this
day.
There was nothing
in the ark
except
the two
stone
tablets
that
Moses
had placed
in it
at Horeb,
where
the LORD
had made a covenant
with
the Israelites
after they had come out
of the land
of Egypt.
so that the priests
could
not
stand there
to minister
because
of the cloud;
for
the glory
of the LORD
filled
the house
of the LORD.
and said:
“Blessed be
the LORD,
the God
of Israel,
who
has fulfilled
with His own hand
what He spoke
with His mouth
to
my father
David,
saying,
‘Since
the day
I brought My people
Israel
out
of Egypt,
I have not
chosen
a city
from any
tribe
of Israel
in which to build
a house
so that My Name
would be
there.
But I have chosen
David
to be
over
My people
Israel.'
Now it was
in
the heart
of my father
David
to build
a house
for the Name
of the LORD,
the God
of Israel.
But the LORD
said
to
my father
David,
‘Since
it was
in your heart
to build
a house
for My Name,
you have done well
to have this
in
your heart.
Nevertheless,
you
are not
the one to build it;
but
your son,
your own offspring,
will build
the house
for My Name.’
Now the LORD
has fulfilled
the word
that
He spoke.
I have succeeded
my father
David,
and I sit
on
the throne
of Israel,
as
the LORD
promised.
I have built
the house
for the Name
of the LORD,
the God
of Israel.
And there I have provided
a place
for the ark,
which contains
the covenant
of the LORD
that
He made
with
our fathers
when He brought them out
of the land
of Egypt.”
Then Solomon
stood
before
the altar
of the LORD
in front of
the whole
assembly
of Israel,
spread out
his hands
toward heaven,
and said:
“O LORD,
God
of Israel,
there is no
God
like You
in heaven
above
or on
earth
below,
keeping
Your covenant
of loving devotion
with Your servants
who walk
before You
with all
their hearts.
You have kept
Your promise
to Your servant,
my father
David.
What You spoke
with Your mouth
You have fulfilled
with Your hand
this
day.
Therefore now,
O LORD,
God
of Israel,
keep
for Your servant,
my father
David,
what
You promised
when You said:
‘You will never
fail
to have a man
to sit
before Me
on
the throne
of Israel,
if
only
your descendants
guard
their way
to walk
before Me
as
you have done.'
But
will God
indeed
dwell
upon
the earth?
Even
heaven,
the highest heaven,
cannot
contain You,
much less
this
temple
I have built.
Yet regard
the prayer
and
plea
of Your servant,
O LORD
my God,
so that You may hear
the cry
and the prayer
that
Your servant
is praying
before You
today.
May Your eyes
be
open
toward
this
temple
night
and day,
toward
the place
of which
You said,
‘My Name
shall be
there,’
so that You may hear
the prayer
that
Your servant
prays
toward
this
place.
Hear
the plea
of Your servant
and of Your people
Israel
when
they pray
toward
this
place.
May You
hear
from
heaven,
Your dwelling
place.
May You hear
and forgive.
When
a man
sins
against his neighbor
and is required
to take an oath,
and he comes
to take an oath
before
Your altar
in this
temple,
may You
hear
from heaven
and act.
May You judge
Your servants,
condemning
the wicked man
by bringing
down on his own head
what he has done,
and justifying
the righteous man
by rewarding
him
according to his righteousness.
When Your people
Israel
are defeated
before
an enemy
because
they have sinned against You,
and they return
to You
and confess
Your name,
praying
and pleading
with You
in this
house,
may You
hear
from heaven
and forgive
the sin
of Your people
Israel.
May You restore
them to
the land
You gave
to their fathers.
When the skies
are shut
and there is
no
rain
because
Your people have sinned
against You,
and they pray
toward
this
place
and confess
Your name,
and they turn
from their sins
because
You have afflicted them,
may You
hear
from heaven
and forgive
the sin
of Your servants,
Your people
Israel,
so that
You may teach them
the good
way
in which
they should walk.
May You send
rain
on
the land
that
You gave
Your people
as an inheritance.
When
famine
or
pestilence
comes
upon the land,
or
blight
or mildew
or locusts
or grasshoppers,
when
their enemy
besieges
them
in
their cities,
whatever
plague
or
sickness there is,
may whatever
prayer
or petition
Your people
Israel
make—
each
knowing
his own
afflictions
and spreading out
his hands
toward
this
house—
be heard
by You
from heaven,
Your dwelling
place.
And may You forgive
and act,
and repay
each man
according to all
his ways,
since
You know
his heart—
for
You
alone
know
the hearts
of all
men—
And
as for
the foreigner
who
is not
of Your people
Israel
but has come
from a distant
land
because of
Your name—
for
they will hear
of Your great
name
and mighty
hand
and outstretched
arm—
when he comes
and prays
toward
this
house,
may You
hear
from heaven,
Your dwelling
place,
and do
according to all
for which
the foreigner
calls
to You.
Then
all
the peoples
of the earth
will know
Your name
and fear
You,
as do Your people
Israel,
and they will know
that
this
house
I have built
is called
by Your Name.
When
Your people
go
to war
against
their enemies,
wherever
You send them,
and when they pray
to
the LORD
in the direction
of the city
You have chosen
and the house
I have built
for Your Name,
When
they sin
against You—
for
there is no
one
who
does not
sin—
and You become angry
with them
and deliver them
to
an enemy
who takes them
as captives
to
his own
land,
whether far
or
near,
and when they come
to
their senses
in the land
to which
they were taken,
and they repent
and plead
with You
in the land
of their captors,
saying,
‘We have sinned
and done wrong;
we have acted wickedly,’
and when they return
to You
with all
their heart
and
soul
in the land
of the enemies
who
took them captive,
and when they pray
to You
in the direction
of the land
that
You gave
to their fathers,
the city
You have chosen,
and the house
I have built
for Your Name,
then may You hear
from heaven,
Your dwelling
place,
their prayer
and petition,
and may You uphold
their cause.
May You forgive
Your people
who
have sinned
against You
and all
the transgressions
they have committed
against You,
and may You grant them
compassion
in the eyes
of their captors
to show them mercy.
For
they
are Your people
and Your inheritance;
You brought them
out
of Egypt,
out
of the furnace
for iron.
May Your eyes
be
open
to
the pleas
of Your servant
and
of
Your people
Israel,
and may You listen
to them
whenever
they call
to You.
For
You,
O Lord
GOD,
as Your inheritance,
have set them apart
from all
the peoples
of the earth,
as
You spoke
through
Your servant
Moses
when You brought
our fathers
out of Egypt.”
Now when
Solomon
finished
praying
this
entire
prayer
and petition
to
the LORD,
he got up
before
the altar
of the LORD,
where he had been kneeling
with his hands
spread out
toward heaven.
“Blessed be
the LORD,
who
has given
rest
to His people
Israel
according to all
that
He promised.
Not
one
word
has failed
of all
the good
promises
He made
through
His servant
Moses.
May the LORD
our God
be
with us,
as
He was
with
our fathers.
May He never
leave us
or
forsake us.
May He incline
our hearts
to Himself,
to walk
in all
His ways
and to keep
the commandments
and statutes
and ordinances
He commanded
our fathers.
And may
these
words
with which
I have made my petition
before
the LORD
be near
to the LORD
our God
day
and night,
so that He may uphold
the cause
of His servant
and
of His people
Israel
as each day
requires,
So let your heart
be
fully devoted
to
the LORD
our God,
as it is
this day,
to walk
in His statutes
and to keep
His commandments.”
And Solomon
offered as
peace offerings
to the LORD
22,000
oxen
and 120,000
sheep.
So the king
and all
the Israelites
dedicated
the house
of the LORD.
On that same
day,
the king
consecrated
the middle
of the courtyard
in front
of the house
of the LORD,
and
there
he offered
the burnt offerings,
the grain offerings,
and the fat
of the peace offerings,
since
the bronze
altar
before
the LORD
was too small
to contain
all these offerings.
So at that
time
Solomon
and all
Israel
with him—
a great
assembly of people
from Lebo-hamath
to
the Brook
of Egypt—
observed
the feast
before
the LORD
our God
for seven
days
and seven more
days—
fourteen
days in all.
On the fifteenth
day
Solomon sent the people
away.
So they blessed
the king
and went
home,
joyful
and glad
in heart
for
all
the good things
that
the LORD
had done
for His servant
David
and for His people
Israel.