1 Kings 8:54–9:9

SOLOMON’S BLESSING

54 When Solomon finished praying this entire prayer and petition to the Lord, he got up from kneeling before the altar of the Lord, with his hands spread out toward heaven,b 55 and he stood and blessed the whole congregation of Israelc with a loud voice: 56 “Blessed be the Lord! He has given restd to his people Israel according to all he has said. Not one of all the good promises he made through his servant Moses has failed.e 57 May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors. May he not abandon us or leave usf 58 so that he causes us to be devotedA to him,g to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commands, statutes, and ordinances, which he commanded our ancestors. 59 May my words with which I have made my petition before the Lord be near the Lord our God day and night. May he uphold his servant’s cause and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires.h 60 May all the peoples of the earth know that the Lord is God. There is no other!i 61 Be wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord our Godj to walk in his statutes and to keep his commands, as it is today.”

62 The king and all Israel with him were offering sacrifices in the Lord’s presence. 63 Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the Lord: twenty-two thousand cattle and one hundred twenty thousand sheep and goats.k In this manner the king and all the Israelites dedicatedl the Lord’s temple.m

64 On the same day, the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard that was in front of the Lord’s temple because that was where he offered the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat of the fellowship offerings,n since the bronze altar before the Lord was too small to accommodate the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the fellowship offerings.o

65 Solomon and all Israel with him—a great assembly, from the entrance of HamathB,p to the Brook of Egyptq—observed the festival at that timer in the presence of the Lord our God, seven days, and seven more days—fourteen days.C,s 66 On the fifteenth dayD he sent the people away. So they blessed the king and went to their homesE rejoicing and with happy hearts for all the goodness that the Lord had done for his servant David and for his people Israel.t

THE LORD’S RESPONSE

9 When Solomon finished building the temple of the Lord,u the royal palace, and all that Solomon desired to do,v 2 the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time just as he had appeared to him at Gibeon.w 3 The Lord said to him:

I have heard your prayer and petition you have made before me. I have consecrated this temple you have built, to putA my name there forever;x my eyes and my heart will be there at all times.y

4 As for you, if you walk before me as your father David walked, with a heart of integrity and in what is right, doing everything I have commanded you, and if you keep my statutes and ordinances,z 5 I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised your father David: You will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.aa

6 If you or your sons turn away from following me and do not keep my commands—my statutes that I have set before you—and if you go and serve other gods and bow in worship to them,ab 7 I will cut off Israel from the land I gave them,ac and I will rejectB the temple I have sanctified for my name.ad Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples.ae 8 Though this temple is now exalted,C everyone who passes by will be appalled and will scoff.D They will say, “Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?”af 9 Then they will say, “Because they abandoned the Lord their God who brought their ancestors out of the land of Egypt. They held on to other gods and bowed in worship to them and served them. Because of this, the Lord brought all this ruin on them.”a