1 Kings 8:41–66

⁴¹“People will hear about your great name, 

mighty hand, and powerful arm.^c

So when people who are not Israelites 

come from distant countries because of your name 

⁴²to pray facing this temple, 

⁴³hear ⸤them⸥ in heaven, the place where you live. 

Do everything they ask you 

so that all the people of the world may know your name 

and fear you like your people Israel 

and learn also that this temple which I built bears your name. 

⁴⁴“When your people go to war against their enemies 

(wherever you may send them) 

and they pray to you, O Lord, toward the city you have chosen 

and the temple I built for your name, 

⁴⁵then hear their prayer for mercy in heaven, 

and do what is right ⸤for them⸥. 

⁴⁶“They may sin against you. 

(No one is sinless.) 

You may become angry with them and hand them over to an enemy 

who takes them to ⸤another⸥ country as captives, 

⸤whether it is⸥ far or near. 

⁴⁷If they come to their senses, 

are sorry for what they’ve done, 

and plead with you in the land where they are captives, 

saying, ‘We have sinned. We have done wrong. 

We have been wicked,’ 

⁴⁸if they change their attitude toward you 

in the land of their enemies where they are captives, 

if they pray to you 

toward the land that you gave their ancestors, 

and the city you have chosen, 

and the temple I have built for your name, 

⁴⁹then in heaven, the place where you live, hear their prayer for mercy. 

Do what is right for them. 

⁵⁰Forgive your people, who have sinned against you. 

⸤Forgive⸥ all their wrongs when they rebelled against you, 

and cause those who captured them to have mercy on them 

⁵¹because they are your own people 

whom you brought out of Egypt 

from the middle of an iron smelter. 

⁵²“May your eyes always see my plea and your people Israel’s plea 

so that you will listen to them whenever they call on you. 

⁵³After all, you, Lord God, set them apart from all the people of the world 

to be your own as you promised through your servant Moses 

when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt.” 

Solomon Blesses the People

⁵⁴When Solomon finished praying this prayer for mercy to the Lord, he stood in front of the Lord’s altar, where he had been kneeling with his hands stretched out toward heaven. ⁵⁵Then he stood and in a loud voice blessed the entire assembly of Israel, ⁵⁶“Thanks be to the Lord! He has given his people Israel rest, as he had promised. None of the good promises he made through his servant Moses has failed to come true. ⁵⁷May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors. May he never leave us or abandon us. ⁵⁸May he bend our hearts toward him. Then we will follow him and keep his commands, laws, and rules, which he commanded our ancestors ⸤to keep⸥. ⁵⁹May these words which I have prayed to the Lord be near the Lord our God day and night. Then he will give me and his people Israel justice every day as it is needed. ⁶⁰In this way all the people of the world will know that the Lord is God and there is no other ⸤god⸥. ⁶¹May your hearts be committed to the Lord our God. Then you will live by his laws and keep his commands as you have today.” 

Solomon Offers Sacrifices—2 Chronicles 7:4–10

⁶²Then the king and all Israel offered sacrifices to the Lord. ⁶³Solomon sacrificed 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep as fellowship offerings to the Lord. So the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the Lord’s temple. 

⁶⁴On that day the king designated the courtyard in front of the Lord’s temple as a holy place. He sacrificed the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat from the fellowship offerings because the bronze altar in front of the Lord was too small to hold all of them. 

⁶⁵At that time Solomon and all Israel celebrated the Festival ⸤of Booths⸥. A large crowd had come from ⸤the territory between⸥ the border of Hamath and the River of Egypt to be near the Lord our God for seven days.^d66On the eighth day he dismissed the people. They blessed the king and went to their tents. They rejoiced with cheerful hearts for all the blessings the Lord had given his servant David and his people Israel.