1 Kings 8:1–21

The Dedication of the Temple

8At that time, Solomon assembled the elders of Israel—all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the families^a of the Israelites^b—before King Solomon in Jerusalem, 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^c 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,^d 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^e 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^f the two tablets of stone which Moses had placed there at Horeb, where Yahweh made^g a covenant with the Israelites^h 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 ofⁱ 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,^j 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^k to build a house for the name of Yahweh the God of Israel, ¹⁸but Yahweh said to David my father, ‘Because you desired^l 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^m when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”