1 Kings 8:41–66

⁴¹“Also concerning the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel, if he comes from a far country for Your name’s sake

⁴²(for they will hear of Your great name ^aand Your strong hand, and of Your outstretched arm); so if he comes and prays toward this house,

⁴³listen in heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, in order ^athat all the peoples of the earth may know Your name to ¹fear You, as do Your people Israel, and to know that Your name is called upon this house which I have built.

⁴⁴“When Your people go out to battle against ¹their enemy, by whatever way You shall send them, and ^athey pray to Yahweh ²toward the city which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your name,

⁴⁵then listen in heaven to their prayer and their supplication, and do justice.

⁴⁶“When they sin against You (for ^athere is no man who does not sin) and You are angry with them and give them over to an enemy, so that ¹they take them away captive ^bto the land of the enemy, far off or near;

^47aand if they cause these things to return to their heart in the land where they have been taken captive, and ¹return and make supplication to You in the land of those who have taken them captive, saying, ‘^bWe have sinned and have committed iniquity, we have acted wickedly’;

^48aand if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, and ^bpray to You toward their land which You have given to their fathers, the city which You have chosen, and the house which I have built for Your name;

⁴⁹then listen in heaven Your dwelling place to their prayer and their supplication, and do justice for them,

⁵⁰and forgive Your people who have sinned against You and all their transgressions which they have transgressed against You, and ^agive them over as objects of compassion before those who have taken them captive, that they may have compassion on them

⁵¹(^afor they are Your people and Your inheritance which You have brought forth from Egypt, ^bfrom the midst of the iron furnace),

^52athat Your eyes may be open to the supplication of Your slave and to the supplication of Your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call to You.

⁵³“For You have separated them from all the peoples of the earth as Your inheritance, ^aas You spoke by the hand of Moses Your ¹servant, when You brought our fathers forth from Egypt, O Lord Yahweh.”

Solomon Blesses Yahweh

^54aNow it happened that when Solomon had ¹finished praying this entire prayer and supplication to Yahweh, ^bhe arose from before the altar of Yahweh, from kneeling on his knees with his ²hands spread toward heaven.

⁵⁵And he stood and ^ablessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying:

⁵⁶“Blessed be Yahweh, who has given rest to His people Israel, ^aaccording to all that He ¹promised; ^bnot one promise has ²failed of all His good ³promises, which He ⁴promised by the hand of Moses His ⁵servant.

⁵⁷“May Yahweh our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; ^amay He not forsake us or abandon us,

⁵⁸that ^aHe may incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, which He commanded our fathers.

⁵⁹“And may these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before Yahweh, be near to Yahweh our God day and night, that He may do justice for His slave and justice for His people Israel, ¹as each day requires,

⁶⁰so ^athat all the peoples of the earth may know that ^bYahweh is God; there is no one else.

⁶¹“^aLet your heart therefore be ¹wholly devoted to Yahweh our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as at this day.”

The Offering for the House of Yahweh

^62aNow the king and all Israel with him were ^boffering sacrifices before Yahweh.

⁶³And Solomon offered for the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to Yahweh, 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. ^aSo the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the house of Yahweh.

⁶⁴On the same day the king set apart as holy the middle of the court that was before the house of Yahweh, because there he ¹offered the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat of the peace offerings; for ^athe bronze altar that was before Yahweh was too small to hold the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat of the peace offerings.

⁶⁵So ^aSolomon celebrated the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly ^bfrom ¹Lebo-hamath ^cto the brook of Egypt, before Yahweh our God, for seven days and seven more days, even fourteen days.

⁶⁶On the eighth day he sent the people away and they blessed the king. Then they went to their tents with gladness and goodness of heart because of all the goodness that Yahweh had shown to David His ¹servant and to Israel His people.