1 Kings 8

Chapter 8

The Ark Brought into the Temple

^1aThen Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all ^bthe heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, ^cto bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from ^dthe city of David, which is Zion.

²All the men of Israel assembled themselves to King Solomon at ^athe feast, in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.

³Then all the elders of Israel came, and ^athe priests took up the ark.

⁴They brought up the ark of the Lord and ^athe tent of meeting and all the holy utensils, which were in the tent, and the priests and the Levites brought them up.

⁵And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who were assembled to him, ^awere with him before the ark, sacrificing ¹so many sheep and oxen they could not be counted or numbered.

⁶Then ^athe priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord ^bto its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place, ^cunder the wings of the cherubim.

⁷For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its poles from above.

⁸But ^athe poles were so long that the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; they are there to this day.

^9aThere was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, where ^bthe Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁰It happened that when the priests came from the holy place, ^athe cloud filled the house of the Lord,

¹¹so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.

Solomon Addresses the People

^12aThen Solomon said,

“The Lord has said that ^bHe would dwell in the thick cloud.

¹³“^aI have surely built You a lofty house,

^bA place for Your dwelling forever.”

¹⁴Then the king ¹faced about and ^ablessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing.

¹⁵He said, “^aBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, ^bwho spoke with His mouth to my father David and has fulfilled it with His hand, saying,

¹⁶‘^aSince the day that I brought My people Israel from Egypt, I did not choose a city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house that ^bMy name might be there, but ^cI chose David to be over My people Israel.’

¹⁷“^aNow it was ¹in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

¹⁸“But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Because it was ¹in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it was in your heart.

¹⁹‘^aNevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who ¹will be born to you, he will build the house for My name.’

²⁰“Now the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for ^aI have risen in place of my father David and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord ¹promised, and have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

²¹“There I have set a place for the ark, ^ain which is the covenant of the Lord, which He made with our fathers when He brought them from the land of Egypt.”

The Prayer of Dedication

²²Then ^aSolomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and ^bspread out his hands toward heaven.

²³He said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, ^athere is no God like You in heaven above or on earth beneath, ^bkeeping covenant and showing lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart,

²⁴who have kept with Your servant, my father David, that which You have ¹promised him; indeed, You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand as it is this day.

²⁵“Now therefore, O Lord, the God of Israel, keep with Your servant David my father that which You have ¹promised him, saying, ‘^2aYou shall not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons take heed to their way to walk before Me as you have walked.’

²⁶“Now therefore, O God of Israel, let Your word, I pray, be confirmed ^awhich You have spoken to Your servant, my father David.

²⁷“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, ^aheaven and the ¹highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built!

²⁸“Yet have regard to the ^aprayer of Your servant and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You today;

^29athat Your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, toward ^bthe place of which You have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ to listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place.

³⁰“^aListen to the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, ^bwhen they pray toward this place; hear in heaven Your dwelling place; hear and ^cforgive.

³¹“^aIf a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath, and he comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this house,

³²then hear in heaven and act and judge Your servants, ^acondemning the wicked by bringing his way on his own head and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.

³³“^aWhen Your people Israel are ¹defeated before an enemy, because they have sinned against You, ^bif they turn to You again and confess Your name and pray and make supplication to You in this house,

³⁴then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to their fathers.

³⁵“^aWhen the heavens are shut up and there is no rain, because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name and turn from their sin when You afflict them,

³⁶then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and of Your people Israel, ^aindeed, teach them the good way in which they should walk. And ^bsend rain on Your land, which You have given Your people for an inheritance.

³⁷“^aIf there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight or mildew, locust or grasshopper, if their enemy besieges them in the land of their ¹cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is,

³⁸whatever prayer or supplication is made by any man or by all Your people Israel, ¹each knowing the ²affliction of his own heart, and spreading his ³hands toward this house;

³⁹then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive and act and render to each according to all his ways, ^awhose heart You know, for ^bYou alone know the hearts of all the sons of men,

⁴⁰that they may ¹fear You all the days that they live ²in the land which You have given to our fathers.

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

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

⁴³hear 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 that they may know that ²this house which I have built is called by Your name.

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

⁴⁵then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their ¹cause.

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

^47aif they ¹take thought in the land where they have been taken captive, and repent 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’;

^48aif 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 hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven Your dwelling place, and maintain their ¹cause,

⁵⁰and forgive Your people who have sinned against You and all their transgressions which they have transgressed against You, and ^amake them 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 servant 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 through Moses Your servant, when You brought our fathers forth from Egypt, O Lord ¹God.”

Solomon’s Benediction

^54aWhen Solomon had finished praying this entire prayer and supplication to the Lord, ^bhe arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his ¹hands spread toward heaven.

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

⁵⁶“Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, ^aaccording to all that He ¹promised; ^bnot one word has ²failed of all His good ³promise, which He promised through Moses His servant.

⁵⁷“May the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; ^amay He not leave us or forsake 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 ordinances, which He commanded our fathers.

⁵⁹“And may these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that He may maintain the ¹cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, ²as each day requires,

⁶⁰so ^athat all…