1 Kings 8:41–66

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 the peoples of the earth may know that ^bthe Lord is God; there is no one else.

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

Dedicatory Sacrifices

^62aNow the king and all Israel with him ^boffered sacrifice before the Lord.

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

⁶⁴On the same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord, 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 the Lord was too small to hold the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat of the peace offerings.

⁶⁵So ^aSolomon observed the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly ^bfrom the entrance of Hamath ^cto the brook of Egypt, before the Lord 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 joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had ¹shown to David His servant and to Israel His people.