1 Kings 8:12–21

¹²Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud;^{g 13}I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell^h forever.”

¹⁴While the whole assembly of Israel was standing there, the king turned around and blessedⁱ them. ¹⁵Then he said:

“Praise be to the Lord,^j the God of Israel, who with his own hand has fulfilled what he promised with his own mouth to my father David. For he said, ¹⁶‘Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt,^k I have not chosen a city in any tribe of Israel to have a temple built so that my Name^l might be there, but I have chosen^m Davidⁿ to rule my people Israel.’

¹⁷“My father David had it in his heart^o to build a temple^p for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁸But the Lord said to my father David, ‘You did well to have it in your heart to build a temple for my Name. ¹⁹Nevertheless, you^q are not the one to build the temple, but your son, your own flesh and blood—he is the one who will build the temple for my Name.’^r

²⁰“The Lord has kept the promise he made: I have succeeded^s David my father and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and I have built^t the temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ²¹I have provided a place there for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.”