1 Kings 8:41–66

⁴¹“Moreover, concerning a foreigner, who is not of Your people Israel, but has come from a far country for Your name’s sake ⁴²(for they will hear of Your great name and Your ^dstrong hand and Your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this temple, ⁴³hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, ^ethat all peoples of the earth may know Your name and ^ffear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this temple which I have built is called by Your name.

⁴⁴“When Your people go out to battle against their enemy, wherever You send them, and when they pray to the Lord toward the city which You have chosen and the temple which I have built for Your name, ⁴⁵then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their ⁸cause.

⁴⁶“When they sin against You ^g(for there is no one who does not sin), and You become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them captive ^hto the land of the enemy, far or near; ⁴⁷ⁱyet when they ⁹come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to You in the land of those who took them captive, ^jsaying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong, we have committed wickedness’; ⁴⁸and when they ^kreturn to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who led them away captive, and ^lpray to You toward their land which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen and the temple which I have built for Your name: ⁴⁹then hear in heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their ¹cause, ⁵⁰and forgive Your people who have sinned against You, and all their transgressions which they have transgressed against You; and ^mgrant them compassion before those who took them captive, that they may have compassion on them ⁵¹(for ⁿthey are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out of Egypt, ^oout of the iron furnace), ^52pthat Your eyes may be open to the supplication of Your servant and the supplication of Your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call to You. ⁵³For You separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be Your inheritance, ^qas You spoke by Your servant Moses, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.”

Solomon Blesses the Assembly

^54rAnd so it was, when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, that he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. ⁵⁵Then he stood ^sand blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying: ⁵⁶“Blessed be the Lord, who has given ^trest ²to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. ^uThere has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses. ⁵⁷May the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers. ^vMay He not leave us nor forsake us, ⁵⁸that He may ^wincline 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. ⁵⁹And may these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near the Lord our God day and night, that He may maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, as each day may require, ^60xthat all the peoples of the earth may know that ^ythe Lord is God; there is no other. ⁶¹Let your ^zheart therefore be ³loyal to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and keep His commandments, as at this day.”

Solomon Dedicates the Temple

⁶²Then ^athe king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord. ⁶³And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to the Lord, twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord. ⁶⁴On ^bthe same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the house of the Lord; for there he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the ^cbronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to receive the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.

⁶⁵At that time Solomon held ^da feast, and all Israel with him, a great assembly from ^ethe entrance of Hamath to ^fthe Brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God, ^gseven days and seven more days—fourteen days. ^66hOn the eighth day he sent the people away; and they ⁴blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the good that the Lord had done for His servant David, and for Israel His people.