Chapter 8

The Ark Brought into the Temple

1 aThen 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.

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

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

4 They 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.

5 And 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.

6 Then 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.

7 For 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.

8 But 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.

9 aThere 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.

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

11 so 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

12 aThen 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.”

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

15 He 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 1in 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

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

23 He 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,

24 who 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;

29 athat 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,

32 then 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,

34 then 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,

36 then 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,

38 whatever 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;

39 then 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,

40 that 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,

43 hear 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,

45 then 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;

47 aif 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’;

48 aif 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;

49 then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven Your dwelling place, and maintain their 1cause,

50 and 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),

52 athat 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

54 aWhen 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.

55 And 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 1promised 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,

58 that 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 1cause of His people Israel, 2as each day requires,

60 so 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

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

63 Solomon 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.

64 On 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.

65 So 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.

66 On 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.