1 Kings 8

1 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers of the sons of Israel, to king Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of the city of David, which is Zion.

Then Solomon summoned before him in Jerusalem the elders of Israel, including all the heads of the tribes and the family leaders of the Israelites. He instructed them to bring up with them the Ark of the Lord's Agreement from Zion, the City of David.

2 And all the men of Israel assembled themselves to king Solomon at the feast, in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.

All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon at the festival which is held in the seventh month, the month of Ethanim.

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

When all the elders of Israel had gathered, the priests picked up the Ark and brought the Ark of the Lord and the Tent of Meeting with all its holy items.

4 And they brought up the ark of Jehovah, and the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; even these the priests and the Levites brought up.

The priests and Levites carried them up.

5 And king Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled to him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted nor numbered for multitude.

In front of the Ark, King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who had gathered there with him sacrificed many, many sheep and bulls—so numerous they couldn't be counted!

6 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah to its place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubim.

Then the priests carried the Ark of the Lord's Agreement to its place in the inner sanctuary of the Temple, the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim.

7 For the cherubim spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and the staves of it above.

The cherubim spread their wings over the place where the Ark was, covering the Ark and its carrying poles.

8 And the staves were so long that the ends of the staves were seen from the holy place before the oracle. But they were not seen outside. And there they are to this day.

The poles were so long that the ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside. They are there to this day.

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

There was nothing in the Ark apart from the two tablets of stone that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the Lord had made an agreement with the Israelites after they came out of the land of Egypt.

10 And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of Jehovah,

When the priests left the Holy Place, the cloud filled the Temple of the Lord.

11 so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud, for the glory of Jehovah filled the house of Jehovah.

Due to the cloud, the priests could not stay there to carry out their service, for the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord's Temple.

12 Then Solomon spoke, Jehovah has said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

Then Solomon said: “Lord, you said that you would live in the thick cloud.

13 I have surely built thee a house of habitation, a place for thee to dwell in forever.

Now I have built for you a majestic Temple, a place where you may live for ever.”

14 And the king turned his face around, and blessed all the assembly of Israel. And all the assembly of Israel stood.

The king turned around to the whole assembly of Israel who were standing there, and blessed them,

15 And he said, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David my father, and has with his hand fulfilled it, saying,

saying, “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who by his own power has fulfilled the promise he made to my father David when he said,

16 Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, that my name might be there, but I chose David to be over my people Israel.

‘Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt I have not chosen any town of the tribes of Israel as the place to build a Temple to honor me. But I have chosen David as king over my people Israel.’

17 Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel.

My father David really wanted to build a Temple to honor the Lord, the God of Israel.

18 But Jehovah said to David my father, Whereas it was in thy heart to build a house for my name, thou did well that it was in thy heart.

But the Lord told my father David, ‘You had the desire to build a Temple to honor me, and it was good that you really wanted to do this.

19 Nevertheless thou shall not build the house, but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house for my name.

But it won't be you who will build this Temple, but your son who is to be born to you—he will build the Temple to honor me.'

20 And Jehovah has established his word that he spoke, for I have risen up in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as Jehovah promised, and have built the house for the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel.

Now the Lord has kept his promise that he made. I have succeeded my father David, and I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised. I have built the Temple to honor the Lord, the God of Israel.

21 And there I have set a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of Jehovah, which he made with our fathers when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

I have provided a place there for the Ark, which contains the agreement of the Lord that he made with our forefathers when he led them out of the land of Egypt.”

22 And Solomon stood before the altar of Jehovah in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven.

Then Solomon stood in front of the altar of the Lord before the whole assembly of Israel and held out his hands toward heaven.

23 And he said, O Jehovah, the God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with thy servants, who walk before thee with all their heart,

He said, “Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below. You keep you agreement of trustworthy love with your servants, those who are totally committed to following you.

24 who have kept with thy servant David my father that which thou did promise him. Yea, thou spoke with thy mouth, and have fulfilled it with thy hand, as it is this day.

You have kept the promise you made to your servant David, my father. You yourself promised, and by your own power you have fulfilled it today.

25 Now therefore, O Jehovah, the God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which thou have promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only thy sons take heed to their way, to walk before me as thou have walked before me.

So now, Lord, God of Israel, please also keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David, when you said: ‘You will never fail to have a descendant sit in my presence on the throne of Israel, as long as they make sure to follow me as you have done.’

26 Now therefore, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spoke to thy servant David my father.

Now, God of Israel, please keep the promise you made to our servant, my father David.

27 But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee. How much less this house that I have built!

But will God really live here on earth? The heavens, even highest heaven, cannot contain you, much less this Temple I have built!

28 Yet have thou respect to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Jehovah my God, to hearken to the cry and to the prayer which thy servant prays before thee this day,

Please hear the prayer of your servant and his request, Lord my God. Please hear the appeals and the prayers that your servant is presenting before you today.

29 that thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place whereof thou have said, My name shall be there, to hearken to the prayer which thy servant shall pray toward this place.

May you watch over this Temple day and night, caring for the place where you said you would be honored. May you hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place,

30 And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place. Yea, hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place, and when thou hear, forgive.

and may you hear the request of your servant and your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Please hear from heaven where you live. May you hear and forgive.

31 If a man sins against his neighbor, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and he comes and swears before thine altar in this house,

When someone sins against another and is required to take an oath before your altar in this Temple,

32 then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his own head, and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

listen from heaven—act and judge your servants. Pay back the guilty; vindicate and reward those who do right.

33 When thy people Israel are smitten down before the enemy because they have sinned against thee, if they turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication to thee in this house,

When your people Israel are defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, and if they come back in repentance to you, praying for forgiveness in this Temple,

34 then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again to the land which thou gave to their fathers.

then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their forefathers.

35 When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain because they have sinned against thee, if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin when thou afflict them,

If the skies are closed shut and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and if they come back in repentance to you, turning away from their sin because you have punished them,

36 then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and send rain upon thy land, which thou have given to thy people for an inheritance.

then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the good way so that they can walk on it, and send rain on the earth that you have given to your people as their possession.

37 If there be famine in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blight, mildew, locust or caterpillar, if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there be,

If there is famine in the land, or disease, or blight or mildew on the crops, or if there are locusts or caterpillars, or if an enemy comes to lay siege to the towns in the land—it can be whatever kind of plague or whatever kind of disease—

38 whatever prayer and supplication be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, who shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house,

then whatever kind of prayer or whatever kind of appeal is made by anyone or all your people Israel, in fact anyone who, knowing their problems and pains, prays toward this Temple,

39 then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place, and forgive, and do, and render to every man according to all his ways, whose heart thou know (for thou, even thou only, know the hearts of all the sons of men),

then hear from heaven, the place where you live, and forgive. Give according to the way they live their lives, for you know what people are really like inside, and you alone know the true character of people.

40 that they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gave to our fathers.

Then they will respect you and follow your ways all the time they live in the land you gave to our forefathers.

41 Moreover concerning the foreigner who is not of thy people Israel, when he shall come out of a far country for thy name's sake

As for the foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel but who come from a distant land,

42 (for they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy mighty hand, and of thine outstretched arm), when he shall come and pray toward this house,

having heard of your great nature and power and ability to help, when they come and pray toward this Temple,

43 hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to thee for, that all the peoples of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as does thy people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.

then hear from heaven, the place where you live, and give them what they're asking. That way, everyone on earth will come to know and respect you, just as your own people Israel do. They will also know that this Temple I have built is dedicated to you.

44 If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way thou shall send them, and they pray to Jehovah toward the city which thou have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name,

When your people go to fight against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to you towards the city you have chosen and the house I have built to honor you,

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

then hear from heaven what they are praying and asking for, and support their cause.

46 If they sin against thee (for there is no man that sins not), and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive to the land of the enemy, afar off or near,

If they sin against you—and there is nobody who does not sin—you may become angry with them and hand them over to an enemy who takes them away as prisoners to a foreign land, near or far away.

47 yet if they shall rethink themselves in the land where they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication to thee in the land of those who carried them captive, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have dealt wickedly,

But if they think again in their land of captivity and repent and plead for mercy from you, saying, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly,’

48 if they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who carried them captive, and pray to thee toward their land, which thou gave to their fathers, the city which thou have chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name,

and they come back to you with complete sincerity in their thoughts and attitudes there in their land of captivity; and they pray towards the land you gave their forefathers, the city you chose, and the Temple I have built to honor you,

49 then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling-place, and maintain their case,

then hear from heaven, the place where you live, respond and support their cause.

50 and forgive thy people who have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions by which they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them

Forgive your people who have sinned against you, all the rebellious acts they have committed against you. Please make those who have captured them show mercy to them.

51 (for they are thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou brought forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron);

For they are your people—they belong to you! You led them out of Egypt, out of the middle of furnace used for smelting iron.

52 that thine eyes may be open to the supplication of thy servant, and to the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken to them whenever they cry to thee.

May you pay attention to the requests of your servant, and to the requests of your people Israel, and may you respond whenever they call out to you.

53 For thou separated them from among all the peoples of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spoke by Moses thy servant when thou brought our fathers out of Egypt, O lord Jehovah.

For you set them apart from all the nations of the world as a people who belonged to you, just as you declared through your servant Moses when you led our fathers out of Egypt.”

54 And it was so, that, when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication to Jehovah, he arose from before the altar of Jehovah, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread forth toward heaven.

After Solomon finished praying all these prayers and requests to the Lord, he stood up before the altar of the Lord, where he had been kneeling with his hands held out toward heaven.

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

Solomon stood, and in a loud voice he blessed the whole assembly of Israel, saying,

56 Blessed be Jehovah, who has given rest to his people Israel according to all that he promised. There has not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by Moses his servant.

“Praise the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel in accordance with everything he promised. Not a single word has failed among all the good promises he made through his servant Moses.

57 Jehovah our God be with us as he was with our fathers. Let him not leave us, nor forsake us,

May the Lord our God be with us in the same way he was with our forefathers. May he never leave us or abandon us.

58 that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his ordinances, which he commanded our fathers.

May he help us to come to him, to follow all his ways and to keep the commandments, statutes, and regulations he ordered our forefathers to observe.

59 And let these my words, with which I have made supplication before Jehovah, be near to Jehovah our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel, as every day shall require,

May these words of mine I have used to make my request in the Lord's presence be before the Lord our God day and night. In that way he may support the cause of his servant and of his people Israel as is needed every day,

60 that all the peoples of the earth may know that Jehovah, he is God; there is none else.

in order that everyone on the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is no other!

61 Let your heart therefore be perfect with Jehovah our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.

So make sure you are completely committed to the Lord our God just as you are today, and be careful to follow his statutes and to keep his commandments.”

62 And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before Jehovah.

Then the king and together with all of Israel offered sacrifices before the Lord.

63 And Solomon offered for the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to Jehovah, twenty-two thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the house of Jehovah.

Solomon presented as friendship offerings to the Lord 22,000 bulls and 120,000 sheep. In this way the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the Lord's Temple.

64 The same day the king hallowed the middle of the court that was before the house of Jehovah, for there he offered the burnt offering, and the meal offering, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the brazen altar that was before Jehovah was too little to receive the burnt offering, and the meal offering, and the fat of the peace offerings.

On that same day, the king dedicated the center of the courtyard in front of the Lord's Temple. There he presented burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of the friendship offerings, since the bronze altar in the Lord's presence was too small to hold all these offerings.

65 So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt, before Jehovah our God, seven days and seven days, even fourteen days.

Then Solomon together with all of Israel observed the festival before the Lord our God for seven days, and then another seven days—fourteen days in all. It was a large assembly of people, who came from as far away as Lebo-hamath to the Wadi of Egypt.

66 On the eighth day he sent the people away. And they blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that Jehovah had shown to David his servant, and to Israel his people.

One day later Solomon sent the people home. They blessed the king and went home, full of joy and happy for all the good things that the Lord had done for his servant David and for his people Israel.