1 Kings 8

1 At that time Solomon assembled before him in Jerusalem the elders of Israel—all the tribal heads and family leaders of the Israelites—to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Zion, the City of David.

Then did Solomon assemble the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the divisions of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion.

2 And all the men of Israel came together to King Solomon at the feast in the seventh month, the month of Ethanim.

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

3 When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark,

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

4 and they brought up the ark of the LORD and the Tent of Meeting with all its sacred furnishings. So the priests and Levites carried them up.

And they brought up the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle: even these did the priests and the Levites bring up.

5 There, before the ark, King Solomon and the whole congregation of Israel who had assembled with him sacrificed so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.

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

6 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, beneath the wings of the cherubim.

And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto its place, into the debir of the house, into the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubim.

7 For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed the ark and its poles.

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

8 The poles extended far enough that their ends were visible from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are there to this day.

And they had made the staves so long, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place in the front of the debir, but they were not seen without; and they have remained there until this day.

9 There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the LORD had made a covenant with the Israelites after they had come out of the land of Egypt.

There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses had placed therein at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

10 And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the house of the LORD

And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord:

11 so that the priests could not stand there to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.

And the priests were not able to stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.

12 Then Solomon declared: “The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud.

Then said Solomon, The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

13 I have indeed built You an exalted house, a place for You to dwell forever.”

I have indeed built a dwelling-house for thee, a settled place for thy abode for ever.

14 And as the whole assembly of Israel stood there, the king turned around and blessed them all

And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation of Israel; and all the congregation of Israel was standing;

15 and said: “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who has fulfilled with His own hand what He spoke with His mouth to my father David, saying,

And he said, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it, when he said,

16 ‘Since the day I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house so that My Name would be there. But I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’

Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I did not make choice of any city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, that my name might be therein; but I made choice of David to be over my people Israel.

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

And it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

18 But the LORD said to my father David, ‘Since it was in your heart to build a house for My Name, you have done well to have this in your heart.

But the Lord said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thy heart to build a house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thy heart:

19 Nevertheless, you are not the one to build it; but your son, your own offspring, will build the house for My Name.’

Nevertheless, thou shalt not thyself build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name.

20 Now the LORD has fulfilled the word that He spoke. I have succeeded my father David, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised. I have built the house for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

And the Lord hath fulfilled his word that he hath spoken: and I am risen up in the room of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord hath spoken, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord the God of Israel.

21 And there I have provided a place for the ark, which contains the covenant of the LORD that He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

And I have assigned there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt.

22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven,

And Solomon now placed himself before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven;

23 and said: “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth below, keeping Your covenant of loving devotion with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts.

And he said, O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no god like thee, in the heavens above, and on the earth beneath, thou who keepest the covenant and the kindness for thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart;

24 You have kept Your promise to Your servant, my father David. What You spoke with Your mouth You have fulfilled with Your hand this day.

Who hast kept for thy servant David my father what thou hadst promised him; and thou spokest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thy hand, as it is this day.

25 Therefore now, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for Your servant, my father David, what You promised when You said: ‘You will never fail to have a man to sit before Me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants guard their way to walk before Me as you have done.’

And now, O Lord, the God of Israel, keep for thy servant David my father what thou hast spoken concerning him, saying, There shall never fail thee a man in my sight who sitteth on the throne of Israel; if thy children but take heed to their way to walk before me, as thou hast walked before me.

26 And now, O God of Israel, please confirm what You promised to Your servant, my father David.

And now, O God of Israel, I pray thee, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David my father.

27 But will God indeed dwell upon the earth? Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.

For in truth will God then dwell on the earth? behold, the heavens and the heavens of heavens cannot contain thee: how much less then this house that I have built!

28 Yet regard the prayer and plea of Your servant, O LORD my God, so that You may hear the cry and the prayer that Your servant is praying before You today.

Yet wilt thou turn thy regard unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to listen unto the entreaty and unto the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee today;

29 May Your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place.

That thy eyes may be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there; that thou mayest listen unto the prayer which thy servant shall pray at this place.

30 Hear the plea of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. May You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place. May You hear and forgive.

And listen thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they will pray at this place: and oh, do thou hear in heaven thy dwelling-place; and hear, and forgive.

31 When a man sins against his neighbor and is required to take an oath, and he comes to take an oath before Your altar in this temple,

If any man trespass against his neighbor, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thy altar in this house:

32 then may You hear from heaven and act. May You judge Your servants, condemning the wicked man by bringing down on his own head what he has done, and justifying the righteous man by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

Then do thou hear in heaven, and act, and judge thy servants, by condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and by justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

33 When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and they return to You and confess Your name, praying and pleading with You in this temple,

When thy people Israel are struck down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and they return then to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house:

34 then may You hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel. May You restore them to the land You gave to their fathers.

Then do thou hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and cause them to return unto the land which thou hast given unto their fathers.

35 When the skies are shut and there is no rain because Your people have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and they turn from their sins because You have afflicted them,

When the heavens be shut up, and there be no rain, because they have sinned against thee, and they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, because thou hast afflicted them:

36 then may You hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, so that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk. May You send rain on the land that You gave Your people as an inheritance.

Then do thou hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel; for thou wilt teach them the good way wherein they should walk; and give then rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.

37 When famine or plague comes upon the land, or blight or mildew or locusts or grasshoppers, or when their enemy besieges them in their cities, whatever plague or sickness may come,

If there be a famine in the land, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, or if there be locust, caterpillar, if their enemy besiege them in the land of their gates; at whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness;

38 then may whatever prayer or petition Your people Israel make—each knowing his own afflictions and spreading out his hands toward this temple—

What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, of all thy people Israel, when they shall be conscious every man of the plague of his own heart, and he then spread forth his hands toward this house:

39 be heard by You from heaven, Your dwelling place. And may You forgive and act, and repay each man according to all his ways, since You know his heart—for You alone know the hearts of all men—

Then do thou hear in heaven the place of thy dwelling, and forgive, and act, and give to every man in accordance with all his ways, as thou mayest know his heart; for thou, thyself alone, knowest the heart of all the children of men;

40 so that they may fear You all the days they live in the land that You gave to our fathers.

In order that they may fear thee all the days that they live on the face of the land which thou hast given unto our fathers.

41 And as for the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of Your name—

But also to the stranger, who is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far-off country for the sake of thy name;

42 for they will hear of Your great name and mighty hand and outstretched arm—when he comes and prays toward this temple,

For they will hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy outstretched arm; when he will come and pray at this house:

43 then may You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You. Then all the peoples of the earth will know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and they will know that this house I have built is called by Your Name.

Mayest thou listen in heaven the place of thy dwelling, and do according to all that the stranger will call on thee for; in order that all the nations of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as [do] thy people Israel; and that they may understand that this house, which I have built, is called by thy name.

44 When Your people go to war against their enemies, wherever You send them, and when they pray to the LORD in the direction of the city You have chosen and the house I have built for Your Name,

If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, on the way on which thou mayest send them, and they do pray unto the Lord in the direction of the city which thou hast chosen, and of the house that I have built for thy name:

45 then may You hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and may You uphold their cause.

Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and procure them justice.

46 When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and deliver them to an enemy who takes them as captives to his own land, whether far or near,

If they sin against thee, [for there is no man that may not sin, ] and thou be angry with them, and give them up before the enemy, so that their captors carry them away captive unto the land of the enemy, [be it] far or near;

47 and when they come to their senses in the land to which they were taken, and they repent and plead with You in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong; we have acted wickedly,’

And if they then take it to their heart in the land whither they have been carried captive, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of their captors, saying, We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, we have acted wickedly;

48 and when they return to You with all their heart and soul in the land of the enemies who took them captive, and when they pray to You in the direction of the land that You gave to their fathers, the city You have chosen, and the house I have built for Your Name,

And they return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, who have led them away captive, and they pray unto thee in the direction of their land, which thou hast given unto their fathers, of the city which thou hast chosen, and of the house which I have built for thy name:

49 then may You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, their prayer and petition, and may You uphold their cause.

Then hear thou in heaven the place of thy dwelling their prayer and their supplication, and procure them justice;

50 May You forgive Your people who have sinned against You and all the transgressions they have committed against You, and may You grant them compassion in the eyes of their captors to show them mercy.

And forgive thy people for what they have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions whereby they have transgressed against thee, and cause them to find mercy before their captors, that they may have mercy on them;

51 For they are Your people and Your inheritance; You brought them out of Egypt, out of the furnace for iron.

For they are thy people, and thy heritage, whom thou hast brought forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace;

52 May Your eyes be open to the pleas of Your servant and of Your people Israel, and may You listen to them whenever they call to You.

That thy eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to listen unto them in all for which they call unto thee;

53 For You, O Lord GOD, as Your inheritance, have set them apart from all the peoples of the earth, as You spoke through Your servant Moses when You brought our fathers out of Egypt.”

For thou hast separated them unto thee as a heritage from all the people of the earth, as thou spokest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest forth our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord Eternal.

54 Now when Solomon had finished praying this entire prayer and petition to the LORD, he got up before the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven.

And it happened, that, when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord from kneeling on his knees, with his hands spread out toward heaven.

55 And he stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying:

And he stood up, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying,

56 “Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel according to all that He promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises He made through His servant Moses.

Blessed be the Lord, who hath given rest unto his people Israel, in accordance with all that he hath spoken: [so that] there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he spoke by the hand of Moses his servant.

57 May the LORD our God be with us, as He was with our fathers. May He never leave us nor forsake us.

The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers; oh may he not leave us, nor forsake us;

58 May He incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep the commandments and statutes and ordinances He commanded our fathers.

That he may incline our heart unto him, 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 with which I have made my petition before the LORD be near to the LORD our God day and night, so that He may uphold the cause of His servant and of His people Israel as each day requires,

And may these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the Lord, be nigh unto the Lord our God day and night, that he may maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel in their daily requirements;

60 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God. There is no other!

In order that all the nations of the earth may know that the Lord is the [true] God, and none else.

61 So let your heart be fully devoted to the LORD our God, as it is this day, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments.”

Let your heart therefore be entire with the Lord our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.

62 Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the LORD.

And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifices before the Lord.

63 And Solomon offered as peace offerings to the LORD 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the house of the LORD.

And Solomon offered [as] the sacrifice of peace-offering which he offered unto the Lord, two and twenty thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. And thus did the king and all the children of Israel dedicate the house of the Lord.

64 On that same day the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard in front of the house of the LORD, and there he offered the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, since the bronze altar before the LORD was too small to contain all these offerings.

On the same day did the king hallow the interior of the court that was before the house of the Lord; for he prepared there the burnt-offerings, and the meat-offerings, and the fat of the peace-offerings; because the copper altar that was before the Lord was too small to contain the burnt-offerings, and the meat-offerings, and the fat of the peace-offerings.

65 So at that time Solomon and all Israel with him—a great assembly of people from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt—kept the feast before the LORD our God for seven days and seven more days—fourteen days in all.

And Solomon held at that time the feast, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entrance of Chamath unto the river of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days and seven days, even fourteen days.

66 On the fifteenth day Solomon sent the people away. So they blessed the king and went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good things that the LORD had done for His servant David and for His people Israel.

On the eighth day he dismissed the people, and they blessed the king; and they went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart, because of all the good that the Lord had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people.