1 Kings 8

1 Then all those greater by birth of Israel, with the leaders of the tribes and the rulers of the families of the sons of Israel, gathered together before king Solomon at Jerusalem, so that they might carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, from the city of David, that is, from Zion.

And it came to pass when Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord and his own house after twenty years, then king Solomon assembled all the elders of Israel in Sion, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, this is Sion,

2 And all of Israel assembled before king Solomon, on the solemn day in the month of Ethanim, which is the seventh month.

in the month of Athanin.

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

And the priests took up the ark,

4 And they carried the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the covenant, and all the vessels of the Sanctuary, which were in the tabernacle; and the priests and the Levites carried these.

and the tabernacle of testimony, and the holy furniture that was in the tabernacle of testimony.

5 Then king Solomon, and the entire multitude of Israel, who had assembled before him, advanced with him before the ark. And they immolated sheep and oxen, which could not be numbered or estimated.

And the king and all Israel [were occupied] before the ark, sacrificing sheep [and] oxen, without number.

6 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the oracle of the temple, in the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim.

And the priests bring in the ark into its place, into the oracle of the house, even into the holy of holies, under the wings of the cherubs.

7 For indeed, the cherubim extended their wings over the place of the ark, and they protected the ark and its bars from above.

For the cherubs spread out their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubs covered the ark and its holy things above.

8 And since the bars projected outward, their ends were visible from without, in the Sanctuary before the oracle; but they were not visible farther outward. And they have been in that place even to the present day.

And the holy staves projected, and the ends of the holy staves appeared out of the holy places in front of the oracle, and were not seen without.

9 Now inside the ark, there was nothing other than the two tablets of stone, which Moses had placed in it at Horeb, when the Lord formed a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they departed from the land of Egypt.

There was nothing in the ark except the two tables of stone, the tables of the covenant which Moses put [there] in Choreb, which [tables] the Lord made [as a covenant] with the children of Israel in their going forth from the land of Egypt.

10 Then it happened that, when the priests had exited from the Sanctuary, a cloud filled the house of the Lord.

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

11 And the priests were unable to stand and minister, because of the cloud. For the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.

And the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, because the glory of the Lord filled the house.

12 Then Solomon said: “The Lord has said that he would dwell in a cloud.

13 Building, I have built a house as your dwelling place, your most firm throne forever.”

14 And the king turned his face, and he blessed the entire assembly of Israel. For the entire assembly of Israel was standing.

And the king turned his face, and the king blessed all Israel, (and the whole assembly of Israel stood: )

15 And Solomon said: “Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to my father David, and who, with his own hands, has perfected it, saying:

and he said, Blessed [be] the Lord God of Israel today, who spoke by his mouth concerning David my father, and has fulfilled it with his hands, saying,

16 ‘From the day when I led my people Israel away from Egypt, I did not choose any city out of all the tribes of Israel, so that a house would be built, and so that my name might be there. Instead, I chose David to be over my people Israel.’

From the day that I brought out my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city in [any] one tribe of Israel to build a house, so that my name should be there: but I chose Jerusalem that my name should be there, and I chose David to be over my people Israel.

17 And my father David wanted to build a house to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

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

18 But the Lord said to my father David: ‘Since you have planned in your heart to build a house to my name, you have done well by considering this plan in your mind.

And the Lord said to David my father, Forasmuch as it came into your heart to build a house to my name, you did well that it came upon your heart.

19 Yet truly, you shall not build a house for me. Instead, your son, who shall go forth from your loins, he himself shall build a house to my name.’

Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son that has proceeded out of your bowels, he shall build the house to my name.

20 The Lord has confirmed his word which he spoke. And so I stand in place of my father David, and I sit upon the throne of Israel, just as the Lord said. And I have built a house to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

And the Lord has confirmed the word that he spoke, and I am risen up in the place of my father David, and I have sat down on the throne of Israel, as the Lord spoke, and I have built the house to the name of the Lord God of Israel.

21 And there I have appointed a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he struck with our fathers, when they went forth from the land of Egypt.”

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

22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord, in the sight of the assembly of Israel, and he extended his hands toward heaven.

And Solomon stood up in front of the altar before all the congregation of Israel; and he spread out his hands toward heaven:

23 And he said: “Lord God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above, nor on the earth below. You preserve covenant and mercy with your servants, who walk before you with all their heart.

and he said, Lord God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above and on the earth beneath, keeping covenant and mercy with your servant who walks before you with all his heart;

24 You have fulfilled, for your servant David, my father, that which you said to him. With your mouth, you spoke; and with your hands, you completed; just as this day proves.

which you have kept toward your servant David my father: for you have spoken by your mouth and you have fulfilled it with your hands, as [at] this day.

25 Now therefore, O Lord God of Israel, fulfill, for your servant David, my father, that which you spoke to him, saying, ‘There shall not be taken away from you a man before me, who may sit upon the throne of Israel, if only your sons will guard their way, so that they walk before me, just as you have walked in my sight.’

And now, O Lord God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father, [the promises] which you have spoken to him, saying, There shall not be taken from you a man sitting before me on the throne of Israel, provided only your children shall take heed to their ways, to walk before me as you have walked before me.

26 And now, O Lord God of Israel, establish your words, which you spoke to your servant David, my father.

And now, O Lord God of Israel, let, I pray you, your word to David my father be confirmed.

27 Is it, then, to be understood that truly God would dwell upon the earth? For if heaven, and the heavens of heavens, are not able to contain you, how much less this house, which I have built?

But will God indeed dwell with men upon the earth? if the heaven and heaven of heavens will not suffice you, how much less even this house which I have built to your name?

28 Yet look with favor upon the prayer of your servant and upon his petitions, O Lord, my God. Listen to the hymn and the prayer, which your servant prays before you this day,

Yet, O Lord God of Israel, you shall look upon my petition, to hear the prayer which your servant prays to you in your presence this day,

29 so that your eyes may be open over this house, night and day, over the house about which you said, ‘My name shall be there,’ so that you may heed the prayer that your servant is praying in this place to you.

that your eyes may be open toward this house day and night, even toward the place which you said, My name shall be there, to hear the prayer which your servant prays at this place day and night.

30 So may you heed the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel, whatever they will pray for in this place, and so may you heed them in your dwelling place in heaven. And when you heed, you will be gracious.

And you shall listen to the prayer of your servant, and of your people Israel, which they shall pray toward this place; and you shall hear in your dwelling-place in heaven, and you shall do and be gracious.

31 But if any man sins against his neighbor, and he has any kind of an oath by which he is bound, and he arrives because of the oath, before your altar in your house,

Whatsoever trespasses any [one] shall commit against his neighbor, —and if he shall take upon him an oath so that he should swear, and he shall come and make confession before your altar in this house,

32 you will hear in heaven, and you will act and judge your servants, condemning the impious, and repaying his own way upon his own head, but justifying the just, and rewarding him in accord with his justice.

then shall you hear from heaven, and do, and you shall judge your people Israel, that the wicked should be condemned, to recompense his way upon his head; and to justify the righteous, to give to him according to his righteousness.

33 And if your people Israel will have fled from their enemies, because they have sinned against you, and doing penance and confessing to your name, shall arrive and pray and petition you in this house,

When your people Israel falls before enemies, because they shall sin against you, and they shall return and confess to your name, and they shall pray and supplicate in this house,

34 listen in heaven, and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and lead them back to the land, which you gave to their fathers.

then shall you hear from heaven, and be gracious to the sins of your people Israel, and you shall restore them to the land which you gave to their fathers.

35 And if the heavens have closed, so that there is no rain, because of their sins, and they, praying in this place, shall do penance to your name, and shall be converted from their sins, by occasion of their afflictions,

When the heaven is restrained, and there is no rain, because they shall sin against you, and the shall pray toward this place, and they shall make confession to your name, and shall turn from their sins when you shall have humbled them,

36 hear them from heaven, and forgive the sins of your servants and of your people Israel. And reveal to them the good way, along which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as a possession.

then you shall hear from heaven, and be merciful to the sins of your servant and of your people Israel; for you shall show them the good way to walk in it, and you shall give rain upon the earth which you have given to your people for an inheritance.

37 Then, if famine rises over the land, or pestilence, or corrupt air, or blight, or locust, or mildew, or if their enemy afflicts them, besieging the gates, or any harm or infirmity,

If there should be famine, if there should be death, because there should be blasting, locust, or if there be mildew, and if their enemy oppress them in [any] one of their cities, [with regard to] every calamity, every trouble,

38 or whatever curse or divine intervention may happen to any man among your people Israel, if anyone understands, having been wounded in his heart, and if he will have extended his hands in this house,

every prayer, every supplication whatever shall be made by any man, as they shall know each the plague of his heart, and shall spread abroad his hands to this house,

39 you will hear in heaven, in your dwelling place, and you will forgive. And you will act so that you give to each one in accord with his own ways, just as you see in his heart, for you alone know the heart of all the sons of men.

then shall you listen from heaven, out of your established dwelling-place, and shall be merciful, and shall do, and recompense to [every] man according to his ways, as you shall know his heart, for you alone know the heart of all the children of men:

40 So may they fear you, all the days that they live upon the face of the land, which you have given to our fathers.

that they may fear you all the days that they live upon the land, which you have given to our fathers.

41 Moreover, the foreigner too, who is not of your people Israel, when he will have arrived from a distant land because of your name, for they shall hear about your great name, and your strong hand,

And for the stranger who is not of your people,

42 and your outstretched arm everywhere: so when he arrives and prays in this place,

when they shall come and pray toward this place,

43 you will listen in heaven, in the firmament of your dwelling place. And you will do all the things, for which that foreigner will have called upon you. So may all the peoples of the earth learn to fear your name, just as your people Israel do. And so may they show that your name has been invoked over this house, which I have built.

then shall you hear [them] from heaven, out of your established dwelling-place, and you shall do according to all that the stranger shall call upon you for, that all the nations may know your name, and fear you, as [do] your people Israel, and may know that your name has been called on this house which I have builded.

44 And if your people have gone out to war against their enemies, along whatever way you will send them, they shall pray to you in the direction of the city, which you have chosen, and toward the house, which I have built to your name.

[If it be] that your people shall go forth to war against their enemies in the way by which you shall turn them, and pray in the name of the Lord toward the city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built to your name,

45 And you will hear in heaven their prayers and their petitions. And you will accomplish judgment for them.

then shall you hear from heaven their supplication and their prayer, and shall execute judgment for them.

46 But if they sin against you, for there is no man who does not sin, and you, being angry, deliver them to their enemies, and they will have been led away as captives to the land of their enemies, whether far or near,

[If it be] that they shall sin against you, (for there is not a man who will not sin, ) and you shall bring them and deliver them up before their enemies, and they that take [them] captive shall carry [them] to a land far or near,

47 and if they do penance in their heart, in the place of captivity, and having been converted, make supplication to you in their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned; we acted unjustly; we committed impiety,’

and they shall turn their hearts in the land whither they have been carried captives, and turn in the land of their sojourning, and supplicate you, saying, We have sinned, we have done unjustly, we have transgressed,

48 and they return to you with all their heart and all their soul, in the land of their enemies, to which they have been led away as captives, and if they pray to you in the direction of their land, which you gave to their fathers, and of the city, which you have chosen, and of the temple, which I have built to your name:

and they shall turn to you with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies whither you have carried them captives, and shall pray to you toward their land which you have given to their fathers, and the city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built to your name:

49 you will hear in heaven, in the firmament of your throne, their prayers and their petitions. And you will accomplish their judgment.

then shall you hear from heaven your established dwelling-place,

50 And you will forgive your people, who have sinned against you, and all their iniquities, by which they have transgressed against you. And you will grant to them mercy in the sight of those who have made them captives, so that they may take pity on them.

and you shall be merciful to their unrighteousness wherein they have trespassed against you, and according to all their transgressions wherewith they have transgressed against you, and you shall cause them to be pitied before them that carried them captives, and they shall have compassion on them:

51 For they are your people and your inheritance, whom you have led away from the land of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron.

for [they are] your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, out of the midst of the furnace of iron.

52 So may your eyes be open to the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel. And so may you heed them in all the things about which they will call upon you.

And let your eyes and your ears be opened to the supplication of your servant, and to the supplication of your people Israel, to listen to them in all things for which they shall call upon you.

53 For you have separated them to yourself as an inheritance, from among all the peoples of the earth, just as you spoke by Moses, your servant, when you led our fathers away from Egypt, O Lord God.”

Because you have set them apart for an inheritance to yourself out of all the nations of the earth, as you spoke by the hand of your servant Moses, when you brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, O Lord God.

54 And it happened that, when Solomon had completed praying this entire prayer and supplication to the Lord, he rose up from the sight of the altar of the Lord. For he had fixed both knees upon the ground, and he had extended his hands toward heaven.

And it came to pass when Solomon had finished praying to the Lord all this prayer and supplication, that he rose up from before the altar of the Lord, [after] having knelt upon his knees, and his hands [were] spread out towards heaven.

55 Then he stood and blessed the entire assembly of Israel in a great voice, saying:

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

56 “Blessed is the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel, in accord with all that he said. Not even one word, out of all the good things that he spoke by his servant Moses, has fallen away.

Blessed [be] the Lord this day, who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he said: there has not failed one word among all his good words which he spoke by the hand of his servant Moses.

57 May the Lord our God be with us, just as he was with our fathers, not abandoning us, and not rejecting us.

May the Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers; let him not desert us nor turn from us,

58 But may he incline our hearts to himself, so that we may walk in all his ways, and keep his commandments, and his ceremonies, and whatever judgments he commanded to our fathers.

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

59 And may these my words, by which I have prayed before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God, day and night, so that he may accomplish judgment for his servant and for his people Israel, throughout each day.

And let these words, which I have prayed before the Lord our God, [be] near to the Lord our God day and night, to maintain the cause of your servant, and the cause of your people Israel for ever.

60 So may all the peoples of the earth know that the Lord himself is God, and there is no other beside him.

that all the nations of the earth may know that the Lord God, he [is] God, and there is none beside.

61 Also, may our hearts be perfect with the Lord our God, so that we may walk in his decrees, and keep his commandments, as also on this day.”

And let our hearts be perfect toward the Lord our God, to walk also holily in his ordinances, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.

62 Then the king, and all of Israel with him, immolated victims before the Lord.

And the king and all the children of Israel offered sacrifice before the Lord.

63 And Solomon slew sacrifices of peace offerings, which he immolated to the Lord: twenty-two thousand oxen, and twenty thousand one hundred sheep. And the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the temple of the Lord.

And king Solomon offered for the sacrifices of peace-offering which he sacrificed to the Lord, two and twenty thousand oxen, and hundred and twenty thousand sheep: and the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord.

64 On that day, the king sanctified the middle of the atrium, which was before the house of the Lord. For in that place, he offered holocaust, and sacrifice, and the fat of peace offerings. For the bronze altar, which was before the Lord, was too small and was not able to hold the holocaust, and the sacrifice, and the fat of the peace offerings.

In that day the king consecrated the middle of the court in the front of the house of the Lord; for there he offered the whole burnt offering, and the sacrifices, and the fat of the peace-offerings, because the brazen altar which was before the Lord [was too] little to bear the whole burnt offering and the sacrifices of peace-offerings.

65 Then Solomon made, at that time, a celebratory festival, and all of Israel with him, a great multitude, from the entrance of Hamath to the river of Egypt, in the sight of the Lord our God, for seven days plus seven days, that is, fourteen days.

And Solomon kept the feast in that day, and all Israel with him, even a great assembly from the entering in of Hemath to the river of Egypt, before the Lord our God in the house which he built, eating and drinking, and rejoicing before the Lord our God seven days.

66 And on the eighth day, he dismissed the people. And blessing the king, they set out for their tents, rejoicing and cheerful in heart over all the good things that the Lord had done for his servant David and for his people Israel.

And on the eighth day he sent away the people: and they blessed the king, and each departed to his tabernacle rejoicing, and [their] heart [was] glad because of the good things which the Lord had done to his servant David, and to Israel his people.