1 Kings 8
1 Then all the ancients of Israel with the princes of the tribes, and the heads of the families of the children of Israel were assembled to king Solomon in Jerusalem: that they might carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, that is, out of Sion.
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 Israel assembled themselves to king Solomon on the festival day in the month of Ethanim, the same 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 ancients 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 carried the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the covenant, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, that were in the tabernacle: and the priests and the Levites carried them.
The priests and Levites carried them up.
5 And king Solomon, and all the multitude of Israel, that were assembled unto him went with him before the ark, and they sacrificed sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered.
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 the Lord into its place, into the oracle of the temple, into the holy of holies under the wings of the cherubims.
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 cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and covered the art, and the staves thereof above.
The cherubim spread their wings over the place where the Ark was, covering the Ark and its carrying poles.
8 And whereas the staves stood out, the ends of them were seen without in the sanctuary before the oracle, but were not seen farther out, and there they have been unto 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 Now in the ark there was nothing else but the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children 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 were come out of the sanctuary, that a cloud filled the house of the Lord,
When the priests left the Holy Place, the cloud filled the Temple of the Lord.
11 And the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.
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 said: The Lord said that he would dwell in a cloud.
Then Solomon said: “Lord, you said that you would live in the thick cloud.
13 Building I have built a house for thy dwelling, to be thy most firm throne for ever.
Now I have built for you a majestic Temple, a place where you may live for ever.”
14 And the king turned his face, and blessed all the assembly of Israel: for 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 Solomon said: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David my father, and with his own hands hath accomplished 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 my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel, for a house to be built, 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 And David my father would have built a house to the name of the Lord the God of Israel:
My father David really wanted to build a Temple to honor the Lord, the God of Israel.
18 And the Lord said to David my father: Whereas thou hast thought in thy heart to build a house to my name, thou hast done well in having this same thing in thy mind.
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 shalt not build me a house, but thy son, that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build a house to 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 The Lord hath performed his word which he spoke: and I stand in the room of David my father, and sit upon the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised: and have built a house to the name of the Lord 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 I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with our fathers, when they came 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 the Lord in the sight of the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands towards 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 said: Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven above, or on earth beneath: who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that have walked 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 hast kept with thy servant David my father what thou hast promised him: with thy mouth thou didst speak, and with thy hands thou hast performed, as this day proveth.
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 Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father what thou hast spoken to him, saying: There shall not be taken away of thee a man in my sight, to sit on the throne of Israel: yet so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked in my sight.
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 And now, Lord God of Israel, let thy words be established, which thou hast spoken to thy servant David my father.
Now, God of Israel, please keep the promise you made to our servant, my father David.
27 Is it then to be thought that God should indeed dwell upon earth? for if heaven, and the heavens of heavens cannot contain thee, how much less this house which 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 But have regard to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplications, O Lord my God: hear the hymn and the prayer, which thy servant prayeth 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 thy eyes may be open upon this house night and day: upon the house of which thou hast said: My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth in this place to thee.
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 That thou mayest hearken to the supplication of thy servant and of thy people Israel, whatsoever they shall pray for in this place, and hear them in the place of thy dwelling in heaven; and when thou hearest, shew them mercy.
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 any man trespass against his neighbour, and have an oath upon him, wherewith he is bound: and come because of the oath before thy altar to thy 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, and bringing his way upon his own head, and justifying the just, and rewarding him according to his justice.
listen from heaven—act and judge your servants. Pay back the guilty; vindicate and reward those who do right.
33 If thy people Israel shall fly before their enemies, (because they will sin against thee, ) and doing penance, and confessing to thy name, shall come, and pray, and make supplications 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 back to the land which thou gavest 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 If heaven shall be shut up, and there shall be no rain, because of their sins, and they praying in this place, shall do penance to thy name, and shall be converted from their sins, by occasion of their afflictions:
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 them in heaven, and forgive the sins of thy servants, and of thy people Israel: and shew them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people in possession.
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 a famine arise in the land, or a pestilence, or corrupt air, or blasting, or locust, or mildew, if their enemy afflict them besieging the gates, whatsoever plague, whatsoever infirmity,
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 Whatsoever curse or imprecation shall happen to any man of thy people Israel: when a man shall know the wound of his own heart, and shall spread forth his hands in 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, in the place of thy dwelling, and forgive, and do so as to give to every one according to his ways, as thou shalt see his heart (for thou only knowest the heart of all the children 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 upon the face of the land, which thou hast given 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 also the stranger, who is not of thy people Israel, when he shall come out of a far country for thy name’s sake, (for they shall hear everywhere of thy great name and thy mighty hand,
As for the foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel but who come from a distant land,
42 And thy stretched out arm, ) so when he shall come, and shall pray in this place,
having heard of your great nature and power and ability to help, when they come and pray toward this Temple,
43 Then hear thou in heaven, in the firmament of thy dwelling place, and do all those things, for which that stranger shall call upon thee: that all the people of the earth may learn to fear thy name, as do thy people Israel, and may prove that thy name is called upon on this house, which I have built.
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 war against their enemies, by what way soever thou shalt send them, they shall pray to thee towards the way of the city, which thou hast chosen, and towards the house, which I have built to 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 And then hear thou in heaven their prayers, and their supplications, and do judgment for them.
then hear from heaven what they are praying and asking for, and support their cause.
46 But if they sin against thee (for there is no man who sinneth not) and thou being angry deliver them up to their enemies, so that they be led away captives into the land of their enemies far 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 Then if they do penance in their heart in the place of captivity, and being converted make supplication to thee in their captivity, saying: We have sinned, we have done unjustly, we have committed wickedness:
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 And return to thee with all their heart, and all their soul, in the land of their enemies, to which they had been led captives: and pray to thee towards the way of their land, which thou gavest to their fathers, and of the city which thou hast chosen, and of the temple which I have built to 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 in heaven, in the firmament of thy throne, their prayers, and their supplications, and do judgment for them:
then hear from heaven, the place where you live, respond and support their cause.
50 And forgive thy people, that have sinned against thee, and all their iniquities, by which they have transgressed against thee: and give them mercy before them that have made them captives, 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 thy inheritance, whom thou hast brought out of the land 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 thy eyes may be open to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, to hear them in all things for which they shall call upon 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 hast separated them to thyself for an inheritance from among all the people of the earth, as thou hast spoken by Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.
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 came to pass, when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, that he rose from before the altar of the Lord: for he had fixed both knees on the ground, and had spread his hands towards 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 the Lord, who hath given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed so much as one word of all the good things that he promised by his servant Moses.
“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 The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers, and not leave us, nor cast us off:
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 But may he incline our hearts to himself, that we may walk in all his ways, and keep his commandments, and his ceremonies, and all his judgments 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, wherewith I have prayed before the Lord, he nigh unto the Lord our God day and night, that he may do judgment for his servant, and for his people Israel day by day:
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 people of the earth may know, that the Lord he is God, and there is no other besides him.
in order that everyone on the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is no other!
61 Let our hearts also be perfect with the Lord our God, that we may walk in his statutes, and 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 him, offered victims before the Lord.
Then the king and together with all of Israel offered sacrifices before the Lord.
63 And Solomon slew victims of peace offerings, which he sacrificed to the Lord, two and twenty thousand oxen, and hundred and twenty thousand sheep: so the king, and the children of Israel dedicated the temple of the Lord.
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 In that day the king sanctified the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord: for there he offered the holocaust, and sacrifice, and fat of the peace offerings: because the brazen altar that was before the Lord, was too little to receive the holocaust, and sacrifice, and 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 And Solomon made at the same time a solemn feast, and all Israel with him, a great multitude from the entrance of Emath to the river of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days and seven days, that is, 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 And on the eighth day he sent away the people: and they blessed the king, and went to their dwellings rejoicing, and glad in heart for all the good things that the Lord had done for David his servant, and for 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.
