< 1 Kings 8 >

1 Solomon then summoned to Jerusalem all the elders of Israel, all the leaders of the tribes, and the leaders of the clans. He wanted them to join in bringing Yahweh’s Sacred Chest from Zion [Hill to the temple], where it was in the part of the city called ‘The City of David’.
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 So all the Israeli leaders came to King Solomon during the Festival of [Living in Temporary] Shelters, in October.
in the month of Athanin.
3 When they had all arrived, the priests lifted up the Sacred Chest
And the priests took up the ark,
4 and brought it to the temple. The descendants of Levi [who assisted the priests] helped them to carry to the temple the Sacred Tent and all the sacred things that had been in the tent.
and the tabernacle of testimony, and the holy furniture that was in the tabernacle of testimony.
5 Then King Solomon and many of the Israeli people who had gathered in front of Yahweh’s Sacred Chest sacrificed a huge amount of sheep and oxen. No one was able to count the sacrifices [because there were so many].
And the king and all Israel [were occupied] before the ark, sacrificing sheep [and] oxen, without number.
6 The the priests then brought the Sacred Chest into the Very Holy Place in the temple, and they placed it under the wings of the [statues of the] winged creatures.
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 The wings of those statues spread out over the Sacred Chest and over the poles by which it was carried.
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 The poles were so long that the ends of the poles could be seen [by people who were standing] at the entrance to the Most Holy Place, but they could not be seen [by people standing] outside the temple. Those poles are still there.
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 The only things that were in the Sacred Chest were the two stone tablets that Moses had put there at Sinai [Mountain], where Yahweh made an agreement with the people after they left 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 When the priests came out of the temple, [suddenly] it was filled with a cloud.
And it came to pass when the priests departed out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house.
11 It was the glory/radiance of Yahweh that filled the temple, with the result that the priests were not able to continue their work.
And the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, because the glory of the Lord filled the house.
12 Then Solomon prayed this: “Yahweh, you have placed the sun in the sky, but you have decided that you would live in very dark [clouds].
13 I have built for you a magnificent temple, a place for you to live in forever.”
14 Then, while all the people stood there, the king turned around and faced them, and he [asked God to] bless them.
And the king turned his face, and the king blessed all Israel, (and the whole assembly of Israel stood: )
15 He said, “Praise Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis belong! By his own power he has done what he promised to give to my father David. What he promised was this:
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 time that I brought my people out of Egypt, I have never chosen any city in Israel in which a temple should be built for my people to worship me there. But I chose you, David, to rule my people.”
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 [Then Solomon said], “My father David wanted to build a temple in order that we Israeli people could worship Yahweh our God there.
And it was in the heart of my father to build a house to the name of the Lord God of Israel.
18 But Yahweh said to him, ‘You have wanted to build a temple for me, and what you wanted to do was good.
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 However, you are not the one [who I want] to build it. It is one of your sons, who [I want to] build a temple for me.’
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 And now Yahweh has done what he promised to do. I have become the king of Israel to succeed my father, and I am ruling my people, like Yahweh promised. I have [arranged for] this temple [to be] built for us Israelis to worship Yahweh, the God, to whom we Israelis belong.
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 I have also provided a place [in the temple] for the Sacred Chest in which are the two stone tablets [on which are engraved the Ten Commandments of] the agreement that Yahweh made with our ancestors when he brought them out 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 in front of the altar which was facing the Israeli people who had gathered there. He spread out his arms 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 prayed, “Yahweh, the God whom we Israeli people [belong to/worship], there is no god like you up in heaven or down here on the earth. You solemnly promised that you would faithfully love us. And that is what you have done for us who earnestly do what you want us to do.
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 done the things that you promised my father David, who served you [very well], that you would do. Truly, you promised to do these things for him, and today we see that by your power you have done them.
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 So now, Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis [belong to/worship], please do the things that you promised my father that you would do. You told him that there would always be some of his descendants who would rule Israel, if they would conduct their lives as he did.
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 So now, God of us Israeli people, cause what you promised to do for my father David, who served you [well], to happen.
And now, O Lord God of Israel, let, I pray you, your word to David my father be confirmed.
27 But God, you cannot really live on the earth. There is surely not enough space for you in the sky, or even in the heaven. So there is surely not enough space for you to live in this temple that my workers 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 But Yahweh, my God, please listen to me while I am praying to 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 Please keep protecting this temple night and day. This is the place about which you have said, ‘I will always be there.’ I request that you listen to me whenever I turn toward this temple and pray.
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 I request that when I pray to you and your people pray to you while they turn toward this place, that in your home in heaven you will hear us and forgive us [for the sins that we have committed].
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 If someone is accused of doing something wrong to another person, and they bring him to your altar outside this holy temple, and if he says, ‘I did not do that; may God punish me if I am not telling the truth,’
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 then you listen from heaven, and decide who is telling the truth. Then punish the person who is guilty as he deserves to be punished, and declare that the other person is innocent.
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 when your Israeli people are defeated by their enemies [in a battle] because they have sinned against you, [and if they are forced to go to some distant country, ] if they turn away from their sinful behavior and turn toward this temple and admit that you [have justly punished them], and if they plead [that you will forgive them],
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 to them from heaven, and forgive your Israeli people for the sins that they [have committed], and bring them back to this land that you gave to our ancestors.
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 when you do not allow any rain to fall on the land because your people have sinned against you, if they turn toward this temple and admit that you [have justly punished them], if they turn away from their sinful behavior and [humbly] pray to you,
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 listen to them from heaven, and forgive your Israeli people for the sins [that they have committed]. Teach them the right way to conduct their lives. Then send rain on this land that you have given to your people to belong to them [permanently].
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 And when the people of this land experience famines, or if there is a plague/illness that causes many people to become sick, or if [their crops are destroyed by] very hot winds or [by] mildew or [by] locusts or grasshoppers, or when their enemies surround any of their cities [in order to attack them], if any of those bad things happen to them,
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 when your Israeli people earnestly plead with you knowing that they are suffering because they [have sinned], and if they stretch out their arms toward this temple and pray,
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 listen to them from your home in heaven, and forgive them, and help them. You are the only one who knows what people are thinking, so act toward everyone as they deserve,
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 in order that your people may then have an awesome respect for you, all the years that they live in this land that you gave to our ancestors.
that they may fear you all the days that they live upon the land, which you have given to our fathers.
41 There will be some foreigners who do not belong to your Israeli people who have come here from countries far away because they have heard that you are very great and that you perform great miracles. If they come here to this temple to worship you and pray,
And for the stranger who is not of your people,
when they shall come and pray toward this place,
43 in your home in heaven, listen to their prayers, and do for them what they request you to do. Do that so that all the people-groups in the world will know about you and revere you, like we your Israeli people do. And then they will know that this temple that I have [caused to be] built to honor you, is where you [should be worshiped].
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 you send your people to go to fight against their enemies, if they pray to you, wherever they are, if they turn toward this city that you have chosen and toward this temple that I have caused to be built for you,
[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 listen in heaven to their prayers; listen to what they plead for you to do, and assist them.
then shall you hear from heaven their supplication and their prayer, and shall execute judgment for them.
46 [It is true that] everyone sins. So, if your people sin against you, and you become angry with them, you may allow their enemies to defeat them and capture them and take them away to their enemies’ country, even to countries that are far away.
[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 If that happens, while they are in those countries to which they were forced to go, if they sincerely repent and plead with you there saying ‘We have sinned and have done things that are very wicked,’
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 if they very sincerely repent, and turn toward this land that you gave to our ancestors, and toward this city that you have chosen [to be the place where we should worship you], and toward this temple that I have [caused to be] built for you, and if they pray,
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 then from your home in heaven listen to them while they plead [for your help], and assist them.
then shall you hear from heaven your established dwelling-place,
50 Forgive them for all the sins that they [have committed] against you, and cause their enemies to be kind to 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 Do not forget that the Israelis are your people; they are your special possession; you brought [our ancestors] out of Egypt where [they were greatly suffering as though] they were in a blazing furnace.
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 I request that you always listen to your Israeli people and to me, their king, and heed their prayers whenever they call out to you [to help them].
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 You chose them from all the other people-groups in the world to belong to you, which is what you told Moses to tell them when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt.”
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 After Solomon had finished praying and pleading to Yahweh [for his help], he stood up in front of the altar where he had been kneeling. He lifted up his arms.
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 [asked God to] bless all the Israeli people. [He prayed] loudly, saying,
And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying,
56 “Praise Yahweh, who has given us his people peace, like he promised that he would do. He has done every one of the good things that he promised to Moses, the man who served him [very well].
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 I pray that our God will be with us like he was with our ancestors, and that he will never abandon 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 I pray that he will cause us to loyally serve him, to conduct our lives as he wants us to, and to obey all his commandments and statutes and laws that he gave to our ancestors.
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 I pray that Yahweh our God will never forget these words that I have prayed, pleading for his help; I pray that he will think about them by day and by night. I pray that he will always help [us] Israeli people and me, giving us the things that we need day by 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 If he does that, all the people-groups in the world will know that he is the only one who is God, and that there is no other one who is God.
that all the nations of the earth may know that the Lord God, he [is] God, and there is none beside.
61 I pray that you, [his people, ] will always be fully committed to Yahweh, and that you will obey all his statutes and commands, like you are doing now.”
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 the Israeli people who were there offered sacrifices to Yahweh.
And the king and all the children of Israel offered sacrifice before the Lord.
63 They sacrificed 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep to maintain fellowship with Yahweh. Then the king and all the people dedicated the temple.
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 also dedicated/set apart the middle part of the courtyard that was in front of the temple. Then he offered sacrifices that would be completely burned [in the courtyard], the offerings of grain and the fat of the animals that were sacrificed to maintain fellowship with Yahweh. They sacrificed them there because the bronze altar was not big enough for all those sacrifices to be burned on it [that day].
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 and all the Israeli people celebrated the Festival of [Living in Temporary] Shelters for seven days. There was a huge crowd of people there, some of whom had come from [distant places like] Hamath [in the far north] and the border of Egypt [in the far south].
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 On the eighth day, Solomon sent the people to their homes. They all praised him and went home happy because of all the things that Yahweh had done to bless [King] David and his Israeli people.
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.

< 1 Kings 8 >