< 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’.
Then Solomon assembles the elderly of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, princes of the fathers of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon, to Jerusalem, to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH from the City of David—it [is] Zion;
2 So all the Israeli leaders came to King Solomon during the Festival of [Living in Temporary] Shelters, in October.
and all the men of Israel are assembled to King Solomon, in the month of Ethanim, in the festival (the seventh month).
3 When they had all arrived, the priests lifted up the Sacred Chest
And all [the] elderly of Israel come in, and the priests lift 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 bring up the Ark of YHWH, and the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy vessels that [are] in the tent, indeed, the priests and the Levites bring them up.
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 King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who are assembled to him [are] with him before the Ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that are not counted nor numbered for multitude.
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 of the Covenant of YHWH to its place, to the oracle of the house, to the Holy of Holies, to the place of the wings of the cherubim;
7 The wings of those statues spread out over the Sacred Chest and over the poles by which it was carried.
for the cherubim are spreading forth two wings to the place of the Ark, and the cherubim cover over the Ark, and over its poles from 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 they lengthen the poles, and the heads of the poles are seen from the holy [place] on the front of the oracle, and are not seen outside, and they are there to this day.
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 is nothing in the Ark, only the two tablets of stone which Moses put there in Horeb when YHWH covenanted with the sons of Israel in their going out of the land of Egypt.
10 When the priests came out of the temple, [suddenly] it was filled with a cloud.
And it comes to pass, in the going out of the priests from the holy [place], that the cloud has filled the house of YHWH,
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 have not been able to stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of YHWH has filled the house of YHWH.
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].
Then Solomon said, “YHWH has said [He is] to dwell in thick darkness;
13 I have built for you a magnificent temple, a place for you to live in forever.”
I have surely built a house of habitation for You; a fixed place for Your abiding for all ages.”
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 turns his face around, and blesses the whole assembly of Israel; and all the assembly of Israel is standing.
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 says, “Blessed [is] YHWH, God of Israel, who spoke by His mouth with my father David, and by His hand has fulfilled [it], 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, even Israel, from Egypt, I have not fixed on a city out of all the tribes of Israel, to build a house for My Name being there; and I fix on 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 is with the heart of my father David to build a house for the Name of YHWH, 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 YHWH says to my father David, Because that it has been with your heart to build a house for My Name, you have done well that it has been with 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.’
only, you do not build the house, but your son who is coming out from your loins, he builds the house for 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 YHWH establishes His word which He spoke, and I am risen up instead of my father David, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as YHWH spoke, and build the house for the Name of YHWH, 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 set a place for the Ark there, where the covenant of YHWH [is], which He made with our fathers in His bringing them out from 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 stands before the altar of YHWH, in front of all the assembly of Israel, and spreads his hands toward the heavens,
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 says, “YHWH, God of Israel, there is not a God like You, in the heavens above and on the earth below, keeping the covenant and the kindness for Your servants, those walking before You with all their 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 for Your servant, my father David, that which You spoke to him; indeed, You speak with Your mouth, and with Your hand have fulfilled [it], 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, YHWH, God of Israel, keep for Your servant, my father David, that which You spoke to him, saying, A man of yours is never cut off from before My face, sitting on the throne of Israel—only, if your sons watch their way, 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 God of Israel, please let Your word be established which You have spoken to Your servant, my father David.
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 is it true [that] God dwells on the earth? Behold, the heavens and the heavens of the heavens cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built!
28 But Yahweh, my God, please listen to me while I am praying to you this day,
Then You have turned to the prayer of Your servant, and to his supplication, O YHWH my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant is praying before You today,
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.
for Your eyes being open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which You have said, My Name is there; to listen to the prayer which Your servant prays toward this place.
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].
Then You have listened to the supplication of Your servant, and of Your people Israel, which they pray toward this place; indeed, You listen in the place of Your dwelling, in the heavens—and You have listened, and have forgiven,
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,’
that which a man sins against his neighbor, and he has lifted up an oath on him to cause him to swear, and the oath has come in 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 You hear in the heavens, and have done, and have judged Your servants, to declare wicked the wicked, to put his way on his [own] head, and to declare righteous the righteous, to give 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],
In Your people Israel being struck before an enemy, because they sin against You, and they have turned back to You, and have confessed Your Name, and prayed, and made supplication to You 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 you hear in the heavens, and have forgiven the sin of Your people Israel, and brought them back to the ground that 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,
In the heavens being restrained, and there is no rain, because they sin against You, and they have prayed toward this place, and confessed Your Name, and turn back from their sin, for You afflict 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 hear in the heavens, and have forgiven the sin of Your servants, and of Your people Israel, for You direct them [to] the good way in which they go, and have given rain on Your land which You have given to Your people for 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,
Famine—when it is in the land; pestilence—when it is [in the land]; blasting, mildew, locust; caterpillar—when it is [in the land]; when its enemy has distressed it in the land [in] its gates, any plague, any sickness—
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,
any prayer, any supplication that [is] of any man of all Your people Israel, each who knows the plague of his own heart, and has spread his hands toward 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 You hear in the heavens, the settled place of Your dwelling, and have forgiven, and have done, and have given to each according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You have known—You alone—the heart of all the sons of man),
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.
so that they fear You all the days that they are living on the face of the ground that 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 also, to the stranger who is not of Your people Israel, and has come from a far-off land for Your Name’s sake—
for they hear of Your great Name, and of Your strong hand, and of Your outstretched arm—and he has come in and prayed toward this house,
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].
You hear in the heavens, the settled place of Your dwelling, and have done according to all that the stranger calls to You for, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Your Name, to fear You like Your people Israel, and to know that Your Name has been called on this house which I have built.
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,
When Your people go out to battle against its enemy, in the way that You send them, and they have prayed to YHWH [in] the way of the city which you have fixed on, and of the house which I have built for Your Name,
45 listen in heaven to their prayers; listen to what they plead for you to do, and assist them.
then You have heard their prayer and their supplication in the heavens, and have maintained their cause.
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.
When they sin against You (for there is not a man who does not sin), and You have been angry with them, and have given them up before an enemy, and they have taken captive their captivity to the land of the enemy far off 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 have turned [it] back to their heart in the land to where they have been taken captive, and have turned back, and made supplication to You in the land of their captors, saying, We have sinned and done perversely—we have done wickedly;
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,
indeed, they have turned back to You with all their heart and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, and have prayed to You [in] the way of their land, which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen, and the house which I have built for Your Name:
49 then from your home in heaven listen to them while they plead [for your help], and assist them.
then You have heard in the heavens, the settled place of Your dwelling, their prayer and their supplication, and have maintained their cause,
50 Forgive them for all the sins that they [have committed] against you, and cause their enemies to be kind to them.
and have forgiven Your people who have sinned against You, even all their transgressions which they have transgressed against You, and have given them mercies before their captors, and they have had mercy [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 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].
for Your eyes being open to the supplication of Your servant, and to the supplication of Your people Israel, to listen to them in all they call to You for;
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.”
for You have separated them to Yourself for an inheritance, out of all the peoples of the earth, as You spoke by the hand of Your servant Moses, in Your bringing out our fathers from Egypt, O Lord YHWH.”
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 comes to pass, at Solomon’s finishing to pray to YHWH all this prayer and supplication, he has risen from before the altar of YHWH, from bending on his knees and [having] his hands spread out to the heavens,
55 Then he [asked God to] bless all the Israeli people. [He prayed] loudly, saying,
and he stands and blesses all the assembly 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 [is] YHWH who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He has spoken; not [even] one word has fallen of all His good word, 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.
Our God YHWH is with us as He has been with our fathers; He does not forsake us nor leave 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.
to incline our heart to Himself, to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commands, and His statutes, and His judgments, 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 these, my words, with which I have made supplication before YHWH, are near to our God YHWH by day and by night, to maintain the cause of His servant, and the cause of His people Israel, the matter of a day in its day,
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 peoples of the earth may know that He, YHWH, [is] God; there is none else;
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 your heart has been perfect with our God YHWH, to walk in His statutes, and to keep His commands, 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 Israel with him are sacrificing a sacrifice before YHWH;
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 Solomon sacrifices the sacrifice of peace-offerings, which he has sacrificed to YHWH: twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep; and the king and all the sons of Israel dedicate the house of YHWH.
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].
On that day the king has sanctified the middle of the court that [is] before the house of YHWH, for he has made the burnt-offering, and the present, and the fat of the peace-offerings there; for the altar of bronze that [is] before YHWH [is] too small to contain the burnt-offering, and the present, and the fat of the 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 makes, at that time, the festival—and all Israel with him, a great assembly from the entering in of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt—before our God YHWH, [for] seven days and seven [more] days—fourteen 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.
On the eighth day he has sent the people away, and they bless the king, and go to their tents, rejoicing and glad of heart for all the good that YHWH has done to His servant David, and to His people Israel.

< 1 Kings 8 >