1Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion. (Nu 1:16; 2Sa 5:7; 2Sa 6:17; 2Ch 5:2)2And all the men of Israel assembled to King Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. (Le 23:34; 1Ki 8:65; 2Ch 7:8)3And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. (Nu 4:15; De 31:9; Jos 3:3; Jos 3:6; 1Ch 15:14)4And they brought up the ark of the Lord, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. (1Ki 3:4; 2Ch 1:3)5And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. (2Sa 6:13)6Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. (Ex 26:33; 2Sa 6:17; 1Ki 6:5)7For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles.8And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day. (Ex 25:13; 1Ki 8:6)9There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone that Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. (Ex 25:21; Ex 34:27; Ex 40:20; De 4:13; De 10:2; De 10:5; Heb 9:4)10And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, (Ex 40:34; 2Ch 5:13; 2Ch 7:1; Eze 10:3)11so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.
Solomon Blesses the Lord
12Then Solomon said, “The Lord[1] has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. (Le 16:2; 2Ch 6:1; Ps 18:11; Ps 97:2)13I have indeed built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.” (Ex 15:17; 2Sa 7:13; Ps 132:14)14Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. (2Sa 6:18; 1Ki 8:55)15And he said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, (1Ki 6:12; Lu 1:68)16‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there. But I chose David to be over my people Israel.’ (De 12:11; 1Sa 16:1; 2Sa 7:4; 2Sa 7:8; 2Sa 7:25; 1Ki 8:29; 1Ch 28:4)17Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. (2Sa 7:2; 1Ch 17:1)18But the Lord said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart.19Nevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ (2Sa 7:5; 2Sa 7:12; 1Ki 5:3; 1Ki 5:5)20Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. (1Ch 28:5)21And there I have provided a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.” (De 31:26; 1Ki 8:9)
Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication
22Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven, (Ex 9:33; 1Ki 8:54; 2Ch 6:12; Ezr 9:5; Isa 1:15)23and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart; (Ex 15:11; De 7:9; 2Sa 7:22)24you have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. (1Ki 8:15)25Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’ (1Ki 2:4)26Now therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David my father. (2Sa 7:25)27“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! (2Ch 2:6; Isa 66:1; Jer 23:24; Ac 7:49; Ac 17:24)28Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day,29that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. (De 12:11; 1Ki 8:16; 1Ki 8:52; 1Ki 9:3; 2Ch 7:15; Ne 1:6)30And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.31“If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, (Ex 22:11)32then hear in heaven and act and judge your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness. (De 25:1)33“When your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and if they turn again to you and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house, (Le 26:17; Le 26:40; De 28:45; Ne 1:9)34then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to their fathers.35“When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflict them, (Le 26:17; De 11:17; De 28:25; Lu 4:25)36then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance. (1Sa 12:23; Ps 25:4; Ps 27:11; Ps 86:11)37“If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemy besieges them in the land at their gates,[2] whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, (Le 26:16; Le 26:25; De 28:21; De 28:37; De 28:42; De 28:52; 2Ch 20:9)38whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart and stretching out his hands toward this house,39then hear in heaven your dwelling place and forgive and act and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways (for you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind), (1Sa 16:7; 1Ch 28:9; Jer 17:10; Ac 1:24)40that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers. (De 12:1)41“Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name’s sake42(for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, (De 3:24; 2Ch 6:32)43hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name. (Jos 4:24; 1Ki 8:60; Ps 102:15)44“If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to the Lord toward the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, (1Ki 8:48)45then hear in heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause.46“If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near, (Le 26:34; Le 26:44; De 28:36; De 28:64; Pr 20:9; Ec 7:20; Ro 3:23; Jas 3:2; 1Jo 1:8; 1Jo 1:10)47yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ (Le 26:40; Ne 1:6; Ps 106:6; Da 9:5)48if they repent with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name, (1Sa 7:3; 1Ki 8:44; Ps 5:7; Jer 29:12; Da 6:10; Jon 2:4)49then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause50and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you, and grant them compassion in the sight of those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them (Ps 106:46)51(for they are your people, and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace). (De 4:20; De 9:29; Ne 1:10; Jer 11:4)52Let your eyes be open to the plea of your servant and to the plea of your people Israel, giving ear to them whenever they call to you. (1Ki 8:29)53For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be your heritage, as you declared through Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.” (Ex 19:5; De 9:26; De 9:29; De 14:2)
Solomon’s Benediction
54Now as Solomon finished offering all this prayer and plea to the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had knelt with hands outstretched toward heaven. (2Ch 6:13; 2Ch 7:1)55And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying, (1Ki 8:14)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 his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. (Jos 21:45; Jos 23:14)57The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, (De 31:6; Jos 1:5; 1Sa 12:22)58that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers. (Ps 119:36)59Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires,60that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other. (De 4:35; De 4:39; 1Ki 8:43; 1Ki 18:39)61Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.” (1Ki 11:4; 1Ki 15:3; 1Ki 15:14; 2Ki 20:3)
Solomon’s Sacrifices
62Then the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the Lord. (2Ch 7:4; Ezr 6:16)63Solomon offered as peace offerings to the Lord 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord.64The same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord, for there he offered the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to receive the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings. (2Ch 4:1)65So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days.[3] (Le 23:34; Nu 13:21; Nu 34:5; Nu 34:8; 1Ki 8:2; 2Ki 24:7)66On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they blessed the king and went to their homes joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had shown to David his servant and to Israel his people.
1 Kings 8
King James Version
1Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.2And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.3And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.4And 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 those did the priests and the Levites bring up.5And 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.6And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims.7For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.8And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day.9There was nothing in the ark save 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.10And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place , that the cloud filled the house of the LORD,11So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.12Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.13I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever.14And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation of Israel: (and all the congregation of Israel stood;)15And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which spake with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it , saying,16Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that my name might be therein; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.17And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.18And the LORD said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart.19Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name.20And the LORD hath performed his word that he spake, and I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.21And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.22And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven:23And he 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 walk before thee with all their heart:24Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day.25Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me.26And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father.27But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?28Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day:29That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place.30And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive.31If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house:32Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.33When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house:34Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers.35When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them:36Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.37If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpiller; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be ;38What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house:39Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;)40That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.41Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name' sake;42(For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house;43Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by thy name.44If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the LORD toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name:45Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.46If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;47Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;48And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name:49Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause,50And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them:51For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron:52That thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto thee.53For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.54And it was so , 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 up to heaven.55And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying,56Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.57The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us:58That he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers.59And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the LORD, be nigh unto the LORD our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require:60That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God, and that there is none else.61Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.62And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD.63And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the LORD, two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD.64The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brasen altar that was before the LORD was too little to receive the burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.65And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days and seven days, even fourteen days.66On the eighth day he sent the people away: and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people.