1 Then 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.
2 And
all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in
the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.
3 And
all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.
4 And
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.
5 And
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.
6 And
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.
7 For
the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark,
and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.
8 And
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.
9 There 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.
10 And
it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD,
11 So
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.
12 Then
spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
13 I
have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide
in for ever.
14 And
the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation of Israel:
(and all the congregation of Israel stood;)
15 And
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,
16 Since
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.
17 And
it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the
LORD God of Israel.
18 And
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.
19 Nevertheless
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.
20 And
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.
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 he brought them out of the land of Egypt.
22 And
Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the
congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven:
23 And
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:
24 Who
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.
25 Therefore
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.
26 And
now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou
spakest unto thy servant David my father.
27 But
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?
28 Yet
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:
29 That
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.
30 And
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.
31 If
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:
32 Then
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.
33 When
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:
34 Then
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.
35 When
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:
36 Then
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.
37 If
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;
38 What
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:
39 Then
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;)
40 That
they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest
unto our fathers.
41 Moreover
concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh
out of a far country for thy name's 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;
43 Hear
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.
44 If
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:
45 Then
hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their
cause.
46 If
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;
47 Yet 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;
48 And 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:
49 Then
hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and
maintain their cause,
50 And
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:
51 For
they be thy
people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from
the midst of the furnace of iron:
52 That
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.
53 For
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.
54 And
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.
55 And
he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying,
56 Blessed 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.
57 The
LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor
forsake us:
58 That
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.
59 And
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:
60 That
all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God, and that there is none
else.
61 Let
your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes,
and to keep his commandments, as at this day.
62 And
the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD.
63 And
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.
64 The
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.
65 And
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.
66 On
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.
