1 Then said Solomon, The LORD hath said that he would dwell in
the thick darkness.
2 But
I have built an house of habitation for thee, and a place for thy dwelling for
ever.
3 And
the king turned his face, and blessed the whole congregation of Israel: and all
the congregation of Israel stood.
4 And
he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who hath with
his hands fulfilled that which he spake with his mouth to my
father David, saying,
5 Since
the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt I chose no city
among all the tribes of Israel to build an house in, that my name might be
there; neither chose I any man to be a ruler over my people Israel:
6 But
I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to
be over my people Israel.
7 Now
it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the
LORD God of Israel.
8 But
the LORD said to David my father, Forasmuch as it was in thine heart to build
an house for my name, thou didst well in that it was in thine heart:
9 Notwithstanding
thou shalt not build the house; but thy son which shall come forth out of thy
loins, he shall build the house for my name.
10 The
LORD therefore hath performed his word that he hath spoken: for I am risen up
in the room of David my father, and am set on the throne of Israel, as the LORD
promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.
11 And
in it have I put the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD, that he made
with the children of Israel.
12 And
he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation
of Israel, and spread forth his hands:
13 For
Solomon had made a brasen scaffold, of five cubits long, and five cubits broad,
and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court: and upon it he
stood, and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and
spread forth his hands toward heaven,
14 And
said, O LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee in the heaven, nor in
the earth; which keepest covenant, and shewest mercy unto thy servants, that walk
before thee with all their hearts:
15 Thou
which hast kept with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised
him; and spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with
thine hand, as it is this day.
16 Now
therefore, O LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that
which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my
sight to sit upon the throne of Israel; yet so that thy children take heed to
their way to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me.
17 Now
then, O LORD God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken
unto thy servant David.
18 But
will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the
heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have
built!
19 Have
respect therefore to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD
my God, to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which thy servant prayeth before
thee:
20 That
thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place whereof
thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy name there; to hearken unto the
prayer which thy servant prayeth toward this place.
21 Hearken
therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel,
which they shall make toward this place: hear thou from thy dwelling place, even from
heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive.
22 If
a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to make him
swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house;
23 Then
hear thou from heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, by requiting the wicked,
by recompensing his way upon his own head; and by justifying the righteous, by
giving him according to his righteousness.
24 And
if thy people Israel be put to the worse before the enemy, because they have
sinned against thee; and shall return and confess thy name, and pray and make
supplication before thee in this house;
25 Then
hear thou from the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring
them again unto the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers.
26 When
the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against
thee; yet if
they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin,
when thou dost afflict them;
27 Then
hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people
Israel, when thou hast taught them the good way, wherein they should walk; and
send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy people for an
inheritance.
28 If
there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or
mildew, locusts, or caterpillers; if their enemies besiege them in the cities
of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be:
29 Then what prayer or what
supplication soever shall be made of any man, or of all thy people Israel, when
every one shall know his own sore and his own grief, and shall spread forth his
hands in this house:
30 Then
hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every
man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only
knowest the hearts of the children of men:)
31 That
they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as they live in the land which
thou gavest unto our fathers.
32 Moreover
concerning the stranger, which is not of thy people Israel, but is come from a
far country for thy great name's sake, and thy mighty hand, and thy stretched
out arm; if they come and pray in this house;
33 Then
hear thou from the heavens, even from 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, and fear thee, as doth thy people Israel, and may know that
this house which I have built is called by thy name.
34 If
thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that thou shalt send
them, and they pray unto thee toward this city which thou hast chosen, and the
house which I have built for thy name;
35 Then
hear thou from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and maintain
their cause.
36 If
they sin against thee, (for there is no man which sinneth not,) and thou be
angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away
captives unto a land far off or near;
37 Yet if they
bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn and
pray unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have
done amiss, and have dealt wickedly;
38 If
they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of
their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray toward their
land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the
city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy
name:
39 Then
hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, their prayer
and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people which
have sinned against thee.
40 Now,
my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine
ears be attent
unto the prayer that is made in this place.
41 Now
therefore arise, O LORD God, into thy resting place, thou, and the ark of thy
strength: let thy priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy
saints rejoice in goodness.
42 O
LORD God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of
David thy servant.
