1 Kings 8
1 2
3 4 5
6 7 8
9 10 11
12 13 14
15 16 17
18 19 20
21 22
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.
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