1 T hen King Solomon gathered together the leaders of Israel in front of him in Jerusalem. He gathered together all the heads of the families and the leaders of the fathers’ houses of the sons of Israel. They gathered to bring up the Lord’s special box of the agreement from Zion the city of David.

¶ Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the families of the sons 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 A ll the men of Israel gathered to King Solomon at the special supper in the seventh month, Ethanim.

And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto King Solomon in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month, on the solemn day.

3 A ll the leaders of Israel came, and the religious leaders took up the Lord’s special box of the agreement.

And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.

4 T hey brought up the Lord’s special box of the agreement, the meeting tent, and all the holy objects which were in the tent. The religious leaders and the Levites brought them up.

And they brought up the ark of the LORD and the tabernacle of the testimony and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, which the priests and the Levites carried.

5 K ing Solomon and all the people of Israel, who were gathered to him, were with him in front of the special box. They killed so many sheep and cattle on the altar that their number could not be known.

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 counted nor numbered for multitude.

6 T hen the religious leaders brought the Lord’s special box of the agreement to its place. They brought it into the most holy place of the house, under the wings of the cherubim.

And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, into the oracle of the house, in the holy of holies, under the wings of the cherubim.

7 T he cherubim spread their wings over the place of the special box. The cherubim made a covering above the special box and its special pieces of wood used for carrying.

For the cherubim had their wings extended over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and its staves from above.

8 T he carrying pieces were so long that the ends of them could be seen from the holy place in front of the most holy place. But they could not be seen from outside. They are there to this day.

And they drew out the staves so that the ends of the staves could be seen out in the holy place in front of the oracle, but they could not be seen from outside, and thus they remained until today.

9 T here was nothing in the special box except the two stone writings which Moses put there at Horeb. There the Lord had made an agreement with the people of Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt.

There was nothing in the ark except the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD cut a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

10 W hen the religious leaders came from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the Lord.

And when the priests came out of the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the LORD.

11 S o the religious leaders were not able to stand there to do their work because of the cloud. For the shining-greatness of the Lord filled the Lord’s house.

And 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 T hen Solomon said, “The Lord has said that He would live in the thick cloud.

¶ Then Solomon said, The LORD has said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

13 I have built You an honored house, a place for You to live forever.” Solomon’s Words to the People

I have surely built thee a house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever.

14 T hen the king turned around and prayed that good would come to all the people of Israel, while all the people of Israel stood.

And the king turned his face about and blessed all the congregation of Israel, and all the congregation of Israel were standing.

15 H e said, “Thanks be to the Lord, the God of Israel. He spoke with His mouth to my father David. And He has kept His promise with His hand, saying,

And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth unto David my father, and with his hand has fulfilled it, saying,

16 ’ Since the day I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I did not choose a city of all the families of Israel in which to build a house that My name might be there. But I chose David to be king over My people Israel.’

Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I have chosen 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.

17 N ow it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

And it was in the heart of David, my father, to build a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

18 B ut the Lord said to my father David, ‘Because it was in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it was in your heart.

But the LORD said unto David, my father, Whereas it was in thy heart to build a house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thy heart;

19 B ut you will not build the house. Your son who will be born to you will build the house for My name.’

nevertheless, thou shalt not build the house, but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build a house unto my name.

20 N ow the Lord has kept His promise which He made. For I have taken my father David’s place 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.

And the LORD has established his word that he spoke, and I have risen up in the place of David, my father, and sit on the throne of Israel as the LORD had said and have built a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

21 T here I have made a place for the special box in which is the agreement of the Lord. He made it when He brought them from the land of Egypt.” Solomon’s Prayer

And I have set there a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD, which he made with our fathers when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

22 T hen Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord. And in front of all the people of Israel he lifted his hands toward heaven.

¶ And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and extending his hands toward heaven,

23 H e said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth below. You are keeping Your agreement and are showing loving-kindness to Your servants who walk in Your ways with all their heart.

he said, LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in the heavens above or on earth beneath, who keeps the covenant and mercy with thy slaves that walk before thee with all their heart,

24 Y ou have kept Your promise to Your servant, my father David. Yes, You have spoken with Your mouth, and have done it with Your hand, as it is this day.

who hast kept unto thy slave David, my father, what thou didst declare unto him; thou didst say it with thy mouth and hast fulfilled it with thy hand, as we see this day.

25 S o now, O Lord, God of Israel, keep Your promise to my father David when You said to him, ‘You will not be without a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are careful to walk in My ways as you have walked.’

Therefore, now, LORD God of Israel, fulfill unto thy slave David, my father, what thou didst promise him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if thy sons keep their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me.

26 O God of Israel, let Your Word be made sure, which You have spoken to Your servant, my father David.

And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be made firm, which thou didst speak unto thy slave David, my father.

27 “ But is it true that God will live on the earth? See, heaven and the highest heaven are not big enough to hold You. How much less this house which I have built!

But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heavens, the heavens of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have built?

28 B ut keep in mind the prayer of Your servant, O Lord my God. Listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays to You today.

Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy slave and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy slave prays before thee today,

29 O pen Your eyes night and day toward this house, toward the place of which You have said, ‘My name will be there.’ Listen to the prayer Your servant will pray toward this place.

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 may hearken unto the prayer which thy slave shall make in this place.

30 L isten to the prayer of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear in heaven where You live. Hear and forgive.

Therefore, thou shalt hearken unto the supplication of thy slave and of thy people Israel when they shall pray in this place and hear in thy dwelling place, from the heavens; please hear and forgive.

31 “ If a man sins against his neighbor and has to make a promise, and he comes and makes a promise at Your altar in this house,

When anyone shall have sinned against his neighbour, and an oath is laid upon him to cause him to swear and the oath comes before thy altar in this house,

32 t hen hear in heaven and act. Judge Your servants. Punish the guilty forever by bringing his actions upon his own head, and free from guilt the one who is right and good, by returning his good to him.

thou shalt hear from heaven and do and judge thy slaves, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head, and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

33 “ When Your people Israel do not win in battle over those who hate them, because they have sinned against You, but if they turn to You again and call on Your name and pray to You in this house,

When thy people Israel are 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 with humility unto thee in this house,

34 t hen hear in heaven. Forgive the sin of Your people Israel. And return them to the land You gave to their fathers.

then thou shalt hear in the heavens and forgive the sin of thy people Israel and bring them again unto the land which thou didst give unto their fathers.

35 “ When the heavens are shut up and give no rain because they have sinned against You, if they pray toward this place and call on Your name and turn from their sin when You bring trouble to them,

When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against thee, if they pray in this place and confess thy name and turn from their sin when thou hast afflicted them,

36 t hen hear in heaven. Forgive the sin of Your servants and of Your people Israel. Teach them the good way in which they should walk. And send rain on Your land, which You have given to Your people.

then thou shalt hear in the heavens and forgive the sin of thy slaves and of thy people Israel, teaching them the good way in which they should walk and shalt give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.

37 “ If there is no food in the land, if there is a bad sickness, if there are diseases or locusts or grasshoppers that kill the plants, if the armies of those who hate Your people gather around their cities, or whatever trouble or sickness there is,

When there is famine in the land or pestilence or blasting or mildew or locusts or caterpillars, if their enemy besieges them in the land of their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is,

38 w hatever prayer is made by any man or by all Your people Israel, each knowing the trouble of his own heart and spreading his hands toward this house,

every prayer and every supplication made by any man or by all thy people Israel, when anyone knows the plague of his own heart and spreads forth his hands toward this house,

39 t hen hear in heaven where You are. Forgive, and act. Give to each the pay he has earned by all his ways. You know his heart. You alone know the hearts of all the children of men.

then thou shalt hear in the heavens, in the habitation of thy dwelling place, and forgive and do and give to each one according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the sons of men),

40 M ay they fear You all the days they live in the land You have given to our fathers.

that they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou didst give unto our fathers.

41 “ When a stranger who is not of Your people Israel comes from a far country because of You,

Likewise concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but comes out of a far country for thy name’s sake

42 ( for they will hear of Your great name and Your powerful hand and Your long arm,) when he comes and prays toward this house,

(for they shall have heard of thy great name and of thy strong hand and of thy stretched out arm), when he shall come to pray in this house,

43 h ear in heaven where You are. Do all the stranger asks of You. So all the peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel. Then they may know that this house I have built is called by Your name.

thou shalt hear in the heavens, in the habitation of thy dwelling place, and do according to all that for which the stranger shall have called unto thee, that all peoples of the earth may know thy name and fear thee as do thy people Israel and that they may know that thy name is invoked upon this house, which I have built.

44 “ When your people go out to battle against those who hate them, by whatever way You send them, when they pray to the Lord toward the city You have chosen and the house I have built for Your name,

If thy people go out to battle against their enemies by the way which 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 t hen hear their prayer and their cry in heaven. See that the right thing is done to them.

thou shalt hear in the heavens their prayer and their supplication and do their judgment.

46 “ When they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin), and You will be angry with them, give them to those who hate them, so they will be taken away to another land, far away or near.

If they have sinned against thee (for there is no man that does not sin) and thou should 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 W hen they do some thinking in the land where they have been taken, and pray to You in the land of those who hate them, saying, ‘We have sinned and have done wrong and have done bad things,’

and they return unto their heart in the land where they were carried captives and return and make supplication unto thee in the land of those that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned and have done iniquity, we have committed wickedness;

48 i f they return to You with all their heart and soul in the land of those who hate them and have taken them there, and if they pray to You toward their land which You have given to their fathers, the city You have chosen, and the house I have built for Your name,

and so convert themselves unto thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who led them away captive and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou didst give unto their fathers, toward the city which thou hast chosen and the house which I have built for thy name,

49 t hen hear their prayer in heaven where You are. See that the right thing is done to them.

thou shalt hear in the heavens, in the habitation of thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplication and do what is right unto them

50 F orgive Your people who have sinned against You and all the wrong they have done against You. Give them loving-pity in front of those who have taken them away, that they may have loving-pity on them.

and forgive thy people that have sinned against thee and all their rebellions by which they have rebelled against thee and cause those who carried them captive to have mercy on them,

51 F or they are Your people and Your children whom You have brought out of Egypt, from the iron fire-place.

for they are thy people and thy inheritance, which thou didst bring forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace.

52 L et Your eyes be open to the prayer of Your servant and of Your people Israel. Listen to them when they call to You.

Let thine eyes be open unto the supplication of thy slave and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto thee.

53 F or You have divided them from all the peoples of the earth as Your children. You have done what You said You would do through Your servant Moses, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.” Prayer for Good to Come to the People

For thou didst separate them from among all the peoples of the earth, to be thy inheritance, as thou didst speak by the hand of Moses, thy slave, when thou didst bring our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.

54 W hen Solomon had finished praying all this prayer to the Lord, he stood up in front of the altar of the Lord. He had been on his knees with his hands lifted toward heaven.

¶ 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 extended toward heaven.

55 H e stood and prayed with a loud voice that good would come to all the people of Israel who were gathered together. He said,

And he stood and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying,

56 “ Thanks be to the Lord. He has given rest to His people Israel. He has done all that He promised. Every word has come true of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses.

Blessed be the LORD that has given rest unto his people Israel according to all that he had said; not one word has failed of all his good word, which he spoke by the hand of Moses, his slave.

57 M ay the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers. May He not leave us alone.

The LORD our God be with us as he was with our fathers; let him not leave us nor forsake us

58 M ay He turn our hearts to Him, to walk in all His ways, and to keep all His Word and all His Laws, which He told our fathers.

that he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his rights, which he commanded our fathers.

59 M ay these words of mine, which I have prayed to the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night. May He see that the right thing is done to His servant and His people Israel, day by day as we have need.

And let these my words, with which I have made supplication before the LORD, be near unto the LORD our God day and night that he maintain the judgment of his slave and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require;

60 T hen all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God. There is no other.

that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God, and that there is no other.

61 S o let your whole heart be true to the Lord our God. Walk in His Laws and keep His Word, just as you are doing today.” The House of God Is Set Apart

Let your heart, therefore, be perfect with the LORD our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.

62 T hen the king and all Israel with him gave a gift in worship to the Lord.

¶ Then the king and all Israel with him, offered sacrifices before the LORD.

63 S olomon gave 22, 000 cattle and 120, 000 sheep as a peace gift to the Lord. So the king and all the people of Israel set apart the house of the Lord.

And Solomon offered sacrifices of peace, which he offered unto the LORD, which were twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD.

64 T he same day the king set apart the center of the open space that was in front of the house of the Lord. For there he gave the burnt gift and the grain gift and the fat of the peace gifts. Because the brass altar before the Lord was too small to hold the burnt gift and the grain gift and the fat of the peace gifts.

That same day the king sanctified the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD, for there he offered the burnt offerings and the presents and the fat of the peace offerings because the brasen altar that was before the LORD was too small to receive the burnt offerings and the presents and the fat of the peace offerings.

65 S o Solomon had the special supper at that time, and all Israel with him. There were many people gathered, from the way into Hamath to the river of Egypt. They were before the Lord our God for seven days and seven more days, fourteen days in all.

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, for seven days and another seven days, even fourteen days.

66 S olomon sent the people away on the eighth day, and they gave thanks to the king. Then they went to their tents full of joy and glad in their hearts for all the good things the Lord had shown to His servant David and to His people Israel.

On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they, blessing the king, went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had done unto David, his slave, and unto Israel his people.