I Kings 8

¹Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers’housesof the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah 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 Jehovah, and the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent; even these 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 counted nor numbered for multitude.

⁶And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah unto its place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubim.

⁷For the cherubim spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and the staves thereof above.

⁸And the staves were so long that the ends of the staves were seen from the holy place before the oracle; but 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 Jehovah 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 Jehovah,

¹¹so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud; for the glory of Jehovah filled the house of Jehovah.

¹²Then spake Solomon, Jehovah hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

¹³I have surely built thee a house of habitation, a place for thee to dwell in for ever.

¹⁴And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the assembly of Israel: and all the assembly of Israel stood.

¹⁵And he said, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, who 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 a house, that my name might be there; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.

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

¹⁸But Jehovah said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thy heart to build a house for my name, thou didst well that it was in thy heart:

¹⁹nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house for my name.

²⁰And Jehovah hath established his word that he spake; for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as Jehovah promised, and have built the house for the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel.

²¹And there have I set a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of Jehovah, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

²²And Solomon stood before the altar of Jehovah in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven;

²³and he said, O Jehovah, the God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath; who keepest covenant and lovingkindness with thy servants, that walk before thee with all their heart;

²⁴who hast kept with thy servant David my father that which thou didst promise him: yea, thou spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thy hand, as it is this day.

²⁵Now therefore, O Jehovah, the 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 on the throne of Israel, if only thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me as thou hast walked before me.

²⁶Now therefore, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father.

²⁷But will God in very deed dwell on the earth? behold, heaven and the 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 Jehovah my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee this day;

²⁹that thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place whereof thou hast said, My name shall be there; to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall pray toward this place.

³⁰And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: yea, hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place; and when thou hearest, forgive.

³¹If a man sin against his neighbor, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and he come and swear 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 own head, and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

³³When thy people Israel are smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee; if they 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 dost afflict them:

³⁶then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou teachest them the good way wherein they should walk; and send 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, if there be blasting or mildew, locust or caterpillar; 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, who 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 render unto every man according to all 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 the foreigner, that is not of thy people Israel, when he shall come out of a far country for thy name’s sake

⁴²(for they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy mighty hand, and of thine outstretched arm); when he shall come and pray toward this house;

⁴³hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place, and do according to all that the foreigner calleth to thee for; that all the peoples of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as doth thy people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.

⁴⁴If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatsoever way thou shalt send them, and they pray unto Jehovah toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which 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 captive unto the land of the enemy, far off or near;

⁴⁷yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captive, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have dealt wickedly;

⁴⁸if they return unto thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them 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 who have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee; and give them compassion before those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them

⁵¹(for they are 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 whensoever they cry unto thee.

⁵³For thou didst separate them from among all the peoples of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord Jehovah.

⁵⁴And it was so, that, when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto Jehovah, he arose from before the altar of Jehovah, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread forth toward heaven.

⁵⁵And he stood, and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying,

⁵⁶Blessed be Jehovah, 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 Moses his servant.

⁵⁷Jehovah 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 ordinances, which he commanded our fathers.

⁵⁹And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before Jehovah, be nigh unto Jehovah our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel, as every day shall require;

⁶⁰that all the peoples of the earth may know that Jehovah, he is God; there is none else.

⁶¹Let your heart therefore be perfect with Jehovah 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 Jehovah.

⁶³And Solomon offered for the sacrifice of peace-offerings, which he offered unto Jehovah, two and twenty thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of Jehovah.

⁶⁴The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that was before the house of Jehovah; for there he offered the burnt-offering, and the meal-offering, and the fat of the peace-offerings, because the brazen altar that was before Jehovah was too little to receive the burnt-offering, and the meal-offering, and the fat of the peace-offerings.

⁶⁵So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath unto the brook of Egypt, before Jehovah 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 Jehovah had showed unto David his servant, and to Israel his people.

I Kings 8

¹Then doth Solomon assemble the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, princes of the fathers of the sons of Israel, unto king Solomon, to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah from the city of Davidit is Zion;

²and all the men of Israel are assembled unto king Solomon, in the month of Ethanim, in the festival is the seventh month.

³And all the elders of Israel come in, and the priests lift up the ark,

⁴and bring up the ark of Jehovah, and the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that are in the tent, yea, the priests and the Levites bring them up.

⁵And king Solomon and all the company of Israel who are met unto him are with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that are not counted nor numbered for multitude.

⁶And the priests bring in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah unto its place, unto the oracle of the house, unto the holy of holies, unto the place of the wings of the cherubs;

⁷for the cherubs are spreading forth two wings unto the place of the ark, and the cherubs cover over the ark, and over its staves from above;

⁸and they lengthen the staves, and the heads of the staves are seen from the holy place on the front of the oracle, and are not seen without, and they are there unto this day.

⁹There is nothing in the ark, only the two tables of stone which Moses put there in Horeb, when Jehovah covenanted with the sons of Israel in their going out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁰And it cometh to pass, in the going out of the priests from the holy place , that the cloud hath filled the house of Jehovah,

¹¹and the priests have not been able to stand to minister because of the cloud, for the honour of Jehovah hath filled the house of Jehovah.

¹²Then said Solomon, `Jehovah hath said to dwell in thick darkness;

¹³I have surely built a house of habitation for Thee; a fixed place for Thine abiding to the ages.'

¹⁴And the king turneth round his face, and blesseth the whole assembly of Israel; and all the assembly of Israel is standing.

¹⁵And he saith, `Blessed is Jehovah, God of Israel, who spake by His mouth with David my father, and by His hand hath fulfilled it , saying,

¹⁶From the day that I brought out My people, even Israel, from Egypt, I have not fixed on a city out of all the tribes of Israel, to build a house for My name being there; and I fix on David to be over My people Israel.

¹⁷`And it is with the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of Jehovah, God of Israel,

¹⁸and Jehovah saith unto David my father, Because that it hath been with thy heart to build a house for My name, thou hast done well that it hath been with thy heart;

¹⁹only, thou dost not build the house, but thy son who is coming out from thy loins, he doth build the house for My name.

²⁰`And Jehovah doth establish His word which He spake, and I am risen up instead of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as Jehovah spake, and build the house for the name of Jehovah, God of Israel,

²¹and set there a place for the ark, where is the covenant of Jehovah which He made with our fathers in His bringing them out from the land of Egypt.'

²²And Solomon standeth before the altar of Jehovah, over-against all the assembly of Israel, and spreadeth his hands towards the heavens,

²³and saith, `Jehovah, God of Israel, there is not a God like Thee, in the heavens above, and on the earth beneath, keeping the covenant and the kindness for Thy servants, those walking before Thee with all their heart,

²⁴who hast kept for Thy servant David my father that which Thou spakest to him; yea, Thou speakest with Thy mouth, and with Thy hand hast fulfilled it , as at this day.

²⁵`And now, Jehovah, God of Israel, keep for Thy servant David my father that which Thou spakest to him, saying, There is not cut off to thee a man from before Me, sitting on the throne of Israelonly, if thy sons watch their way, to walk before Me as thou hast walked before Me.

²⁶`And now, O God of Israel, let it be established, I pray Thee, Thy word which Thou hast spoken to Thy servant, David my father.

²⁷But, is it true? God dwelleth on the earth! lo, the heavens, and the heavens of the heavens do not contain Thee, how much less this house which I have builded!

²⁸`Then thou hast turned unto the prayer of Thy servant, and unto his supplication, O Jehovah my God, to hearken unto the cry and unto the prayer which Thy servant is praying before Thee to-day,

²⁹for Thine eyes being open towards this house night and day, towards the place of which Thou hast said, My Name is there; to hearken unto the prayer which Thy servant prayeth towards this place.

³⁰`Then Thou hast hearkened unto the supplication of Thy servant, and of Thy people Israel, which they pray towards this place; yea, Thou dost hearken in the place of Thy dwelling, in the heavensand Thou hast hearkened, and hast forgiven,

³¹that which a man sinneth against his neighbour, and he hath lifted up upon him an oath to cause him to swear, and the oath hath come in before Thine altar in this house,

³²then Thou dost hear in the heavens, and hast done, and hast judged Thy servants, to declare wicked the wicked, to put his way on his head, and to declare righteous the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

³³`In Thy people Israel being smitten before an enemy, because they sin against Thee, and they have turned back unto Thee, and have confessed Thy name, and prayed, and made supplication unto Thee in this house,

³⁴then thou dost hear in the heavens, and hast forgiven the sin of Thy people Israel, and brought them back unto the ground that Thou gavest to their fathers.

³⁵`In the heavens being restrained, and there is no rain, because they sin against Thee, and they have prayed towards this place, and confessed Thy name, and from their sin turn back, for Thou dost afflict them,

³⁶then Thou dost hear in the heavens, and hast forgiven the sin of Thy servants, and of Thy people Israel, for Thou directest them the good way in which they go, and hast given rain on Thy land which Thou hast given to Thy people for inheritance.

³⁷`Faminewhen it is in the land; pestilencewhen it is; blasting, mildew, locust; caterpillarwhen it is; when its enemy hath distressed it in the land in its gates, any plague, any sickness,

³⁸any prayer, any supplication that is of any man of all Thy people Israel, who know each the plague of his own heart, and hath spread his hands towards this house,

³⁹then Thou dost hear in the heavens, the settled place of Thy dwelling, and hast forgiven, and hast done, and hast given to each according to all his ways, whose heart Thou knowest, (for Thou hast knownThyself alonethe heart of all the sons of man),

⁴⁰so that they fear Thee all the days that they are living on the face of the ground that Thou hast given to our fathers.

⁴¹`And also, unto the stranger who is not of Thy people Israel, and hath come from a land afar off for Thy name's sake

⁴²(for they hear of Thy great name, and of Thy strong hand, and of Thy stretched-out arm) and he hath come in and prayed towards this house,

⁴³Thou dost hear in the heavens, the settled place of Thy dwelling, and hast done according to all that the stranger calleth unto Thee for, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Thy name, to fear Thee like Thy people Israel, and to know that Thy name hath been called on this house which I have builded.

⁴⁴`When Thy people doth go out to battle against its enemy, in the way that Thou dost send them, and they have prayed unto Jehovah the way of the city which thou hast fixed on, and of the house which I have builded for Thy name;

⁴⁵then Thou hast heard in the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and hast maintained their cause.

⁴⁶`When they sin against Thee (for there is not a man who sinneth not), and Thou hast been angry with them, and hast given them up before an enemy, and they have taken captive their captivity unto the land of the enemy far off or near;

⁴⁷and they have turned it back unto their heart in the land whither they have been taken captive, and have turned back, and made supplication unto Thee, in the land of their captors, saying, We have sinned and done perverselywe have done wickedly;

⁴⁸yea, they have turned back unto Thee, with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, and have prayed unto Thee the way of their land, which Thou gavest to their fathers, the city which Thou hast chosen, and the house which I have builded for Thy name:

⁴⁹`Then Thou hast heard in the heavens, the settled place of Thy dwelling, their prayer and their supplication, and hast maintained their cause,

⁵⁰and hast forgiven Thy people who have sinned against Thee, even all their transgressions which they have transgressed against Thee, and hast given them mercies before their captors, and they have had mercy on them

⁵¹(for Thy people and Thy inheritance are they, whom Thou didst bring out of Egypt, out of the midst of the furnace of iron)

⁵²for Thine eyes being open unto the supplication of Thy servant, and unto the supplication of Thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all they call unto Thee for;

⁵³for Thou hast separated them to Thyself for an inheritance, out of all the peoples of the earth, as Thou didst speak by the hand of Moses Thy servant, in Thy bringing out our fathers from Egypt, O Lord Jehovah.'

⁵⁴And it cometh to pass, at Solomon's finishing to pray unto Jehovah all this prayer and supplication, he hath risen from before the altar of Jehovah, from bending on his knees, and his hands spread out to the heavens,

⁵⁵and he standeth and blesseth all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying,

⁵⁶`Blessed is Jehovah who hath given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He hath spoken; there hath not fallen one word of all His good word, which He spake by the hand of Moses his servant.

⁵⁷`Jehovah our God is with us as He hath been with our fathers; He doth not forsake us nor leave us;

⁵⁸to incline our heart unto Himself, to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commands, and His statutes, and His judgments, which He commanded our fathers;

⁵⁹and these my words with which I have made supplication before Jehovah, are near unto Jehovah our God by day and by night, to maintain the cause of His servant, and the cause of His people Israel, the matter of a day in its day;

⁶⁰for all the peoples of the earth knowing that Jehovah, He is God; there is none else;

⁶¹and your heart hath been perfect with Jehovah our God, to walk in His statutes, and to keep His commands, as at this day.'

⁶²And the king and all Israel with him are sacrificing a sacrifice before Jehovah;

⁶³and Solomon sacrificeth the sacrifice of peace-offerings, which he hath sacrificed to Jehovah, oxen, twenty and two thousand, and sheep, a hundred and twenty thousand; and the king and all the sons of Israel dedicate the house of Jehovah.

⁶⁴On that day hath the king sanctified the middle of the court that is before the house of Jehovah, for he hath made there the burnt-offering, and the present, and the fat of the peace-offerings; for the altar of brass that is before Jehovah is too little to contain the burnt-offering, and the present, and the fat of the peace-offerings.

⁶⁵And Solomon maketh, at that time, the festivaland all Israel with him, a great assembly from the entering in of Hamath unto the brook of Egyptbefore Jehovah our God, seven days and seven days; fourteen days.

⁶⁶On the eighth day he hath sent the people away, and they bless the king, and go to their tents, rejoicing and glad of heart for all the good that Jehovah hath done to David His servant, and to Israel His people.