I Kings 8

¹Then King Salomon assembled the Elders of Israel, euen all the heads of the tribes, the chiefe fathers of the children of Israel vnto him in Ierusalem, for to bring vp the Arke of the couenant of the Lord from the citie of Dauid, which is Zion.

²And all the men of Israel assembled vnto King Salomon at the feast in the moneth of Ethanim, which is the seuenth moneth.

³And all the Elders of Israel came and the Priests tooke the Arke.

⁴They bare the Arke of the Lord, and they bare the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tabernacle: those did the Priestes and Leuites bring vp.

⁵And King Salomon and all the Congregation of Israel, that were assembled vnto him, were with him before the Arke, offering sheepe and beeues, which could not be tolde, nor nombred for multitude.

⁶So the Priestes brought the Arke of the couenant of the Lord vnto his place, into the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, euen vnder the wings of the Cherubims.

⁷For ye Cherubims stretched out their wings ouer the place of the Arke, and the Cherubims couered the Arke, and the barres thereof aboue.

⁸And they drewe out the barres, that the endes of the barres might appeare out of the Sanctuarie before the oracle, but they were not seene without: and there they are vnto this day.

⁹Nothing was in the Arke saue the two tables of stone which Moses had put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a couenant with the children of Israel, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁰And when the Priestes were come out of the Sanctuarie, the cloude filled the house of the Lord,

¹¹So that the Priestes could not stande to minister, because of the cloude: for the glorie of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.

¹²Then spake Salomon, The Lord said, that he woulde dwell in the darke cloude.

¹³I haue built thee an house to dwell in, an habitation for thee to abide in for euer.

¹⁴And the King turned his face, and blessed all the Congregation of Israel: for all the Congregation of Israel stoode there.

¹⁵And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who spake with his mouth vnto Dauid my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it, saying,

¹⁶Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no citie of all the tribes of Israel, to builde an house that my name might be there: but I haue chosen Dauid to be ouer my people Israel.

¹⁷And it was in ye heart of Dauid my father to builde an house to the Name of the Lord God of Israel.

¹⁸And the Lord said vnto Dauid my father, Where as it was in thine heart to build an house vnto my Name, thou diddest well, that thou wast so minded:

¹⁹Neuerthelesse thou shalt not builde the house, but thy sonne that shall come out of thy loynes, he shall builde the house vnto my Name.

²⁰And the Lord hath made good his worde that he spake: and I am risen vp in the roume of Dauid my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and haue built the house for the Name of the Lord God of Israel.

²¹And I haue prepared therein a place for the Arke, wherein is the couenant of the Lord which he made with our fathers, whe he brought them out of the lande of Egypt.

²²Then Salomon stoode before the altar of the Lord in the sight of all the Congregation of Israel, and stretched out his handes towarde heauen,

²³And sayd, O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heauen aboue, or in the earth beneath, thou that keepest couenant and mercie with thy seruants that walke before thee with all their heart,

²⁴Thou that hast kept with thy seruant Dauid my father, that thou hast promised him: for thou spakest with thy mouth and hast fulfilled it with thine hande, as appeareth this day.

²⁵Therefore now, Lord God of Israel, keepe with thy seruant Dauid my father that thou hast promised him, saying, Thou shalt not want a man in my sight to sit vpon ye throne of Israel: so that thy childre take heed to their way, that they walke before me; as thou hast walked in my sight

²⁶And nowe, O God of Israel, I pray thee, let thy worde be verified, which thou spakest vnto thy seruant Dauid my father.

²⁷Is it true in deede that God will dwell on the earth? beholde, the heauens, and the heauens of heauens are not able to conteine thee: howe much more vnable is this house that I haue built?

²⁸But haue thou respect vnto the prayer of thy seruant, and to his supplication, O Lord, my God, to heare the cry and prayer which thy seruant prayeth before thee this day:

²⁹That thine eyes may be open toward this house, night and day, euen towarde the place whereof thou hast said, My Name shalbe there: that thou mayest hearken vnto the prayer which thy seruant prayeth in this place.

³⁰Heare thou therefore the supplication of thy seruant, and of thy people Israel, which pray in this place, and heare thou in the place of thine habitation, euen in heauen, and when thou hearest, haue mercie.

³¹When a man shall trespasse against his neighbour, and he lay vpon him an othe to cause him to sweare, and the swearer shall come before thine altar in this house,

³²Then heare thou in heauen, and doe and iudge thy seruants, that thou condemne the wicked to bring his way vpon his head, and iustifie the righteous, to giue him according to his righteousnesse.

³³When thy people Israel shall be ouerthrowen before the enemie, because they haue sinned against thee, and turne againe to thee, and confesse thy Name, and pray and make supplication vnto thee in this house,

³⁴Then heare thou in heauen, and be mercifull vnto the sinne of thy people Israel, and bring them againe vnto the lande, which thou gauest vnto their fathers.

³⁵When heauen shalbe shut vp, and there shalbe no raine because they haue sinned against thee, and shall pray in this place, and confesse thy Name, and turne from their sinne, when thou doest afflict them,

³⁶Then heare thou in heauen, and pardon the sinne of thy seruants and of thy people Israel (when thou hast taught the the good way wherein they may walke) and giue raine vpon the land that thou hast giuen to thy people to inherite.

³⁷When there shalbe famine in the land, when there shalbe pestilence, when there shall be blasting, mildewe, grashopper or caterpiller, when their enemie shall besiege them in the cities of their lande, or any plague, or any sickenesse,

³⁸Then what prayer, and supplication so euer shalbe made of any man or of all thy people Israel, when euery one shall knowe the plague in his owne heart, and stretch foorth his handes in this house,

³⁹Heare thou then in heauen, in thy dwelling place, and be mercifull, and doe, and giue euery man according to all his wayes, as thou knowest his heart, (for thou only knowest the heartes of all the children of men)

⁴⁰That they may feare thee as long as they liue in ye lad, which thou gauest vnto our fathers.

⁴¹Moreouer as touching the stranger that is not of thy people Israel, who shall come out of a farre countrey for thy Names sake,

⁴²(When they shall heare of thy great name, and of thy mightie hande, and of thy stretched out arme) and shall come and pray in this house,

⁴³Heare thou in heauen thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth for vnto thee: that all the people of the earth may know thy Name, and feare thee, as do thy people Israel: and that they may know, that thy Name is called vpon in this house which I haue built.

⁴⁴When thy people shall go out to battell against their enemie by the way that thou shalt sende them, and shall pray vnto the Lord towarde the way of the citie which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I haue built for thy Name,

⁴⁵Heare thou then in heauen their prayer and their supplication, and iudge their cause.

⁴⁶If they sinne against thee, ( for there is no man that sinneth not) and thou be angry with them, and deliuer them vnto the enemies, so that they cary them away prisoners vnto the land of the enemies, either farre or neere,

⁴⁷Yet if they turne againe vnto their heart in the lande (to the which they be caryed away captiues) and returne and pray vnto thee in the lande of them that caryed them away captiues, saying, We haue sinned, we haue transgressed, and done wickedly,

⁴⁸If they turne againe vnto thee with all their heart, and with all their soule in the lande of their enemies, which led them away captiues, and pray vnto thee toward the way of their land, which thou gauest vnto their fathers, and toward the citie which thou hast chosen, and the house, which I haue built for thy Name,

⁴⁹Then heare thou their prayer and their supplication in heauen thy dwelling place, and iudge their cause,

⁵⁰And be mercifull vnto thy people that haue sinned against thee, and vnto all their iniquities (wherein they haue transgressed against thee) and cause that they, which led them away captiues, may haue pitie and compassion on them:

⁵¹For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest out of Egypt from the middes of the yron fornace.

⁵²Let thine eyes be open vnto the prayer of thy seruant, and vnto the prayer of thy people Israel, to hearken vnto them, in all that they call for vnto thee.

⁵³For thou diddest separate them to thee from among all people of the earth for an inheritance, as thou saidest by the hand of Moses thy seruant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.

⁵⁴And when Salomon had made an ende of praying all this prayer and supplication vnto the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees, and stretching of his handes to heauen,

⁵⁵And stoode and blessed all the Congregation of Israel with a loud voyce, saying,

⁵⁶Blessed be the Lord that hath giuen rest vnto his people Israel, according to all that hee promised: there hath not fayled one word of all his good promise which he promised by the hand of Moses his seruant.

⁵⁷The Lord our God be with vs, as he was with our fathers, that he forsake vs not, neither leaue vs,

⁵⁸That he may bow our heartes vnto him, that we may walke in all his waies, and keepe his commandements, and his statutes, and his lawes, which he commanded our fathers.

⁵⁹And these my wordes, which I haue prayed before the Lord, be neere vnto the Lord our God day and night, that he defende the cause of his seruant, and the cause of his people Israel alway as the matter requireth,

⁶⁰That all the people of ye earth may knowe, that the Lord is God, and none other.

⁶¹Let your heart therefore be perfit with the Lord our God to walke in his statutes, and to keepe his commandements, as this day.

⁶²Then the King and all Israel with him offred sacrifice before the Lord.

⁶³And Salomon offered a sacrifice of peace offrings which he offered vnto the Lord, to wit, two and twentie thousande beeues, and an hundreth and twentie thousande sheepe: so the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord.

⁶⁴The same day did the King halowe the middle of the court, that was before the house of the Lord: for there he made burnt offerings, and the meate offrings, and the fat of the peace offeringes, because the brasen altar that was before the Lord, was too litle to receiue the burnt offerings, and the meate offerings, and the fat of the peace offrings.

⁶⁵And Salomon made at that time a feast and all Israel with him, a very great Congregation, euen from the entring in of Hamath vnto the riuer of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seuen dayes and seuen dayes, euen fourteene dayes.

⁶⁶And the eight day he sent the people away: and they thanked the King and went vnto their tentes ioyous and with glad heart, because of al the goodnesse that the Lord had done for Dauid his seruant, and for Israel his people.

I Kings 8

¹Then 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.

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 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.

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 told nor numbered for multitude.

⁶And 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.

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

⁸And 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.

⁹There 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.

¹⁰And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord,

¹¹So 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.

¹²Then spake Solomon, The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

¹³I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever.

¹⁴And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation of Israel: (and all the congregation of Israel stood;)

¹⁵And 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,

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 an house, that my name might be therein; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.

¹⁷And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.

¹⁸And 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.

¹⁹Nevertheless 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.

²⁰And 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.

²¹And 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.

²²And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven:

²³And 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:

²⁴Who 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.

²⁵Therefore 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.

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

²⁷But 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?

²⁸Yet 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:

²⁹That 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.

³⁰And 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.

³¹If 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:

³²Then 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.

³³When 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:

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 afflictest them:

³⁶Then 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.

³⁷If 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;

³⁸What 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:

³⁹Then 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;)

⁴⁰That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

⁴¹Moreover 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;

⁴³Hear 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.

⁴⁴If 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:

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 captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;

⁴⁷Yet 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;

⁴⁸And 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:

⁴⁹Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause,

⁵⁰And 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:

⁵¹For they be 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 in all that they call for unto thee.

⁵³For 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.

⁵⁴And 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.

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

⁵⁶Blessed 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.

⁵⁷The Lord 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 judgments, which he commanded our fathers.

⁵⁹And 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:

⁶⁰That all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is none else.

⁶¹Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord 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 the Lord.

⁶³And 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.

⁶⁴The 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.

⁶⁵And 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.

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 the Lord had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people.