“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.” (1 Kings 8:1-66 AV)
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