1Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel , and all the heads of the tribes , the princes of the fathers’ houses of 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 .
Solomon's Prayer of Dedication
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 .
God's Response to Solomon
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 .
The Feast of Dedication
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 .