1Then said Solomon , The LORD hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness . 2But I have built an house of habitation for thee, and a place for thy dwelling for ever . 3And the king turned his face , and blessed the whole congregation of Israel : and all the congregation of Israel stood . 4And he said , Blessed be the LORD God of Israel , who hath with his hands fulfilled that which he spake with his mouth to my father David , saying , 5Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build an house in, that my name might be there; neither chose I any man to be a ruler over my people Israel : 6But I have chosen Jerusalem , that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel . 7Now it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel . 8But the LORD said to David my father , Forasmuch as it was in thine heart to build an house for my name , thou didst well in that it was in thine heart : 9Notwithstanding thou shalt not build the house ; but thy son which shall come forth out of thy loins , he shall build the house for my name . 10The LORD therefore hath performed his word that he hath spoken : for I am risen up in the room of David my father , and am set on the throne of Israel , as the LORD promised , and have built the house for the name of the LORD God of Israel . 11And in it have I put the ark , wherein is the covenant of the LORD , that he made with the children of Israel .
Solomon's Prayer for the People
12And he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel , and spread forth his hands : 13For Solomon had made a brasen scaffold , of five cubits long , and five cubits broad , and three cubits high , and had set it in the midst of the court : and upon it he stood , and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel , and spread forth his hands toward heaven , 14And said , O LORD God of Israel , there is no God like thee in the heaven , nor in the earth ; which keepest covenant , and shewest mercy unto thy servants , that walk before thee with all their hearts : 15Thou which hast kept with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him; and spakest with thy mouth , and hast fulfilled it with thine hand , as it is this day . 16Now therefore, O LORD 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 upon the throne of Israel ; yet so that thy children take heed to their way to walk in my law , as thou hast walked before me. 17Now then, O LORD God of Israel , let thy word be verified , which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David . 18But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth ? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built ! 19Have respect therefore to the prayer of thy servant , and to his supplication , O LORD my God , to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee: 20That thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night , upon the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy name there; to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth toward this place . 21Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant , and of thy people Israel , which they shall make toward this place : hear thou from thy dwelling place , even from heaven ; and when thou hearest , forgive .
God's Response to Solomon's Prayer
22If a man sin against his neighbour , and an oath be laid upon him to make him swear , and the oath come before thine altar in this house ; 23Then hear thou from heaven , and do , and judge thy servants , by requiting the wicked , by recompensing his way upon his own head ; and by justifying the righteous , by giving him according to his righteousness . 24And if thy people Israel be put to the worse before the enemy , because they have sinned against thee; and shall return and confess thy name , and pray and make supplication before thee in this house ; 25Then hear thou from the heavens , and forgive the sin of thy people Israel , and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers . 26When the heaven is shut up , and there is no rain , because they have sinned against thee; yet if they pray toward this place , and confess thy name , and turn from their sin , when thou dost afflict them; 27Then hear thou from heaven , and forgive the sin of thy servants , and of thy people Israel , when thou hast taught them the good way , wherein they should walk ; and send rain upon thy land , which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance . 28If there be dearth in the land , if there be pestilence , if there be blasting , or mildew , locusts , or caterpillers ; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land ; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be: 29Then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of any man , or of all thy people Israel , when every one shall know his own sore and his own grief , and shall spread forth his hands in this house : 30Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place , and forgive , and render unto every man according unto all his ways , whose heart thou knowest ; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men :) 31That they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways , so long as they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers .
The Importance of the Temple
32Moreover concerning the stranger , which is not of thy people Israel , but is come from a far country for thy great name’s sake, and thy mighty hand , and thy stretched out arm ; if they come and pray in this house ; 33Then hear thou from the heavens , even from 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 , and fear thee, as doth thy people Israel , and may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name . 34If thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that thou shalt send them, and they pray unto thee toward this city which thou hast chosen , and the house which I have built for thy name ; 35Then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and their supplication , and maintain their cause . 36If they sin against thee, (for there is no man which sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies , and they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near ; 37Yet if they bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive , and turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity , saying , We have sinned , we have done amiss , and have dealt wickedly ; 38If they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity , whither they have carried them captives , and pray toward their land , which thou gavest unto their fathers , and toward the city which thou hast chosen , and toward the house which I have built for thy name : 39Then hear thou from the heavens , even from thy dwelling place , their prayer and their supplications , and maintain their cause , and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee. 40Now, my God , let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open , and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place . 41Now therefore arise , O LORD God , into thy resting place, thou, and the ark of thy strength : let thy priests , O LORD God , be clothed with salvation , and let thy saints rejoice in goodness . 42O LORD God , turn not away the face of thine anointed : remember the mercies of David thy servant .