First Book of Kings 8

¹ Then Solomon called the elders of Israel together in Jerusalem to bring the ark of the covenant of Yahweh up from the Citadel of David, which is Zion.

² All the men of Israel assembled round King Solomon in the month of Ethanim, at the time of the feast[*a] (that is, the seventh month),

³ and the priests took up the ark

⁴ and the Tent of Meeting with all the sacred vessels that were in it.

⁵ In the presence of the ark, King Solomon and all Israel sacrificed sheep and oxen, countless, innumerable.

⁶ The priests brought the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to its place, in the Debir of the Temple, that is, in the Holy of Holies, under the cherubs’ wings.

⁷ For there where the ark was placed the cherubs spread out their wings and sheltered the ark and its shafts.

⁹ There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets Moses had placed in it at Horeb, the tablets of the covenant which Yahweh had made with the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt;

¹⁰ Now when the priests came out of the sanctuary, the cloud filled the Temple of Yahweh,

¹¹ and because of the cloud the priests could no longer perform their duties: the glory of Yahweh filled Yahweh’s Temple.

¹² Then Solomon said: ‘Yahweh has chosen to dwell in the thick cloud.

¹³ Yes, I have built you a dwelling, a place for you to live in for ever.’

¹⁴ Then the king turned and blessed the whole assembly of Israel, while the whole assembly of Israel stood.

¹⁵ He said, ‘Blessed be Yahweh, the God of lsrael, who has carried out by his hand what he promised with his mouth to David my father when he said,

¹⁶ “From the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt I chose no city, in any of the tribes of Israel, to have a house built where my name might make its home; but I chose David, to rule over Israel my people”.

¹⁷ My father David had set his heart on building a house for the name of Yahweh the God of Israel,

¹⁸ but Yahweh said, “You have set your heart on building a house for my name, and in this you have done well;

¹⁹ and yet, you are not the man to build the house; your son, born of your own body, shall build the house for my name”.

²⁰ Yahweh has kept the promise he made: I have succeeded David my father and am seated on the throne of Israel, as Yahweh promised; I have built the house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel,

²¹ and have made a place in it for the ark containing the covenant that Yahweh made with our fathers when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.’

²² Then (in the presence of the whole assembly of Israel) Solomon stood before the altar of Yahweh and, stretching out his hands towards heaven,

²³ said, Yahweh, God of Israel, not in heaven above nor on earth beneath is there such a God as you, true to your covenant and your kindness towards your servants when they walk wholeheartedly in your way

²⁴ You have kept the promise you made to your servant David my father; what you promised with your mouth, today you have carried out by your hand.

²⁵ And now, Yahweh, God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant David when you said, “You shall never lack for a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are careful how they behave, walking before me as you yourself have done”.

²⁶ So now, God of Israel, let the words come true which you spoke to your servant David my father.

²⁷ Yet will God really live with men on the earth? Why, the heavens and their own heavens cannot contain you. How much less this house that I have built!

²⁸ Listen to the prayer and entreaty of your servant, Yahweh my God; listen to the cry and to the prayer your servant makes to you today.

²⁹ Day and night let your eyes watch over this house, over this place of which you have said, “My name shall be there”. Listen to the prayer that your servant will offer in this place.

³⁰ ‘Hear the entreaty of your servant and of Israel your people as they pray in this place. From heaven where your dwelling is, hear; and, as you hear, forgive.

³¹ ‘If a man sins against his neighbour, and the neighbour calls down a curse on him and makes him swear an oath before your altar in this Temple,

³² hear from heaven, and act; decide between your servants: pronounce the wicked one guilty, bringing his conduct down on his own head; and vindicate the innocent, rewarding him as his innocence deserves.

³³ ‘When your people Israel are defeated by the enemy because they have sinned against you, if they return to you and praise your name and pray to you and entreat you in this Temple,

³⁴ hear from heaven; forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to their ancestors.

³⁵ ‘When the heavens are shut and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray in this place and praise your name and, having been humbled by you, repent of their sin,

³⁶ hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servant and of your people Israel – show them the good way they ought to follow – and send rain on your land which you have given your people for an inheritance.

³⁷ ‘Should there be famine in the land, or pestilence, blight or mildew, locust or caterpillar; should this people’s enemy lay siege to one of its city gates; if there is any plague or sickness;

³⁸ if anyone should feel remorse in his own heart and pray or make entreaty, stretching out his hands towards this Temple,

³⁹ hear from heaven where your home is; forgive and act, dealing with each as his conduct deserves; for you know every heart, – you alone know the hearts of all mankind –

⁴⁰ and so they may come to revere you as long as they live in the land you gave to our fathers

⁴¹ ‘And the foreigner too, not belonging to your people Israel, if he comes from a distant country for the sake of your name

⁴² – for men will hear of your name, of your mighty hand and outstretched arm – if he comes and prays in the temple,

⁴³ hear from heaven where your home is, and grant all the foreigner asks, so that all the peoples of the earth may come to know your name and, like your people Israel, revere you, and know that your name is given to the Temple I have built.

⁴⁴ ‘If your people go out to war against their enemies on the way that you send them, and if they turn towards the city you have chosen and towards the Temple I have built for your name, and pray to Yahweh,

⁴⁵ hear from heaven their prayer and their entreaty, and uphold their cause.

⁴⁶ ‘If they sin against you – for there is no man who does not sin – and you are angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and their conquerors lead them captive to a country far or near,

⁴⁷ if in the land of their exile they come to themselves and repent, and in the country of their conquerors they entreat you saying, “We have sinned, we have acted perversely and wickedly”,

⁴⁸ and if they turn again to you with all their heart and soul in the country of the enemies who have deported them, and pray to you, turning towards the land you gave to their ancestors, towards the city you have chosen, and towards the Temple I have built for your name,

⁴⁹ hear from heaven where your home is,

⁵⁰ forgive your people the sins they have committed against you and all the crimes they have been guilty of, grant them to win favour with their conquerors so that they may have pity on them;

⁵¹ for they are your people and your heritage whom you brought out of Egypt, that iron furnace.

⁵² ‘Be always watchful for the entreaty of your servant and of your people Israel, always hearing them when they call to you.

⁵³ For it was you who set them apart from all the peoples of the earth to be your own heritage, as you declared through Moses your servant when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, Lord Yahweh.’

⁵⁴ When Solomon had finished offering this whole prayer and entreaty, he rose from where he was kneeling with hands stretched out towards heaven before the altar of Yahweh,

⁵⁵ and stood erect. And in a loud voice he blessed the whole assembly of Israel.

⁵⁶ ‘Blessed be Yahweh’ he said ‘who has granted rest to his people Israel, keeping all his promises; of all the promises of good that he made through Moses his servant, not one has failed.

⁵⁷ May Yahweh our God be with us, as he was with our ancestors; may he never desert us or cast us off.

⁵⁸ May he turn our hearts towards him so that we may follow all his ways and keep the commandments, and laws, and ordinances he gave to our ancestors.

⁵⁹ May these words of mine, of my entreaty before Yahweh, be present with Yahweh our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of Israel his people, as each day requires,

⁶⁰ so that all the peoples of the earth may come to know that Yahweh is God indeed, and that there is no other.

⁶¹ May your hearts be wholly with Yahweh our God, following his laws and keeping his commandments as at this present day.’

⁶² The king and all Israel with him offered sacrifice before Yahweh.

⁶³ Solomon offered twenty-two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep as communion sacrifices to Yahweh; and so the king and all the Israelites dedicated the Temple of Yahweh.

⁶⁴ On the same day the king consecrated the middle of the court lying in front of the Temple of Yahweh; and there he offered the holocaust, oblations and fatty parts of the communion sacrifices, since the bronze altar that stood before Yahweh was too small to hold the holocaust, oblation and the fatty parts of the communion sacrifices.

⁶⁵ And so at that time, Solomon celebrated the feast, and all the Israelites with him, a great gathering from the Pass of Hamath to the wadi of Egypt, before Yahweh our God for seven days.[*b]

⁶⁶ Then, on the eighth day, he dismissed the people, who blessed the king and went to their homes, rejoicing and happy in heart for all the goodness Yahweh had shown to David and to his people Israel.