1Kings 8

The Ark Brought to the Temple

8Solomon then summoned to Jerusalem the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes—the leaders of the ancestral families of the Israelites. They were to bring the Ark of the LORD's Covenant to the Temple from its location in the City of David, also known as Zion.H8010H6950H2205H3478H7218H4294H5387H1H1121H3478H4428H8010H3389H5927H727H1285H3068H5892H1732H67262So all the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon at the annual Festival of Shelters, which is held in early autumn in the month of Ethanim

.H376H3478H6950H4428H8010H2282H3391H388H7637H23203When all the elders of Israel arrived, the priests picked up the Ark.H2205H3478H935H3548H5375H7274The priests and Levites brought up the Ark of the LORD along with the special tent

and all the sacred items that had been in it.H5927H727H3068H168H4150H6944H3627H168H3548H3881H59275There, before the Ark, King Solomon and the entire community of Israel sacrificed so many sheep, goats, and cattle that no one could keep count!H4428H8010H5712H3478H3259H6440H727H2076H6629H1241H5608H4487H72306Then the priests carried the Ark of the LORD's Covenant into the inner sanctuary of the Temple—the Most Holy Place—and placed it beneath the wings of the cherubim.H3548H935H727H1285H3068H4725H1687H1004H6944H6944H3671H37427The cherubim spread their wings over the Ark, forming a canopy over the Ark and its carrying poles.H3742H6566H3671H4725H727H3742H5526H727H905H46058These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Temple's main room—the Holy Place—but not from the outside. They are still there to this day.H748H905H7218H905H7200H6944H6440H1687H7200H2351H31179Nothing was in the Ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Mount Sinai

, where the LORD made a covenant with the people of Israel when they left the land of Egypt.H727H7535H8147H3871H68H4872H3240H2722H3068H3772H1121H3478H3318H776H471410When the priests came out of the Holy Place, a thick cloud filled the Temple of the LORD.H3548H3318H6944H6051H4390H1004H306811The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the LORD filled the Temple.H3548H3201H5975H8334H6440H6051H3519H3068H4390H1004H3068

Solomon Praises the Lord

12Then Solomon prayed, "O LORD, you have said that you would live in a thick cloud of darkness.H559H8010H3068H559H7931H620513Now I have built a glorious Temple for you, a place where you can live forever!

"H1129H1129H1004H2073H4349H3427H576914Then the king turned around to the entire community of Israel standing before him and gave this blessing.H4428H5437H6440H5437H1288H6951H3478H6951H3478H597515"Praise the LORD, the God of Israel, who has kept the promise he made to my father, David. For he told my father,H559H1288H3068H430H3478H1696H6310H1732H1H3027H4390H55916'From the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have never chosen a city among any of the tribes of Israel as the place where a Temple should be built to honor my name. But I have chosen David to be king over my people Israel.'"H3117H3318H5971H3478H4714H977H5892H7626H3478H1129H1004H8034H977H1732H5971H347817Then Solomon said, "My father, David, wanted to build this Temple to honor the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.H3824H1732H1H1129H1004H8034H3068H430H347818But the LORD told him, 'You wanted to build the Temple to honor my name. Your intention is good,H3068H559H1732H1H3282H834H3824H1129H1004H8034H2895H382419but you are not the one to do it. One of your own sons will build the Temple to honor me.'H7535H1129H1004H1121H3318H2504H1129H1004H803420"And now the LORD has fulfilled the promise he made, for I have become king in my father's place, and I now sit on the throne of Israel, just as the LORD promised. I have built this Temple to honor the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.H3068H6965H1697H1696H6965H1732H1H3427H3678H3478H3068H1696H1129H1004H8034H3068H430H347821And I have prepared a place there for the Ark, which contains the covenant that the LORD made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt."H7760H4725H727H1285H3068H3772H1H3318H776H4714

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication

22Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the entire community of Israel. He lifted his hands toward heaven,H8010H5975H6440H4196H3068H5048H6951H3478H6566H3709H806423and he prayed, "O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in all of heaven above or on the earth below. You keep your covenant and show unfailing love to all who walk before you in wholehearted devotion.H559H3068H430H3478H430H8064H4605H776H8104H1285H2617H5650H1980H6440H382024You have kept your promise to your servant David, my father. You made that promise with your own mouth, and with your own hands you have fulfilled it today.H8104H5650H1732H1H1696H1696H6310H4390H3027H311725"And now, O LORD, God of Israel, carry out the additional promise you made to your servant David, my father. For you said to him, 'If your descendants guard their behavior and faithfully follow me as you have done, one of them will always sit on the throne of Israel.'H3068H430H3478H8104H5650H1732H1H1696H559H3772H376H6440H3427H3678H3478H7535H1121H8104H1870H3212H6440H1980H644026Now, O God of Israel, fulfill this promise to your servant David, my father.H430H3478H1697H539H1696H5650H1732H127"But will God really live on earth? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this Temple I have built!H430H552H3427H776H8064H8064H8064H3557H637H1004H112928Nevertheless, listen to my prayer and my plea, O LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is making to you today.H6437H8605H5650H8467H3068H430H8085H7440H8605H5650H6419H6440H311729May you watch over this Temple night and day, this place where you have said, 'My name will be there.' May you always hear the prayers I make toward this place.H5869H6605H1004H3915H3117H4725H559H8034H8085H8605H5650H6419H472530May you hear the humble and earnest requests from me and your people Israel when we pray toward this place. Yes, hear us from heaven where you live, and when you hear, forgive.H8085H8467H5650H5971H3478H6419H4725H8085H8064H3427H4725H8085H554531"If someone wrongs another person and is required to take an oath of innocence in front of your altar in this Temple,H376H2398H7453H423H5375H422H423H935H6440H4196H100432then hear from heaven and judge between your servants—the accuser and the accused. Punish the guilty as they deserve. Acquit the innocent because of their innocence.H8085H8064H6213H8199H5650H7561H7563H5414H1870H7218H6663H6662H5414H666633"If your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you, and if they turn to you and acknowledge your name and pray to you here in this Temple,H5971H3478H5062H6440H341H2398H7725H3034H8034H6419H2603H100434then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and return them to this land you gave their ancestors.H8085H8064H5545H2403H5971H3478H7725H127H5414H135"If the skies are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and if they pray toward this Temple and acknowledge your name and turn from their sins because you have punished them,H8064H6113H4306H2398H6419H4725H3034H8034H7725H2403H603136then hear from heaven and forgive the sins of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them to follow the right path, and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as their special possession.H8085H8064H5545H2403H5650H5971H3478H3384H2896H1870H3212H5414H4306H776H5414H5971H515937If there is a famine in the land or a plague or crop disease or attacks of locusts or caterpillars, or if your people's enemies are in the land besieging their towns—whatever disaster or disease there is—H776H7458H1698H7711H3420H697H2625H341H6887H776H8179H5061H424538and if your people Israel pray about their troubles, raising their hands toward this Temple,H8605H8467H120H5971H3478H3045H376H5061H3824H6566H3709H100439then hear from heaven where you live, and forgive. Give your people what their actions deserve, for you alone know each human heart.H8085H8064H3427H4349H5545H6213H5414H376H1870H3824H3045H3045H3824H1121H12040Then they will fear you as long as they live in the land you gave to our ancestors.H3372H3117H2416H6440H127H5414H141"In the future, foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel will hear of you. They will come from distant lands because of your name,H5237H5971H3478H935H7350H776H4616H803442for they will hear of your great name and your strong hand and your powerful arm. And when they pray toward this Temple,H8085H1419H8034H2389H3027H5186H2220H935H6419H100443then hear from heaven where you live, and grant what they ask of you. In this way, all the people of the earth will come to know and fear you, just as your own people Israel do. They, too, will know that this Temple I have built honors your name.H8085H8064H3427H4349H6213H5237H7121H5971H776H3045H8034H3372H5971H3478H3045H1004H1129H7121H803444"If your people go out where you send them to fight their enemies, and if they pray to the LORD by turning toward this city you have chosen and toward this Temple I have built to honor your name,H5971H3318H4421H341H1870H7971H6419H3068H1870H5892H977H1004H1129H803445then hear their prayers from heaven and uphold their cause.H8085H8064H8605H8467H6213H494146"If they sin against you—and who has never sinned?—you might become angry with them and let their enemies conquer them and take them captive to their land far away or near.H2398H120H2398H599H5414H341H7617H7617H6440H776H341H7350H713847But in that land of exile, they might turn to you in repentance and pray, 'We have sinned, done evil, and acted wickedly.'H7725H776H7617H7725H3820H2603H776H7617H559H2398H5753H756148If they turn to you with their whole heart and soul in the land of their enemies and pray toward the land you gave to their ancestors—toward this city you have chosen, and toward this Temple I have built to honor your name—H7725H3824H5315H776H341H7617H6419H1870H776H5414H1H5892H977H1004H1129H803449then hear their prayers and their petition from heaven where you live, and uphold their cause.H8085H8605H8467H8064H3427H4349H6213H494150Forgive your people who have sinned against you. Forgive all the offenses they have committed against you. Make their captors merciful to them,H5545H5971H2398H6588H6586H5414H7356H6440H7617H735551for they are your people—your special possession—whom you brought out of the iron-smelting furnace of Egypt.H5971H5159H3318H4714H8432H3564H127052"May your eyes be open to my requests and to the requests of your people Israel. May you hear and answer them whenever they cry out to you.H5869H6605H8467H5650H8467H5971H3478H8085H712153For when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, O Sovereign LORD, you told your servant Moses that you had set Israel apart from all the nations of the earth to be your own special possession."H914H5971H776H5159H1696H3027H4872H5650H3318H1H4714H136H3069

The Dedication of the Temple

54When Solomon finished making these prayers and petitions to the LORD, he stood up in front of the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands raised toward heaven.H8010H3615H6419H8605H8467H3068H6965H6440H4196H3068H3766H1290H3709H6566H806455He stood and in a loud voice blessed the entire congregation of Israel.H5975H1288H6951H3478H1419H6963H55956"Praise the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the wonderful promises he gave through his servant Moses.H1288H3068H5414H4496H5971H3478H1696H5307H259H1697H2896H1697H1696H3027H4872H565057May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us or abandon us.H3068H430H1H5800H520358May he give us the desire to do his will in everything and to obey all the commands, decrees, and regulations that he gave our ancestors.H5186H3824H3212H1870H8104H4687H2706H4941H6680H159And may these words that I have prayed in the presence of the LORD be before him constantly, day and night, so that the LORD our God may give justice to me and to his people Israel, according to each day's needs.H1697H2603H6440H3068H7138H3068H430H3119H3915H6213H4941H5650H4941H5971H3478H3117H3117H169760Then people all over the earth will know that the LORD alone is God and there is no other.H5971H776H3045H3068H43061And may you be completely faithful to the LORD our God. May you always obey his decrees and commands, just as you are doing today."H3824H8003H3068H430H3212H2706H8104H4687H311762Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices to the LORD.H4428H3478H2076H2077H6440H306863Solomon offered to the LORD a peace offering of 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats. And so the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the Temple of the LORD.H8010H2076H2077H8002H2076H3068H8147H6242H505H1241H3967H6242H505H6629H4428H1121H3478H2596H1004H306864That same day the king consecrated the central area of the courtyard in front of the LORD's Temple. He offered burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of peace offerings there, because the bronze altar in the LORD's presence was too small to hold all the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.H3117H4428H6942H8432H2691H6440H1004H3068H6213H5930H4503H2459H8002H5178H4196H6440H3068H6996H3557H5930H4503H2459H800265Then Solomon and all Israel celebrated the Festival of Shelters

in the presence of the LORD our God. A large congregation had gathered from as far away as Lebo-hamath in the north and the Brook of Egypt in the south. The celebration went on for fourteen days in all—seven days for the dedication of the altar and seven days for the Festival of Shelters.H6256H8010H6213H2282H3478H1419H6951H935H2574H5158H4714H6440H3068H430H7651H3117H7651H3117H702H6240H311766After the festival was over

, Solomon sent the people home. They blessed the king and went to their homes joyful and glad because the LORD had been good to his servant David and to his people Israel.H8066H3117H7971H5971H7971H1288H4428H3212H168H8056H2896H3820H2896H3068H6213H1732H5650H3478H5971