The ark is brought into the temple, and the glory of the LORD fills the house. Solomon prays a long prayer of dedication and blesses the people. Then he offers a huge number of sacrifices for the feast.
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 .