1 Kings 8:17-62

¹⁷And it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

¹⁸But the Lord said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thy heart to build a house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thy heart:

¹⁹Nevertheless, thou shalt not thyself build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name.

²⁰And the Lord hath fulfilled his word that he hath spoken: and I am risen up in the room of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord hath spoken, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord the God of Israel.

²¹And I have assigned there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt.

²²And Solomon now placed himself before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven;

²³And he said, O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no god like thee, in the heavens above, and on the earth beneath, thou who keepest the covenant and the kindness for thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart;

²⁴Who hast kept for thy servant David my father what thou hadst promised him; and thou spokest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thy hand, as it is this day.

²⁵And now, O Lord, the God of Israel, keep for thy servant David my father what thou hast spoken concerning him, saying, There shall never fail thee a man in my sight who sitteth on the throne of Israel; if thy children but take heed to their way to walk before me, as thou hast walked before me.

²⁶And now, O God of Israel, I pray thee, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David my father.

²⁷For in truth will God then dwell on the earth? behold, the heavens and the heavens of heavens cannot contain thee: how much less then this house that I have built!

²⁸Yet wilt thou turn thy regard unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to listen unto the entreaty and unto the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee today;

²⁹That thy eyes may be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there; that thou mayest listen unto the prayer which thy servant shall pray at this place.

³⁰And listen thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they will pray at this place: and oh, do thou hear in heaven thy dwelling-place; and hear, and forgive.

³¹If any man trespass against his neighbor, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thy altar in this house:

³²Then do thou hear in heaven, and act, and judge thy servants, by condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and by justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

³³When thy people Israel are struck down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and they return then to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house:

³⁴Then do thou hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and cause them to return unto the land which thou hast given unto their fathers.

³⁵When the heavens be shut up, and there be no rain, because they have sinned against thee, and they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, because thou hast afflicted them:

³⁶Then do thou hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel; for thou wilt teach them the good way wherein they should walk; and give then rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.

³⁷If there be a famine in the land, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, or if there be locust, caterpillar, if their enemy besiege them in the land of their gates; at whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness;

³⁸What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, of all thy people Israel, when they shall be conscious every man of the plague of his own heart, and he then spread forth his hands toward this house:

³⁹Then do thou hear in heaven the place of thy dwelling, and forgive, and act, and give to every man in accordance with all his ways, as thou mayest know his heart; for thou, thyself alone, knowest the heart of all the children of men;

⁴⁰In order that they may fear thee all the days that they live on the face of the land which thou hast given unto our fathers.

⁴¹But also to the stranger, who is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far-off country for the sake of thy name;

⁴²For they will hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy outstretched arm; when he will come and pray at this house:

⁴³Mayest thou listen in heaven the place of thy dwelling, and do according to all that the stranger will call on thee for; in order that all the nations of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that they may understand that this house, which I have built, is called by thy name.

⁴⁴If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, on the way on which thou mayest send them, and they do pray unto the Lord in the direction of the city which thou hast chosen, and of the house that I have built for thy name:

⁴⁵Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and procure them justice.

⁴⁶If they sin against thee, for there is no man that may not sin, and thou be angry with them, and give them up before the enemy, so that their captors carry them away captive unto the land of the enemy, be it far or near;

⁴⁷And if they then take it to their heart in the land whither they have been carried captive, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of their captors, saying, We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, we have acted wickedly;

⁴⁸And they return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, who have led them away captive, and they pray unto thee in the direction of their land, which thou hast given unto their fathers, of the city which thou hast chosen, and of the house which I have built for thy name:

⁴⁹Then hear thou in heaven the place of thy dwelling their prayer and their supplication, and procure them justice;

⁵⁰And forgive thy people for what they have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions whereby they have transgressed against thee, and cause them to find mercy before their captors, that they may have mercy on them;

⁵¹For they are thy people, and thy heritage, whom thou hast brought forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace;

⁵²That thy eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to listen unto them in all for which they call unto thee;

⁵³For thou hast separated them unto thee as a heritage from all the people of the earth, as thou spokest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest forth our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord Eternal.

⁵⁴And it happened, 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 out toward heaven.

⁵⁵And he stood up, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying,

⁵⁶Blessed be the Lord, who hath given rest unto his people Israel, in accordance with all that he hath spoken: so that there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he spoke by the hand of Moses his servant.

⁵⁷The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers; oh may he not leave us, nor forsake us;

⁵⁸That he may incline our heart 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 may these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the Lord, be nigh unto the Lord our God day and night, that he may maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel in their daily requirements;

⁶⁰In order that all the nations of the earth may know that the Lord is the true God, and none else.

⁶¹Let your heart therefore be entire with the Lord 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 sacrifices before the Lord.