First Kings 8:1-54

¹Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, and the leaders of the families of the people of Israel, before himself in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh from the city of David, that is, Zion.

²All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon at the feast, in the month of Ethanim, which is the seventh month.

³All the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.

⁴They brought up the ark of Yahweh, the tent of meeting, and all the holy furnishings that were in the tent. The priests and the Levites brought these things up.

⁵King Solomon and all the assembly of Israel came together before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted.

⁶The priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to its place, into the inner room of the house, to the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubim.

⁷For the cherubim spread out their wings to the place of the ark, and they covered the ark and the poles by which it was carried.

⁸The poles were so long that their ends were seen from the holy place in front of the inner room, but they could not be seen from outside. They are there to this day.

⁹There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone that Moses had put there at Horeb, when Yahweh made a covenant with the people of Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁰It came about that when the priests came out of the holy place, the cloud filled the temple of Yahweh.

¹¹The priests could not stand to serve because of the cloud, for the glory of Yahweh filled his house.

¹²Then Solomon said, “Yahweh has said that he would live in thick darkness,

¹³But I have built you a lofty residence, a place for you to live in forever.”

¹⁴Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing.

¹⁵He said, “May Yahweh, the God of Israel, be praised, who spoke to David my father, and has fulfilled it with his own hands, saying,

¹⁶'Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, in order for my name to be there. However, I chose David to rule over my people Israel.'

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

¹⁸But Yahweh said to David my father, 'In that it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well for it to be in your heart.

¹⁹Nevertheless you will not build the house; instead, your son, one who will be born from your loins, will build the house for my name.'

²⁰Yahweh has carried out the word that he had said, for I have arisen in the place of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as Yahweh promised. I have built the house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

²¹I have made a place for the ark there, in which is Yahweh's covenant, which he made with our fathers when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

²²Solomon stood before the altar of Yahweh, before all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward the heavens.

²³He said, “Yahweh, God of Israel, there is no God like you in the heavens above or on the earth below, who keeps his covenant faithfulness with your servants who walk before you with all their heart;

²⁴you who have kept with your servant David my father, what you promised him. Yes, you spoke with your mouth and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is today.

²⁵Now then, Yahweh, God of Israel, carry out what you have promised to your servant David my father, when you said, 'You will not fail to have a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful to walk before me, as you have walked before me.'

²⁶Now then, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David my father.

²⁷But will God actually live on the earth? Look, the entire universe and heaven itself cannot contain you—how much less can this temple that I have built!

²⁸Yet please respect this prayer of your servant and his request, Yahweh my God; listen to the cry and prayer that your servant prays before you today.

²⁹May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, to the place about which you have said, 'My name and my presence will be there'—in order to listen to the prayers that your servant will pray toward this place.

³⁰So listen to the request of your servant and of your people Israel when we pray toward this place. Yes, listen from the place where you live, from the heavens; and when you listen, forgive.

³¹If a man sins against his neighbor and is required to swear an oath, and if he comes and swears an oath before your altar in this house,

³²listen from the heavens and act. Judge your servants, condemning the guilty and bringing what he has done upon his own head. Declare the innocent not guilty and give to him according to his righteousness.

³³When your people Israel are defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, if they turn back to you, confess your name, pray, and request forgiveness from you in this temple—

³⁴then please listen in the heavens and forgive the sin of your people Israel; bring them back to the land that you gave to their ancestors.

³⁵When the skies are shut up and there is no rain because the people have sinned against you—if they pray toward this place, confess your name, and turn from their sin when you have afflicted them—

³⁶then listen in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk. Send rain on your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.

³⁷Suppose there is famine in the land, or suppose that there is disease, blight or mildew, locusts or caterpillars; or suppose that an enemy attacks the city gates in their land, or that there is any plague or sickness—

³⁸and suppose then that prayers and requests are made by a person or by all your people Israel—each knowing the plague in his own heart as he spreads out his hands toward this temple.

³⁹Then listen from heaven, the place where you live, forgive and act, and reward every person for all he does; you know his heart, because you and you only know the hearts of all human beings.

⁴⁰Do this so that they may fear you all the days that they live on the land that you gave to our ancestors.

⁴¹In addition, concerning the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel: When he comes from a distant country because of your name—

⁴²for they will hear of your great name, your mighty hand, and your raised arm—when he comes and prays toward this temple,

⁴³then please listen from heaven, the place where you live, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you. Do this so that all the peoples on earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel. Do this so they might know that this house I have built is called by your name.

⁴⁴Suppose that your people go out to battle against an enemy, by whatever way you may send them, and suppose that they pray to you, Yahweh, toward the city that you have chosen, and toward the house that I have built for your name.

⁴⁵Then listen in the heavens to their prayer and their request, and help their cause.

⁴⁶Suppose that they sin against you, since there is no one who does not sin, and suppose that you are angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, so that the enemy takes them away captive to their land, whether distant or near.

⁴⁷Then suppose that they realize they are in the land where they have been exiled, and suppose that they repent and seek favor from you from the land of their captors. Suppose that they say, 'We have acted perversely and sinned. We have behaved wickedly.'

⁴⁸Suppose that they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who captured them, and suppose that they pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their ancestors, and toward the city that you chose, and toward the house that I have built for your name.

⁴⁹Then from heaven, the place where you live, listen to their prayer and their request for help, and you will make matters right for them.

⁵⁰Forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you, and make them objects of compassion before their conquerors, and cause their conquerors to have compassion on them.

⁵¹They are your people whom you have chosen, whom you rescued out of Egypt as if from the middle of a furnace where iron is forged.

⁵²May your eyes be open to the request of your servant and to the requests of your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they cry to you.

⁵³For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to belong to you and receive your promises, just as you explained by Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, Lord Yahweh.”

⁵⁴So it was that when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and request to Yahweh, he arose from before the altar of Yahweh, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread out toward the heavens.