| International Standard Version | New Living Translation |
| 1Then Solomon gathered together the elders of Israel, including all the heads of the tribes and the leaders of the ancestral households of the Israelis, to meet with him in Jerusalem so they could bring up the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD from Zion, the City of David. | 1Solomon 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. |
| 2So all the men gathered together to meet with King Solomon at the Festival of Tents in the month Ethanim, the seventh month. | 2So 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. |
| 3All the Elders of Israel showed up, and the priests picked up the ark | 3When all the elders of Israel arrived, the priests picked up the Ark. |
| 4and brought it, the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy implements that were in the tent. The priests and descendants of Levi carried them up to Jerusalem. | 4The 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. |
| 5King Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel that had assembled to be with him stood in front of the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they were neither counted nor inventoried. | 5There, before the Ark, King Solomon and the entire community of Israel sacrificed so many sheep, goats, and cattle that no one could keep count! |
| 6After this, the priests brought the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD to the place prepared for it, into the inner sanctuary of the Temple, under the wings of the cherubim in the Most Holy Place. | 6Then 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. |
| 7The wings of the cherubim spread over the resting place for the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its poles when viewed from above. | 7The cherubim spread their wings over the Ark, forming a canopy over the Ark and its carrying poles. |
| 8The poles extended so far that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside. They remain there to this day. | 8These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place, which is in front of the Most Holy Place, but not from the outside. They are still there to this day. |
| 9The ark was empty except for the two stone tablets that Moses had placed there at Horeb when the LORD had made a covenant with the Israelis after they had come out of the land of Egypt. | 9Nothing 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. |
| 10When the priests left the Holy Place after setting the ark in place, the cloud filled the LORD's Temple | 10When the priests came out of the Holy Place, a thick cloud filled the Temple of the LORD. |
| 11so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, since the glory of the LORD filled the LORD's Temple. | 11The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the LORD filled the Temple of the LORD. Solomon Praises the LORD |
| 12Then Solomon said, "The LORD has said that he lives shrouded in darkness. | 12Then Solomon prayed, “O LORD, you have said that you would live in a thick cloud of darkness. |
| 13Now I have been constructing a magnificent Temple dedicated to you that will serve as a place for you to inhabit forever." | 13Now I have built a glorious Temple for you, a place where you can live forever! ” |
| 14Then the king turned to face the entire congregation of Israel while the congregation of Israel remained standing. | 14Then the king turned around to the entire community of Israel standing before him and gave this blessing: |
| 15Then Solomon prayed: "Blessed is the LORD God of Israel, who made a commitment to my father David and then personally fulfilled what he had promised when he said: | 15“Praise the LORD, the God of Israel, who has kept the promise he made to my father, David. For he told my father, |
| 16From the day I brought out my people Israel from Egypt I never chose a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a temple where my name might reside. I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.' | 16‘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.’” |
| 17"My father David wanted to build a temple for the name of the LORD God of Israel. | 17Then Solomon said, “My father, David, wanted to build this Temple to honor the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. |
| 18The LORD told my father David: 'Therefore, since you determined to build a temple for my name, you acted well, because it was your choice to do so. | 18But the LORD told him, ‘You wanted to build the Temple to honor my name. Your intention is good, |
| 19Nevertheless, you are not to build the Temple, but your son who will be born to you is to build a temple for my name.' | 19but you are not the one to do it. One of your own sons will build the Temple to honor me.’ |
| 20"The LORD has brought to fulfillment what he promised, and now here I stand, having succeeded my father David to sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised. I have built the Temple for the name of the LORD God of Israel. | 20“And now the LORD has fulfilled the promise he made, for I have become king in my father’s place, and now I 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. |
| 21I have placed there the ark in which the covenant is stored that the LORD made with our ancestors when he brought them out of the land of Egypt." | 21And 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.” Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication |
| 22Then Solomon took his place in front of the LORD's altar in the presence of the entire congregation of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven, | 22Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the entire community of Israel. He lifted his hands toward heaven, |
| 23and said: "LORD God of Israel, there is no one like you, God in heaven above or on the earth below, who watches over his covenant, showing gracious love to your servants who live their lives in your presence with all their hearts. | 23and 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. |
| 24It is you, LORD God, who have kept your promise to my father, your servant David, that you made to him. Indeed, you made a commitment to my father David and then personally fulfilled what you had promised today. | 24You 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. |
| 25"Now therefore, LORD God of Israel, keep your promise that you made to my father, your servant David, when you said, 'You will not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants will watch their lives, to live in my presence just as you have lived in my presence.' | 25“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.’ |
| 26"Now therefore, God of Israel, may your promise that you made to your servant David my father be fulfilled… | 26Now, O God of Israel, fulfill this promise to your servant David, my father. |
| 27and yet, will God truly reside on earth? Look! Neither the sky nor the highest heaven can contain you! How much less this Temple that I have built! | 27“But will God really live on earth? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this Temple I have built! |
| 28Pay attention to the prayer of your servant and to his request, LORD my God, and listen to the cry and prayer that your servant is praying in your presence today. | 28Nevertheless, 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. |
| 29Let your eyes always look toward this Temple night and day, toward the location where you have said 'My name will reside there.' Listen to the prayer that your servant prays in this direction. | 29May 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. |
| 30Listen to the requests from your servant and from your people Israel as they pray in this direction, listen from the place where you reside in heaven, then hear and forgive. | 30May 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. |
| 31"If a man should sin against his neighbor and he is required to take an oath, and he then comes to take an oath in front of your altar in this Temple, | 31“If someone wrongs another person and is required to take an oath of innocence in front of your altar in this Temple, |
| 32then listen in heaven, act, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing back to him the consequences of his choices and by justifying the righteous by recompensing him according to his righteousness. | 32then 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. |
| 33"If your people Israel are defeated in a battle with their enemy because they have sinned against you, when they return to you and confess to you, pray, and in this Temple they ask you to show grace to them, | 33“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, |
| 34then hear in heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and return them to the soil that you gave to their ancestors. | 34then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and return them to this land you gave their ancestors. |
| 35"When heaven remains closed, and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, and they pray in the direction of this place, confessing your name and turning from their sin when you afflict them, | 35“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, |
| 36then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Israel. Indeed, teach them the best way to live and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as an inheritance. | 36then 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. |
| 37"If a famine comes to the land, or if plant diseases, mildew, locust, or grasshoppers appear, or if their enemies attack them in their settlements of the land, no matter what the epidemic or illness is, | 37“If 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— |
| 38whatever prayer or request is made, no matter whether it's made by a single man or by all of your people Israel, each praying out of his own hurting heart and anguish and stretching out his hands toward this Temple, | 38and if your people Israel pray about their troubles, raising their hands toward this Temple, |
| 39then hear from heaven, the place where you reside, and forgive, repaying each person according to all of his ways, since you know their hearts—for you alone know the hearts of all human beings— | 39then hear from heaven where you live, and forgive. Give your people what their actions deserve, for you alone know each human heart. |
| 40so they will fear you every day and live on the surface of the land that you have given to our ancestors. | 40Then they will fear you as long as they live in the land you gave to our ancestors. |
| 41"Now concerning the foreigner who is not from your people Israel, when he comes from a land far away for the sake of your name | 41“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, |
| 42(for people will hear of your great name, your mighty acts, and your obvious power ), when he comes and prays facing this Temple, | 42for they will hear of your great name and your strong hand and your powerful arm. And when they pray toward this Temple, |
| 43then hear in heaven where you reside, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the people of the earth may know your name, fear you as do your people Israel, and so they may know that this Temple that I have built is called by your name. | 43then 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. |
| 44"When your people go out to war against their enemies, no matter what way you send them, and they pray to the LORD in the direction of the city that you have chosen and in the direction of the Temple that I have built for your name, | 44“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, |
| 45then hear their prayer and their request in heaven, and fight for their cause. | 45then hear their prayers from heaven and uphold their cause. |
| 46"When they sin against you—because there isn't a single human being who doesn't sin—and you become angry with them and deliver them over to their enemy, who takes them away captive to the land that belongs to their enemy, whether near or far away, | 46“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. |
| 47if they turn their hearts back to you in the land where they have been taken captive, repent, and pray to you—even if they do so in the land of their captivity—confessing, 'We have sinned, we have committed abominations, and practiced wickedness,' | 47But in that land of exile, they might turn to you in repentance and pray, ‘We have sinned, done evil, and acted wickedly.’ |
| 48if they return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, as they pray to you in the direction of their land that you have given to their ancestors and to the city that you have chosen, and to the Temple that I have built for your name, | 48If 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— |
| 49then hear their prayer and requests in heaven, where you reside, and fight for their cause, | 49then hear their prayers and their petition from heaven where you live, and uphold their cause. |
| 50forgiving your people who have sinned against you, along with their transgressions by which they have transgressed against you. "Show your compassion in the presence of those who have taken them captive, so they may show compassion on them, | 50Forgive your people who have sinned against you. Forgive all the offenses they have committed against you. Make their captors merciful to them, |
| 51since they are your people and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from an iron fire furnace. | 51for they are your people—your special possession—whom you brought out of the iron-smelting furnace of Egypt. |
| 52Do this so your eyes may remain open to the requests of your servant and to the requests of your people's prayers, to listen to them whenever they call out to you, | 52“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. |
| 53because you have separated them to yourself as your heritage from all the people of the earth, as you spoke through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, Lord GOD. | 53For 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.” The Dedication of the Temple |
| 54When Solomon had completed saying this entire prayer to the LORD, he got up from kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven in the presence of the LORD's altar, | 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. |
| 55stood up, and blessed all of the assembly of Israel in a loud voice. He said: | 55He stood and in a loud voice blessed the entire congregation of Israel: |
| 56"Blessed is the LORD, who has given security to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not one of his promises has failed to come about that he gave through his servant Moses. | 56“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. |
| 57May the LORD our God be with us, just as he was with our ancestors. May he never leave us or abandon us, | 57May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us or abandon us. |
| 58so that he may turn our hearts toward him, so that we may live life his way, keeping his commands, statutes, and ordinances that he gave to our ancestors. | 58May 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. |
| 59And may what I've had to say to the LORD remain with the LORD our God both day and night, so that he may defend the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as the need of the day may require it, | 59And 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. |
| 60so that, in turn, all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God—there is no one else. | 60Then people all over the earth will know that the LORD alone is God and there is no other. |
| 61Now let your heart be completely devoted to the LORD our God, to live according to his statutes and to keep his commands, as we are doing today." | 61And may you be completely faithful to the LORD our God. May you always obey his decrees and commands, just as you are doing today.” |
| 62Then the king and all of Israel with him offered sacrifices to the LORD. | 62Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices to the LORD. |
| 63Solomon offered peace offerings to the LORD consisting of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the Israelis dedicated the LORD's Temple. | 63Solomon 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. |
| 64That same day, the king consecrated the middle court that stood in front of the LORD's Temple, because that was where he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings, and fat from the peace offerings and because the bronze altar that was in the LORD's presence was too small to hold the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and fat from the peace offerings. | 64That 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. |
| 65So Solomon observed the Festival of Tents at that time, as did all of Israel with him. A large assembly came up from as far away as Lebo-hamath and the Wadi of Egypt to appear in the presence of the LORD our God, not just for seven days, but for seven days after that, a total of fourteen days. | 65Then 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. |
| 66The following day, Solomon sent the people away as they blessed the king. Then they went back to their tents, rejoicing and glad for all the good things that the LORD had done for his servant David and to his people Israel. | 66After 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. |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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