New Living Translation

New American Standard Bible 1995

1Then Solomon prayed, “O LORD, you have said that you would live in a thick cloud of darkness.

1Then Solomon said, "The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud.

2Now I have built a glorious Temple for you, a place where you can live forever!”

2"I have built You a lofty house, And a place for Your dwelling forever."

3Then the king turned around to the entire community of Israel standing before him and gave this blessing:

3Then the king faced about and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing.

4“Praise the LORD, the God of Israel, who has kept the promise he made to my father, David. For he told my father,

4He said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David and has fulfilled it with His hands, saying,

5‘From the day I brought my people out of the land 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. Nor have I chosen a king to lead my people Israel.

5Since the day that I brought My people from the land of Egypt, I did not choose a city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house that My name might be there, nor did I choose any man for a leader over My people Israel;

6But now I have chosen Jerusalem as the place for my name to be honored, and I have chosen David to be king over my people Israel.’”

6but I have chosen Jerusalem that My name might be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.'

7Then Solomon said, “My father, David, wanted to build this Temple to honor the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

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

8But the LORD told him, ‘You wanted to build the Temple to honor my name. Your intention is good,

8"But the LORD said to my father David, 'Because it was in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it was in your heart.

9but you are not the one to do it. One of your own sons will build the Temple to honor me.’

9'Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who will be born to you, he shall build the house for My name.'

10“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.

10"Now the LORD has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for I have risen in the place of my father David and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

11There I have placed the Ark, which contains the covenant that the LORD made with the people of Israel.” Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication

11"There I have set the ark in which is the covenant of the LORD, which He made with the sons of Israel."

12Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the entire community of Israel, and he lifted his hands in prayer.

12Then he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands.

13Now Solomon had made a bronze platform 7 1/2 feet long, 7 1/2 feet wide, and 4 1/2 feet high and had placed it at the center of the Temple’s outer courtyard. He stood on the platform, and then he knelt in front of the entire community of Israel and lifted his hands toward heaven.

13Now Solomon had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court; and he stood on it, knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.

14He prayed, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in all of heaven and earth. You keep your covenant and show unfailing love to all who walk before you in wholehearted devotion.

14He said, "O LORD, the God of Israel, there is no god like You in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart;

15You 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.

15who has kept with Your servant David, my father, that which You have promised him; indeed You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day.

16“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 my Law as you have done, one of them will always sit on the throne of Israel.’

16"Now therefore, O LORD, the God of Israel, keep with Your servant David, my father, that which You have promised him, saying, 'You shall not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons take heed to their way, to walk in My law as you have walked before Me.'

17Now, O LORD, God of Israel, fulfill this promise to your servant David.

17"Now therefore, O LORD, the God of Israel, let Your word be confirmed which You have spoken to Your servant David.

18“But will God really live on earth among people? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this Temple I have built!

18"But will God indeed dwell with mankind on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house which I have built.

19Nevertheless, listen to my prayer and my plea, O LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is making to you.

19"Yet have regard to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You;

20May you watch over this Temple day and night, this place where you have said you would put your name. May you always hear the prayers I make toward this place.

20that Your eye may be open toward this house day and night, toward the place of which You have said that You would put Your name there, to listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place.

21May 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.

21"Listen to the supplications of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place; hear from Your dwelling place, from heaven; hear and forgive.

22“If someone wrongs another person and is required to take an oath of innocence in front of your altar at this Temple,

22"If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath, and he comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this house,

23then hear from heaven and judge between your servants—the accuser and the accused. Pay back the guilty as they deserve. Acquit the innocent because of their innocence.

23then hear from heaven and act and judge Your servants, punishing the wicked by bringing his way on his own head and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.

24“If your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you, and if they turn back and acknowledge your name and pray to you here in this Temple,

24"If Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and they return to You and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication before You in this house,

25then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and return them to this land you gave to them and to their ancestors.

25then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You have given to them and to their fathers.

26“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,

26"When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin when You afflict them;

27then 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.

27then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel, indeed, teach them the good way in which they should walk. And send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people for an inheritance.

28“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—

28"If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight or mildew, if there is locust or grasshopper, if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities, whatever plague or whatever sickness there is,

29and if your people Israel pray about their troubles or sorrow, raising their hands toward this Temple,

29whatever prayer or supplication is made by any man or by all Your people Israel, each knowing his own affliction and his own pain, and spreading his hands toward this house,

30then hear from heaven where you live, and forgive. Give your people what their actions deserve, for you alone know each human heart.

30then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and render to each according to all his ways, whose heart You know for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men,

31Then they will fear you and walk in your ways as long as they live in the land you gave to our ancestors.

31that they may fear You, to walk in Your ways as long as they live in the land which You have given to our fathers.

32“In the future, foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel will hear of you. They will come from distant lands when they hear of your great name and your strong hand and your powerful arm. And when they pray toward this Temple,

32"Also concerning the foreigner who is not from Your people Israel, when he comes from a far country for Your great name's sake and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm, when they come and pray toward this house,

33then 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.

33then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, and fear You as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Your name.

34“If your people go out where you send them to fight their enemies, and if they pray to you by turning toward this city you have chosen and toward this Temple I have built to honor your name,

34"When Your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way You shall send them, and they pray to You toward this city which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your name,

35then hear their prayers from heaven and uphold their cause.

35then hear from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

36“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 a foreign land far away or near.

36"When they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin) and You are angry with them and deliver them to an enemy, so that they take them away captive to a land far off or near,

37But in that land of exile, they might turn to you in repentance and pray, ‘We have sinned, done evil, and acted wickedly.’

37if they take thought in the land where they are taken captive, and repent and make supplication to You in the land of their captivity, saying, 'We have sinned, we have committed iniquity and have acted wickedly';

38If they turn to you with their whole heart and soul in the land of their captivity 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—

38if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been taken captive, and pray toward their land which You have given to their fathers and the city which You have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for Your name,

39then hear their prayers and their petitions from heaven where you live, and uphold their cause. Forgive your people who have sinned against you.

39then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, their prayer and supplications, and maintain their cause and forgive Your people who have sinned against You.

40“O my God, may your eyes be open and your ears attentive to all the prayers made to you in this place.

40"Now, O my God, I pray, let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place.

41“And now arise, O LORD God, and enter your resting place, along with the Ark, the symbol of your power. May your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation; may your loyal servants rejoice in your goodness.

41"Now therefore arise, O LORD God, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your might; let Your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation and let Your godly ones rejoice in what is good.

42O LORD God, do not reject the king you have anointed. Remember your unfailing love for your servant David.”

42"O LORD God, do not turn away the face of Your anointed; remember Your lovingkindness to Your servant David."

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.

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org