Kings III 8
1 And it came to pass when Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord and his own house after twenty years, then king Solomon assembled all the elders of Israel in Sion, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, this is Sion,
Then Solomon sent for all the responsible men of Israel, and all the chiefs of the tribes, and the heads of families of the children of Israel, to come to him in Jerusalem to take the ark of the Lord's agreement up out of the town of David, which is Zion.
2 in the month of Athanin.
And all the men of Israel came together to King Solomon at the feast, in the month Ethanim, the seventh month.
3 And the priests took up the ark,
And all the responsible men of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.
4 and the tabernacle of testimony, and the holy furniture that was in the tabernacle of testimony.
They took up the ark of the Lord, and the Tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels which were in the Tent; all these the priests and the Levites took up.
5 And the king and all Israel [were occupied] before the ark, sacrificing sheep [and] oxen, without number.
And King Solomon and all the men of Israel who had come together there, were with him before the ark, making offerings of sheep and oxen more than might be numbered.
6 And the priests bring in the ark into its place, into the oracle of the house, even into the holy of holies, under the wings of the cherubs.
And the priests took the ark of the agreement of the Lord and put it in its place in the inner room of the house, in the most holy place, under the wings of the winged ones.
7 For the cherubs spread out their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubs covered the ark and its holy things above.
For their wings were outstretched over the place where the ark was, covering the ark and its rods.
8 And the holy staves projected, and the ends of the holy staves appeared out of the holy places in front of the oracle, and were not seen without.
The rods were so long that their ends were seen from the holy place, in front of the inmost room; but they were not seen from outside: and there they are to this day.
9 There was nothing in the ark except the two tables of stone, the tables of the covenant which Moses put [there] in Choreb, which [tables] the Lord made [as a covenant] with the children of Israel in their going forth from the land of Egypt.
There was nothing in the ark but the two flat stones which Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made an agreement with the children of Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt.
10 And it came to pass when the priests departed out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house.
Now when the priests had come out of the holy place, the house of the Lord was full of the cloud,
11 And the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, because the glory of the Lord filled the house.
So that the priests were not able to keep their places to do their work because of the cloud, for the house of the Lord was full of the glory of the Lord.
Then Solomon said, O Lord, to the sun you have given the heaven for a living-place, but your living-place was not seen by men;
So I have made for you a living-place, a house in which you may be for ever present.
14 And the king turned his face, and the king blessed all Israel, (and the whole assembly of Israel stood: )
Then, turning his face about, the king gave a blessing to all the men of Israel; and they were all on their feet together.
15 and he said, Blessed [be] the Lord God of Israel today, who spoke by his mouth concerning David my father, and has fulfilled it with his hands, saying,
And he said, Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who himself gave his word to David my father, and with his strong hand has made his word come true, saying,
16 From the day that I brought out my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city in [any] one tribe of Israel to build a house, so that my name should be there: but I chose Jerusalem that my name should be there, and I chose David to be over my people Israel.
From the day when I took my people Israel out of Egypt, no town in all the tribes of Israel has been marked out by me for the building of a house for the resting-place of my name; but I made selection of David to be king over my people Israel.
17 And it was in the heart of my father to build a house to the name of the Lord God of Israel.
Now it was in the heart of David my father to put up a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
18 And the Lord said to David my father, Forasmuch as it came into your heart to build a house to my name, you did well that it came upon your heart.
But the Lord said to David my father, You did well to have in your heart the desire to make a house for my name;
19 Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son that has proceeded out of your bowels, he shall build the house to my name.
But you yourself will not be the builder of my house; but your son, the offspring of your body, he it is who will put up a house for my name.
20 And the Lord has confirmed the word that he spoke, and I am risen up in the place of my father David, and I have sat down on the throne of Israel, as the Lord spoke, and I have built the house to the name of the Lord God of Israel.
And the Lord has made his word come true; for I have taken my father David's place on the seat of the kingdom of Israel, as the Lord gave his word; and I have made a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
21 And I have set there a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord, which the Lord made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.
In it I have made a place for the ark, in which is the agreement which the Lord made with our fathers, when he took them out of the land of Egypt.
22 And Solomon stood up in front of the altar before all the congregation of Israel; and he spread out his hands toward heaven:
Then Solomon took his place before the altar of the Lord, all the men of Israel being present, and stretching out his hands to heaven,
23 and he said, Lord God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above and on the earth beneath, keeping covenant and mercy with your servant who walks before you with all his heart;
Said, O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on the earth; keeping faith and mercy unchanging for your servants, while they go in your ways with all their hearts.
24 which you have kept toward your servant David my father: for you have spoken by your mouth and you have fulfilled it with your hands, as [at] this day.
And you have kept the word which you gave to your servant David, my father; with your mouth you said it and with your hand you have made it come true this day.
25 And now, O Lord God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father, [the promises] which you have spoken to him, saying, There shall not be taken from you a man sitting before me on the throne of Israel, provided only your children shall take heed to their ways, to walk before me as you have walked before me.
So now, O Lord, the God of Israel, let your word to your servant David, my father, come true, when you said, You will never be without a man to take his place on the seat of the kingdom of Israel before me, if only your children give attention to their ways, walking before me as you have done.
26 And now, O Lord God of Israel, let, I pray you, your word to David my father be confirmed.
So now, O God of Israel, it is my prayer that you will make your word come true which you said to your servant David, my father.
27 But will God indeed dwell with men upon the earth? if the heaven and heaven of heavens will not suffice you, how much less even this house which I have built to your name?
But is it truly possible that God may be housed on earth? see, heaven and the heaven of heavens are not wide enough to be your resting-place; how much less this house which I have made!
28 Yet, O Lord God of Israel, you shall look upon my petition, to hear the prayer which your servant prays to you in your presence this day,
Still, let your heart be turned to the prayer of your servant, O Lord God, and to his prayer for grace; give ear to the cry and the prayer which your servant sends up to you this day;
29 that your eyes may be open toward this house day and night, even toward the place which you said, My name shall be there, to hear the prayer which your servant prays at this place day and night.
That your eyes may be open to this house night and day, to this place of which you have said, My name will be there; hearing the prayer which your servant may make, turning to this place.
30 And you shall listen to the prayer of your servant, and of your people Israel, which they shall pray toward this place; and you shall hear in your dwelling-place in heaven, and you shall do and be gracious.
Give ear to the prayers of your servant, and the prayers of your people Israel, when they make their prayers, turning to this place; give ear in heaven your living-place, and hearing, have mercy.
31 Whatsoever trespasses any [one] shall commit against his neighbor, —and if he shall take upon him an oath so that he should swear, and he shall come and make confession before your altar in this house,
If a man does wrong to his neighbour, and has to take an oath, and comes before your altar to take his oath in this house:
32 then shall you hear from heaven, and do, and you shall judge your people Israel, that the wicked should be condemned, to recompense his way upon his head; and to justify the righteous, to give to him according to his righteousness.
Then let your ear be open in heaven, and be the judge of your servants, giving your decision against the wrongdoer, so that punishment for his sins may come on his head; and, by your decision, keeping from evil him who has done no wrong.
33 When your people Israel falls before enemies, because they shall sin against you, and they shall return and confess to your name, and they shall pray and supplicate in this house,
When your people Israel are overcome in war, because of their sin against you; if they are turned to you again, honouring your name, making prayers to you and requesting your grace in this house:
34 then shall you hear from heaven, and be gracious to the sins of your people Israel, and you shall restore them to the land which you gave to their fathers.
Then give ear in heaven, and let the sin of your people Israel have forgiveness, and take them back again into the land which you gave to their fathers.
35 When the heaven is restrained, and there is no rain, because they shall sin against you, and the shall pray toward this place, and they shall make confession to your name, and shall turn from their sins when you shall have humbled them,
When heaven is shut up and there is no rain, because of their sin against you; if they make prayers with their faces turned to this place, honouring your name and turning away from their sin when you send trouble on them:
36 then you shall hear from heaven, and be merciful to the sins of your servant and of your people Israel; for you shall show them the good way to walk in it, and you shall give rain upon the earth which you have given to your people for an inheritance.
Then give ear in heaven, so that the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, may have forgiveness, when you make clear to them the good way in which they are to go; and send rain on your land which you have given to your people for their heritage.
37 If there should be famine, if there should be death, because there should be blasting, locust, or if there be mildew, and if their enemy oppress them in [any] one of their cities, [with regard to] every calamity, every trouble,
If there is no food in the land, or if there is disease, or if the fruits of the earth are damaged through heat or water, locust or worm; if their towns are shut in by their attackers; whatever trouble, whatever disease there may be:
38 every prayer, every supplication whatever shall be made by any man, as they shall know each the plague of his heart, and shall spread abroad his hands to this house,
Whatever prayer or request for your grace is made by any man, or by all your people Israel, whatever his trouble may be, whose hands are stretched out to this house:
39 then shall you listen from heaven, out of your established dwelling-place, and shall be merciful, and shall do, and recompense to [every] man according to his ways, as you shall know his heart, for you alone know the heart of all the children of men:
Give ear in heaven your living-place, acting in mercy; and give to every man whose secret heart is open to you, the reward of all his ways; for you, and you only, have knowledge of the hearts of all the children of men:
40 that they may fear you all the days that they live upon the land, which you have given to our fathers.
So that they may give you worship all the days of their life in the land which you gave to our fathers.
41 And for the stranger who is not of your people,
And as for the man from a strange land, who is not of your people Israel; when he comes from a far country because of the glory of your name:
42 when they shall come and pray toward this place,
(For they will have news of your great name and your strong hand and your out-stretched arm; ) when he comes to make his prayer, turning to this house:
43 then shall you hear [them] from heaven, out of your established dwelling-place, and you shall do according to all that the stranger shall call upon you for, that all the nations may know your name, and fear you, as [do] your people Israel, and may know that your name has been called on this house which I have builded.
Give ear in heaven your living-place, and give him his desire, whatever it may be; so that all the peoples of the earth may have knowledge of your name, worshipping you as do your people Israel, and that they may see that this house which I have put up is truly named by your name.
44 [If it be] that your people shall go forth to war against their enemies in the way by which you shall turn them, and pray in the name of the Lord toward the city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built to your name,
If your people go out to war against their attackers, by whatever way you may send them, if they make their prayer to the Lord, turning their faces to this town of yours and to this house which I have made for your name:
45 then shall you hear from heaven their supplication and their prayer, and shall execute judgment for them.
Give ear in heaven to their prayer and their cry for grace, and see right done to them.
46 [If it be] that they shall sin against you, (for there is not a man who will not sin, ) and you shall bring them and deliver them up before their enemies, and they that take [them] captive shall carry [them] to a land far or near,
If they do wrong against you, (for no man is without sin, ) and you are angry with them and give them up into the power of those who are fighting against them, so that they take them away as prisoners into a strange land, far off or near;
47 and they shall turn their hearts in the land whither they have been carried captives, and turn in the land of their sojourning, and supplicate you, saying, We have sinned, we have done unjustly, we have transgressed,
And if they take thought, in the land where they are prisoners, and are turned again to you, crying out in prayer to you in that land, and saying, We are sinners, we have done wrong, we have done evil;
48 and they shall turn to you with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies whither you have carried them captives, and shall pray to you toward their land which you have given to their fathers, and the city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built to your name:
And with all their heart and soul are turned again to you, in the land of those who took them prisoners, and make their prayer to you, turning their eyes to this land which you gave to their fathers, and to the town which you took for yourself, and the house which I made for your name:
49 then shall you hear from heaven your established dwelling-place,
Then give ear to their prayer and to their cry in heaven your living-place, and see right done to them;
50 and you shall be merciful to their unrighteousness wherein they have trespassed against you, and according to all their transgressions wherewith they have transgressed against you, and you shall cause them to be pitied before them that carried them captives, and they shall have compassion on them:
Answering with forgiveness the people who have done wrong against you, and overlooking the evil which they have done against you; let those who made them prisoners be moved with pity for them, and have pity on them;
51 for [they are] your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, out of the midst of the furnace of iron.
For they are your people and your heritage, which you took out of Egypt, out of the iron fireplace;
52 And let your eyes and your ears be opened to the supplication of your servant, and to the supplication of your people Israel, to listen to them in all things for which they shall call upon you.
Let your eyes be open to your servant's prayer for grace and to the prayer of your people Israel, hearing them when their cry comes to you.
53 Because you have set them apart for an inheritance to yourself out of all the nations of the earth, as you spoke by the hand of your servant Moses, when you brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, O Lord God.
For you made them separate from all the peoples of the earth, to be your heritage, as you said by Moses your servant, when you took our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.
54 And it came to pass when Solomon had finished praying to the Lord all this prayer and supplication, that he rose up from before the altar of the Lord, [after] having knelt upon his knees, and his hands [were] spread out towards heaven.
Then Solomon, after making all these prayers and requests for grace to the Lord, got up from his knees before the altar of the Lord, where his hands had been stretched out in prayer to heaven;
55 And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying,
And, getting on his feet, he gave a blessing to all the men of Israel, saying with a loud voice,
56 Blessed [be] the Lord this day, who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he said: there has not failed one word among all his good words which he spoke by the hand of his servant Moses.
Praise be to the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, as he gave them his word to do; every word of all his oath, which he gave by the hand of Moses his servant, has come true.
57 May the Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers; let him not desert us nor turn from us,
Now may the Lord our God be with us as he was with our fathers; let him never go away from us or give us up;
58 that he may turn our hearts toward him to walk in all his ways, and to keep all his commandments, and his ordinances which he commanded our fathers.
Turning our hearts to himself, guiding us to go in all his ways, to keep his orders and his laws and his decisions, which he gave to our fathers.
59 And let these words, which I have prayed before the Lord our God, [be] near to the Lord our God day and night, to maintain the cause of your servant, and the cause of your people Israel for ever.
And may these my words, the words of my prayer to the Lord, be before the Lord our God day and night, so that he may see right done to his servant and to his people Israel, day by day as we have need.
60 that all the nations of the earth may know that the Lord God, he [is] God, and there is none beside.
So that all the peoples of the earth may see that the Lord is God, and there is no other.
61 And let our hearts be perfect toward the Lord our God, to walk also holily in his ordinances, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.
Then let your hearts be without sin before the Lord our God, walking in his laws and keeping his orders as at this day.
62 And the king and all the children of Israel offered sacrifice before the Lord.
Now the king, and all Israel with him, were making offerings before the Lord.
63 And king Solomon offered for the sacrifices of peace-offering which he sacrificed to the Lord, two and twenty thousand oxen, and hundred and twenty thousand sheep: and the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord.
And Solomon gave to the Lord for peace-offerings, twenty-two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel kept the feast of the opening of the Lord's house.
64 In that day the king consecrated the middle of the court in the front of the house of the Lord; for there he offered the whole burnt offering, and the sacrifices, and the fat of the peace-offerings, because the brazen altar which was before the Lord [was too] little to bear the whole burnt offering and the sacrifices of peace-offerings.
The same day the king made holy the middle of the open square in front of the house of the Lord, offering there the burned offering and the meal offering and the fat of the peace-offerings; for there was not room on the brass altar of the Lord for the burned offerings and the meal offerings and the fat of the peace-offerings.
65 And Solomon kept the feast in that day, and all Israel with him, even a great assembly from the entering in of Hemath to the river of Egypt, before the Lord our God in the house which he built, eating and drinking, and rejoicing before the Lord our God seven days.
So Solomon and all Israel with him, a very great meeting, (for the people had come together from the way into Hamath to the river of Egypt, ) kept the feast at that time before the Lord our God, for two weeks, even fourteen days.
66 And on the eighth day he sent away the people: and they blessed the king, and each departed to his tabernacle rejoicing, and [their] heart [was] glad because of the good things which the Lord had done to his servant David, and to Israel his people.
And on the eighth day he sent the people away, and, blessing the king, they went to their tents full of joy and glad in their hearts, because of all the good which the Lord had done to David his servant and to Israel his people.
