1NOW when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offerings and the wood; and the glory of the LORD filled the house. 2And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD'S house. 3And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down and the glory of the LORD filled the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement and worshipped, and said to each other. Praise the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endures for ever.

4Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the LORD. 5And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep; so the king and all the people dedicated the house of the LORD. 6And the priests waited on their offices; the Levites also with instruments of music praised the LORD, and this is what they said in their praises. in the songs of David, Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his mercy endures for ever; and the priests sounded with curved and straight trumpets, and all the people of Israel stood.

7Moreover Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD; for there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar which Solomon had made was too small to hold the burnt offerings and the meal offerings and the fat.

8Also at that time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from Hamath to the river of Egypt the people were assembled before the LORD our God. 9Seven days were given for the feast and seven days for the dedication of the house; the extent of both occasions was fourteen days. 10And on the fifteenth day of the month of Tishrin the king dismissed the people; and the people blessed the king and departed to their towns, glad and merry in heart, and giving thanks and praises for all the goodness that the LORD had shown to David his servant and to Solomon his son and to Israel his people.

11And it came to pass that King Solomon finished building the house of the LORD and the king's house; and all that Solomon had reasoned in his mind to make in the house of the LORD and in the king's house he successfully accomplished.

12And the LORD appeared to Solomon that night and said to him, I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice. 13If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; 14If my .people who are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and will heal their land. 15And even now my eyes shall be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. 16For now I have chosen this house for myself, that my glory may be in it for ever, and that my good works and my will shall be done in the midst of it perpetually. 17And as for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked, with innocence of heart and uprightness, to do everything that I have commanded you and to observe my commandments and my statutes; 18Then I will establish the throne of your kingdom for ever, as I have covenanted with David your father, saying, There shall not fail you a son in my presence to sit on the throne of Israel.

19But if you turn away from my ways, both you and your children, and shall not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, and shall go and serve the idols of the nations and worship them; 20Then I will scatter you out of this land which I have given you; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, I will uproot out of my sight, and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all nations. 21And this house shall be in ruins, and every one passing by shall stand and shake his head in amazement, and say, Why has the LORD done thus to this great city and to this house? 22And they will say, Because they forsook the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and they went and revered the gods of the Gentiles and served them and worshipped them; therefore the LORD has brought all this evil upon them.