| Christian Standard Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1At that time Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, all the tribal heads and the ancestral leaders of the Israelites before him at Jerusalem in order to bring the ark of the LORD's covenant from the city of David, that is Zion. | 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 of Israel were assembled in the presence of King Solomon in the month of Ethanim, which is the seventh month, at the festival. | 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 came, and the priests picked up the ark. | 3When all the elders of Israel arrived, the priests picked up the Ark. |
| 4The priests and the Levites brought the ark of the LORD, the tent of meeting, and the holy utensils that were in the tent. | 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, who had gathered around him and were with him in front of the ark, were sacrificing sheep, goats, and cattle that could not be counted or numbered, because there were so many. | 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! |
| 6The priests brought the ark of the LORD's covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the most holy place beneath the wings of the cherubim. | 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. |
| 7For the cherubim were spreading their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim covered the ark and its poles from above. | 7The cherubim spread their wings over the Ark, forming a canopy over the Ark and its carrying poles. |
| 8The poles were so long that their ends were seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they were not seen from outside the sanctuary; they are still there today. | 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. |
| 9Nothing was in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites when they came 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 came out of the holy 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. |
| 11and because of the cloud, the priests were not able to continue ministering, for the glory of the LORD filled the 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 said that he would dwell in total darkness. | 12Then Solomon prayed, “O LORD, you have said that you would live in a thick cloud of darkness. |
| 13I have indeed built an exalted temple for you, a place for your dwelling forever. | 13Now I have built a glorious Temple for you, a place where you can live forever! ” |
| 14The king turned around and blessed the entire congregation of Israel while they were standing. | 14Then the king turned around to the entire community of Israel standing before him and gave this blessing: |
| 15He said: Blessed be the LORD God of Israel! He spoke directly to my father David, and he has fulfilled the promise by his power. 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, |
| 16"Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city to build a temple in among any of the tribes of Israel, so that my name would be there. But I have chosen David to rule 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.’” |
| 17My father David had his heart set on building a temple for the name of the LORD, the 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. |
| 18But the LORD said to my father David, "Since your heart was set on building a temple for my name, you have done well to have this desire. | 18But the LORD told him, ‘You wanted to build the Temple to honor my name. Your intention is good, |
| 19Yet you are not the one to build it; instead, your son, your own offspring, will build it for my name." | 19but you are not the one to do it. One of your own sons will build the Temple to honor me.’ |
| 20The LORD has fulfilled what he promised. I have taken the place of my father David, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised. I have built the temple for the name of the LORD, the 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 provided a place there for the ark, where the LORD's covenant is that he 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 stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the entire congregation of Israel and 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, |
| 23He said: LORD God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below, who keeps the gracious covenant with your servants who walk before you with all their heart. | 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. |
| 24You have kept what you promised to your servant, my father David. You spoke directly to him and you fulfilled your promise by your power as it is 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. |
| 25Therefore, LORD God of Israel, keep what you promised to your servant, my father David: You will never fail to have a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons take care to walk before me as you have walked before me. | 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.’ |
| 26Now LORD God of Israel, please confirm what you promised to your servant, my father David. | 26Now, O God of Israel, fulfill this promise to your servant David, my father. |
| 27But will God indeed live on earth? Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain you, much less this temple 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! |
| 28Listen to your servant's prayer and his petition, LORD my God, so that you may hear the cry and the prayer that your servant prays before you 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. |
| 29so that your eyes may watch over this temple night and day, toward the place where you said, "My name will be there," and so that you may hear the prayer that your servant prays toward this place. | 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. |
| 30Hear the petition of your servant and your people Israel, which they pray toward this place. May you hear in your dwelling place in heaven. May you 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. |
| 31When a man sins against his neighbor and is forced to take an oath, and he comes to take an oath before 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, |
| 32may you hear in heaven and act. May you judge your servants, condemning the wicked man by bringing what he has done on his own head and providing justice for the righteous by rewarding 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. |
| 33When your people Israel are defeated before an enemy, because they have sinned against you, and they return to you and praise your name, and they pray and plead with you for mercy in this temple, | 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, |
| 34may you hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel. May you restore them to the land you gave their ancestors. | 34then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and return them to this land you gave their ancestors. |
| 35When the skies are shut and there is no rain, because they have sinned against you, and they pray toward this place and praise your name, and they turn from their sins because you are afflicting 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, |
| 36may you hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and your people Israel, so that you may teach them the good way they should walk in. May you send rain on your land that you gave your people for 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. |
| 37When there is famine in the land, when there is pestilence, when there is blight or mildew, locust or grasshopper, when their enemy besieges them in the land and its cities, when there is any plague or illness, | 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— |
| 38every prayer or petition that any person or that all your people Israel may have--they each know their own affliction--as they spread out their hands toward this temple, | 38and if your people Israel pray about their troubles, raising their hands toward this Temple, |
| 39may you hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and may you forgive, act, and give to everyone according to all their ways, since you know each heart, for you alone know every human heart, | 39then hear from heaven where you live, and forgive. Give your people what their actions deserve, for you alone know each human heart. |
| 40so that they may fear you all the days they live on the land you gave our ancestors. | 40Then they will fear you as long as they live in the land you gave to our ancestors. |
| 41Even for the foreigner who is not of your people Israel but has come from a distant land because 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, |
| 42for they will hear of your great name, strong hand, and outstretched arm, and will come and pray toward 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, |
| 43may you hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and do according to all the foreigner asks. Then all peoples of earth will know your name, to fear you as your people Israel do and to know that this temple I have built bears 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. |
| 44When your people go out to fight against their enemies, wherever you send them, and they pray to the LORD in the direction of the city you have chosen and the temple 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, |
| 45may you hear their prayer and petition in heaven and uphold their cause. | 45then hear their prayers from heaven and uphold their cause. |
| 46When they sin against you--for there is no one who does not sin--and you are angry with them and hand them over to the enemy, and their captors deport them to the enemy's country--whether distant or nearby-- | 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. |
| 47and when they come to their senses in the land where they were deported and repent and petition you in their captors' land: "We have sinned and done wrong; we have been wicked," | 47But in that land of exile, they might turn to you in repentance and pray, ‘We have sinned, done evil, and acted wickedly.’ |
| 48and when they return to you with all their heart and all their soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and when they pray to you in the direction of their land that you gave their ancestors, the city you have chosen, and the temple 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— |
| 49may you hear in heaven, your dwelling place, their prayer and petition and uphold their cause. | 49then hear their prayers and their petition from heaven where you live, and uphold their cause. |
| 50May you forgive your people who sinned against you and all their rebellions against you, and may you grant them compassion before their captors, so that they may treat them compassionately. | 50Forgive your people who have sinned against you. Forgive all the offenses they have committed against you. Make their captors merciful to them, |
| 51For they are your people and your inheritance; you brought them out of Egypt, out of the middle of an iron furnace. | 51for they are your people—your special possession—whom you brought out of the iron-smelting furnace of Egypt. |
| 52May your eyes be open to your servant's petition and to the petition of your people Israel, listening to them whenever they call 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. |
| 53For you, Lord GOD, have set them apart as your inheritance from all peoples of the earth, as you spoke through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt. | 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 finished praying this entire prayer and petition to the LORD, he got up from kneeling before the altar of the LORD, with his hands spread out toward heaven, | 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. |
| 55and he stood and blessed the whole congregation of Israel with a loud voice: | 55He stood and in a loud voice blessed the entire congregation of Israel: |
| 56"Blessed be the LORD! He has given rest to his people Israel according to all he has said. Not one of all the good promises he made through his servant Moses has failed. | 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 as he was with our ancestors. May he not abandon us or leave 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 causes us to be devoted to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commands, statutes, and ordinances, which he commanded 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. |
| 59May my words with which I have made my petition before the LORD be near the LORD our God day and night. May he uphold his servant's cause and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires. | 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. |
| 60May all the peoples of the earth know that the LORD is God. There is no other! | 60Then people all over the earth will know that the LORD alone is God and there is no other. |
| 61Be wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD our God to walk in his statutes and to keep his commands, as it is 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.” |
| 62The king and all Israel with him were offering sacrifices in the LORD's presence. | 62Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices to the LORD. |
| 63Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the LORD: twenty-two thousand cattle and one hundred twenty thousand sheep and goats. In this manner the king and all the Israelites 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. |
| 64On the same day, the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard that was in front of the LORD's temple because that was where he offered the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat of the fellowship offerings since the bronze altar before the LORD was too small to accommodate the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the fellowship 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. |
| 65Solomon and all Israel with him--a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt--observed the festival at that time in the presence of the LORD our God, seven days, and seven more days--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. |
| 66On the fifteenth day he sent the people away. So they blessed the king and went to their homes rejoicing and with happy hearts for all the goodness that the LORD had done for his servant David and for 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 Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | 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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