| English Standard Version | New Living Translation |
| 1Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which 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. |
| 2And all the men of Israel assembled to King Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is 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. |
| 3And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. | 3When all the elders of Israel arrived, the priests picked up the Ark. |
| 4And they brought up the ark of the LORD, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. | 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. |
| 5And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. | 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! |
| 6Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath 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 spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles. | 7The cherubim spread their wings over the Ark, forming a canopy over the Ark and its carrying poles. |
| 8And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are 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. |
| 9There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone that Moses put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the people of Israel, 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. |
| 10And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD, | 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, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD. | 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 would dwell in thick darkness. | 12Then Solomon prayed, “O LORD, you have said that you would live in a thick cloud of darkness. |
| 13I have indeed built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.” | 13Now I have built a glorious Temple for you, a place where you can live forever! ” |
| 14Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. | 14Then the king turned around to the entire community of Israel standing before him and gave this blessing: |
| 15And he said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, | 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 that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there. But I chose 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.’” |
| 17Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house 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 David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. | 18But the LORD told him, ‘You wanted to build the Temple to honor my name. Your intention is good, |
| 19Nevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ | 19but you are not the one to do it. One of your own sons will build the Temple to honor me.’ |
| 20Now the LORD has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and I have built the house 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. |
| 21And there I have provided a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD that he made with our fathers, 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 the presence of all the assembly 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, |
| 23and said, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to 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 with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. | 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. |
| 25Now therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, 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 therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David my father. | 26Now, O God of Israel, fulfill this promise to your servant David, my father. |
| 27“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house 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! |
| 28Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O LORD my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, | 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. |
| 29that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers 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. |
| 30And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, 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 sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, | 31“If someone wrongs another person and is required to take an oath of innocence in front of your altar in this Temple, |
| 32then hear in heaven and act and judge your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating 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. |
| 33“When your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and if they turn again to you and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house, | 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 and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to their fathers. | 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 is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn 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, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which 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 there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemy besieges them in the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there 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, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart and stretching out his hands toward this house, | 38and if your people Israel pray about their troubles, raising their hands toward this Temple, |
| 39then hear in heaven your dwelling place and forgive and act and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways (for you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind), | 39then hear from heaven where you live, and forgive. Give your people what their actions deserve, for you alone know each human heart. |
| 40that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers. | 40Then they will fear you as long as they live in the land you gave to our ancestors. |
| 41“Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name’s sake | 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 they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, | 42for they will hear of your great name and your strong hand and your powerful arm. And when they pray toward this Temple, |
| 43hear in heaven 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 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“If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to the LORD toward the city that you have chosen and the house 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 in heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause. | 45then hear their prayers from heaven and uphold their cause. |
| 46“If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near, | 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. |
| 47yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ | 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 repent with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen, and the house 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 in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause | 49then hear their prayers and their petition from heaven where you live, and uphold their cause. |
| 50and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you, and grant them compassion in the sight of those who carried them captive, that they may have 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, |
| 51(for they are your people, and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace). | 51for they are your people—your special possession—whom you brought out of the iron-smelting furnace of Egypt. |
| 52Let your eyes be open to the plea of your servant and to the plea of your people Israel, giving ear 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 separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be your heritage, as you declared through Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O 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 |
| 54Now as Solomon finished offering all this prayer and plea to the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD, where he had knelt with hands outstretched 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 all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying, | 55He stood and in a loud voice blessed the entire congregation of Israel: |
| 56“Blessed be the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. | 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. |
| 57The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, | 57May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us or abandon us. |
| 58that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers. | 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. |
| 59Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant 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. |
| 60that all the peoples of the earth may 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. |
| 61Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the LORD our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.” | 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 Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD. | 62Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices to the LORD. |
| 63Solomon offered as peace offerings to the LORD 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD. | 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. |
| 64The same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD, for there he offered the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before the LORD was too small to receive the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat pieces of 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 held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven 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 eighth day he sent the people away, and they blessed the king and went to their homes joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had shown to David his servant and to Israel his people. | 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. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | 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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