| New International Version | NET Bible |
| 1Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the LORD's covenant from Zion, the City of David. | 1Then Solomon convened in Jerusalem Israel's elders, all the leaders of the Israelite tribes and families, so they could witness the transferal of the ark of the LORD's covenant from the city of David (that is, Zion). |
| 2All the Israelites came together to King Solomon at the time of the festival in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month. | 2All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon during the festival in the month Ethanim (the seventh month). |
| 3When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark, | 3When all Israel's elders had arrived, the priests lifted the ark. |
| 4and they brought up the ark of the LORD and the tent of meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it. The priests and Levites carried them up, | 4The priests and Levites carried the ark of the LORD, the tent of meeting, and all the holy items in the tent. |
| 5and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted. | 5Now King Solomon and all the Israelites who had assembled with him went on ahead of the ark and sacrificed more sheep and cattle than could be counted or numbered. |
| 6The priests then brought the ark of the LORD's covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. | 6The priests brought the ark of the LORD's covenant to its assigned place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, in the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubs. |
| 7The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed the ark and its carrying poles. | 7The cherubs' wings extended over the place where the ark sat; the cherubs overshadowed the ark and its poles. |
| 8These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today. | 8The poles were so long their ends were visible from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from beyond that point. They have remained there to this very day. |
| 9There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt. | 9There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets Moses had placed there in Horeb. It was there that the LORD made an agreement with the Israelites after he brought them out of the land of Egypt. |
| 10When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD. | 10Once the priests left the holy place, a cloud filled the LORD's temple. |
| 11And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple. | 11The priests could not carry out their duties because of the cloud; the LORD's glory filled his temple. |
| 12Then Solomon said, "The LORD has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud; | 12Then Solomon said, "The LORD has said that he lives in thick darkness. |
| 13I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever." | 13O LORD, truly I have built a lofty temple for you, a place where you can live permanently." |
| 14While the whole assembly of Israel was standing there, the king turned around and blessed them. | 14Then the king turned around and pronounced a blessing over the whole Israelite assembly as they stood there. |
| 15Then he said: "Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who with his own hand has fulfilled what he promised with his own mouth to my father David. For he said, | 15He said, "The LORD God of Israel is worthy of praise because he has fulfilled what he promised my father David. |
| 16Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city in any tribe of Israel to have a temple built so that my Name might be there, but I have chosen David to rule my people Israel.' | 16He told David, 'Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a temple in which to live. But I have chosen David to lead my people Israel.' |
| 17"My father David had it in his heart to build a temple for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel. | 17Now my father David had a strong desire to build a temple to honor the LORD God of Israel. |
| 18But the LORD said to my father David, 'You did well to have it in your heart to build a temple for my Name. | 18The LORD told my father David, 'It is right for you to have a strong desire to build a temple to honor me. |
| 19Nevertheless, you are not the one to build the temple, but your son, your own flesh and blood--he is the one who will build the temple for my Name.' | 19But you will not build the temple; your very own son will build the temple for my honor.' |
| 20"The LORD has kept the promise he made: I have succeeded David my father and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the LORD promised, and I have built the temple for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel. | 20The LORD has kept the promise he made. I have taken my father David's place and have occupied the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised. I have built this temple for the honor of the LORD God of Israel |
| 21I have provided a place there for the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD that he made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt." | 21and set up in it a place for the ark containing the covenant the LORD made with our ancestors when he brought them out of the land of Egypt." |
| 22Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven | 22Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the entire assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward the sky. |
| 23and said: "LORD, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below--you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. | 23He prayed: "O LORD, God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven above or on earth below! You maintain covenantal loyalty to your servants who obey you with sincerity. |
| 24You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it--as it is today. | 24You have kept your word to your servant, my father David; this very day you have fulfilled what you promised. |
| 25"Now LORD, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, 'You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me faithfully as you have done.' | 25Now, O LORD, God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David, when you said, 'You will never fail to have a successor ruling before me on the throne of Israel, provided that your descendants watch their step and serve me as you have done.' |
| 26And now, God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David my father come true. | 26Now, O God of Israel, may the promise you made to your servant, my father David, be realized. |
| 27"But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! | 27"God does not really live on the earth! Look, if the sky and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built! |
| 28Yet give attention to your servant's prayer and his plea for mercy, LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. | 28But respond favorably to your servant's prayer and his request for help, O LORD my God. Answer the desperate prayer your servant is presenting to you today. |
| 29May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, 'My Name shall be there,' so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. | 29Night and day may you watch over this temple, the place where you promised you would live. May you answer your servant's prayer for this place. |
| 30Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive. | 30Respond to the request of your servant and your people Israel for this place. Hear from inside your heavenly dwelling place and respond favorably. |
| 31"When anyone wrongs their neighbor and is required to take an oath and they come and swear the oath before your altar in this temple, | 31"When someone is accused of sinning against his neighbor and the latter pronounces a curse on the alleged offender before your altar in this temple, be willing to forgive the accused if the accusation is false. |
| 32then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing down on their heads what they have done, and vindicating the innocent by treating them in accordance with their innocence. | 32Listen from heaven and make a just decision about your servants' claims. Condemn the guilty party, declare the other innocent, and give both of them what they deserve. |
| 33"When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, and when they turn back to you and give praise to your name, praying and making supplication to you in this temple, | 33"The time will come when your people Israel are defeated by an enemy because they sinned against you. If they come back to you, renew their allegiance to you, and pray for your help in this temple, |
| 34then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to their ancestors. | 34then listen from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to their ancestors. |
| 35"When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, | 35"The time will come when the skies are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you, and turn away from their sin because you punish them, |
| 36then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance. | 36then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Certainly you will then teach them the right way to live and send rain on your land that you have given your people to possess. |
| 37"When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, | 37"The time will come when the land suffers from a famine, a plague, blight and disease, or a locust invasion, or when their enemy lays siege to the cities of the land, or when some other type of plague or epidemic occurs. |
| 38and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel--being aware of the afflictions of their own hearts, and spreading out their hands toward this temple-- | 38When all your people Israel pray and ask for help, as they acknowledge their pain and spread out their hands toward this temple, |
| 39then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know every human heart), | 39then listen from your heavenly dwelling place, forgive their sin, and act favorably toward each one based on your evaluation of his motives. (Indeed you are the only one who can correctly evaluate the motives of all people.) |
| 40so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors. | 40Then they will obey you throughout their lifetimes as they live on the land you gave to our ancestors. |
| 41"As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name-- | 41"Foreigners, who do not belong to your people Israel, will come from a distant land because of your reputation. |
| 42for they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm--when they come and pray toward this temple, | 42When they hear about your great reputation and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds, they will come and direct their prayers toward this temple. |
| 43then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name. | 43Then listen from your heavenly dwelling place and answer all the prayers of the foreigners. Then all the nations of the earth will acknowledge your reputation, obey you like your people Israel do, and recognize that this temple I built belongs to you. |
| 44"When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to the LORD toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name, | 44"When you direct your people to march out and fight their enemies, and they direct their prayers to the LORD toward his chosen city and this temple I built for your honor, |
| 45then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. | 45then listen from heaven to their prayers for help and vindicate them. |
| 46"When they sin against you--for there is no one who does not sin--and you become angry with them and give them over to their enemies, who take them captive to their own lands, far away or near; | 46"The time will come when your people will sin against you (for there is no one who is sinless!) and you will be angry with them and deliver them over to their enemies, who will take them as prisoners to their own land, whether far away or close by. |
| 47and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors and say, 'We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly'; | 47When your people come to their senses in the land where they are held prisoner, they will repent and beg for your mercy in the land of their imprisonment, admitting, 'We have sinned and gone astray; we have done evil.' |
| 48and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to you toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name; | 48When they return to you with all their heart and being in the land where they are held prisoner, and direct their prayers to you toward the land you gave to their ancestors, your chosen city, and the temple I built for your honor, |
| 49then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. | 49then listen from your heavenly dwelling place to their prayers for help and vindicate them. |
| 50And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their captors to show them mercy; | 50Forgive all the rebellious acts of your sinful people and cause their captors to have mercy on them. |
| 51for they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace. | 51After all, they are your people and your special possession whom you brought out of Egypt, from the middle of the iron-smelting furnace. |
| 52"May your eyes be open to your servant's plea and to the plea of your people Israel, and may you listen to them whenever they cry out to you. | 52"May you be attentive to your servant's and your people Israel's requests for help and may you respond to all their prayers to you. |
| 53For you singled them out from all the nations of the world to be your own inheritance, just as you declared through your servant Moses when you, Sovereign LORD, brought our ancestors out of Egypt." | 53After all, you picked them out of all the nations of the earth to be your special possession, just as you, O sovereign LORD, announced through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt." |
| 54When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the LORD, he rose from before the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven. | 54When Solomon finished presenting all these prayers and requests to the LORD, he got up from before the altar of the LORD where he had kneeled and spread out his hands toward the sky. |
| 55He stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying: | 55When he stood up, he pronounced a blessing over the entire assembly of Israel, saying in a loud voice: |
| 56"Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses. | 56"The LORD is worthy of praise because he has made Israel his people secure just as he promised! Not one of all the faithful promises he made through his servant Moses is left unfulfilled! |
| 57May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us nor forsake us. | 57May the LORD our God be with us, as he was with our ancestors. May he not abandon us or leave us. |
| 58May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in obedience to him and keep the commands, decrees and laws he gave our ancestors. | 58May he make us submissive, so we can follow all his instructions and obey the commandments, rules, and regulations he commanded our ancestors. |
| 59And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day's need, | 59May the LORD our God be constantly aware of these requests of mine I have presented to him, so that he might vindicate his servant and his people Israel as the need arises. |
| 60so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other. | 60Then all the nations of the earth will recognize that the LORD is the only genuine God. |
| 61And may your hearts be fully committed to the LORD our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time." | 61May you demonstrate wholehearted devotion to the LORD our God by following his rules and obeying his commandments, as you are presently doing." |
| 62Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the LORD. | 62The king and all Israel with him were presenting sacrifices to the LORD. |
| 63Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the LORD: twenty-two thousand cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the temple of the LORD. | 63Solomon offered as peace offerings to the LORD 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. Then the king and all the Israelites dedicated the LORD's temple. |
| 64On that same day the king consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the LORD, and there he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar that stood before the LORD was too small to hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings. | 64That day the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard that is in front of the LORD's temple. He offered there burnt sacrifices, grain offerings, and the fat from the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that stood before the LORD was too small to hold all these offerings. |
| 65So Solomon observed the festival at that time, and all Israel with him--a vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt. They celebrated it before the LORD our God for seven days and seven days more, fourteen days in all. | 65At that time Solomon and all Israel with him celebrated a festival before the LORD our God for two entire weeks. This great assembly included people from all over the land, from Lebo Hamath in the north to the Brook of Egypt in the south. |
| 66On the following day he sent the people away. They blessed the king and then went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good things the LORD had done for his servant David and his people Israel. | 66On the fifteenth day after the festival started, he dismissed the people. They asked God to empower the king and then went to their homes, happy and content because of all the good the LORD had done for his servant David and his people Israel. |
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