| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1When Solomon finished praying, fire flashed down from heaven and burned up the burnt offerings and sacrifices, and the glorious presence of the LORD filled the Temple. | 1When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. |
| 2The priests could not enter the Temple of the LORD because the glorious presence of the LORD filled it. | 2The priests were unable to enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled it. |
| 3When all the people of Israel saw the fire coming down and the glorious presence of the LORD filling the Temple, they fell face down on the ground and worshiped and praised the LORD, saying, “He is good! His faithful love endures forever!” | 3When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the LORD above the temple, they bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD: “For He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.” |
| 4Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices to the LORD. | 4Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the LORD. |
| 5King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats. And so the king and all the people dedicated the Temple of God. | 5And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. |
| 6The priests took their assigned positions, and so did the Levites who were singing, “His faithful love endures forever!” They accompanied the singing with music from the instruments King David had made for praising the LORD. Across from the Levites, the priests blew the trumpets, while all Israel stood. | 6The priests stood at their posts, as did the Levites with the musical instruments of the LORD, which King David had made for giving thanks to the LORD and with which David had offered praise, saying, “For His loving devotion endures forever.” Across from the Levites, the priests sounded trumpets, and all the Israelites were standing. |
| 7Solomon then consecrated the central area of the courtyard in front of the LORD’s Temple. He offered burnt offerings and the fat of peace offerings there, because the bronze altar he had built could not hold all the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and sacrificial fat. | 7Then Solomon consecrated the middle of the courtyard in front of the house of the LORD, and there he offered the burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings, since the bronze altar he had made could not contain all these offerings. |
| 8For the next seven days Solomon and all Israel celebrated the Festival of Shelters. A large congregation had gathered from as far away as Lebo-hamath in the north and the Brook of Egypt in the south. | 8So at that time Solomon and all Israel with him—a very great assembly of people from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt—kept the feast for seven days. |
| 9On the eighth day they had a closing ceremony, for they had celebrated the dedication of the altar for seven days and the Festival of Shelters for seven days. | 9On the eighth day they held a solemn assembly, for the dedication of the altar had lasted seven days, and the feast seven days more. |
| 10Then at the end of the celebration, Solomon sent the people home. They were all joyful and glad because the LORD had been so good to David and to Solomon and to his people Israel. The LORD’s Response to Solomon | 10On the twenty-third day of the seventh month, Solomon sent the people away to their homes, joyful and glad of heart for the good things that the LORD had done for David, for Solomon, and for His people Israel. |
| 11So Solomon finished the Temple of the LORD, as well as the royal palace. He completed everything he had planned to do in the construction of the Temple and the palace. | 11When Solomon had finished the house of the LORD and the royal palace, successfully carrying out all that was in his heart to do for the house of the LORD and for his own palace, |
| 12Then one night the LORD appeared to Solomon and said, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this Temple as the place for making sacrifices. | 12the LORD appeared to him at night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. |
| 13At times I might shut up the heavens so that no rain falls, or command grasshoppers to devour your crops, or send plagues among you. | 13If I close the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send a plague among My people, |
| 14Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. | 14and if My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. |
| 15My eyes will be open and my ears attentive to every prayer made in this place. | 15Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. |
| 16For I have chosen this Temple and set it apart to be holy—a place where my name will be honored forever. I will always watch over it, for it is dear to my heart. | 16For I have now chosen and consecrated this temple so that My Name may be there forever. My eyes and My heart will be there for all time. |
| 17“As for you, if you faithfully follow me as David your father did, obeying all my commands, decrees, and regulations, | 17And as for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, doing all I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and ordinances, |
| 18then I will establish the throne of your dynasty. For I made this covenant with your father, David, when I said, ‘One of your descendants will always rule over Israel.’ | 18then I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with your father David when I said, ‘You will never fail to have a man to rule over Israel.’ |
| 19“But if you or your descendants abandon me and disobey the decrees and commands I have given you, and if you serve and worship other gods, | 19But if you turn away and forsake the statutes and commandments I have set before you, and if you go off to serve and worship other gods, |
| 20then I will uproot the people from this land that I have given them. I will reject this Temple that I have made holy to honor my name. I will make it an object of mockery and ridicule among the nations. | 20then I will uproot Israel from the soil I have given them, and I will banish from My presence this temple I have sanctified for My Name. I will make it an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples. |
| 21And though this Temple is impressive now, all who pass by will be appalled. They will ask, ‘Why did the LORD do such terrible things to this land and to this Temple?’ | 21And when this temple has become a heap of rubble, all who pass by it will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ |
| 22“And the answer will be, ‘Because his people abandoned the LORD, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and they worshiped other gods instead and bowed down to them. That is why he has brought all these disasters on them.’” | 22And others will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—because of this, He has brought all this disaster upon them.’ ” |
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