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Chapter 8 |
| 1 | Then Solomon
assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of
the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that
they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of
David, which is Zion. |
| 2 | And all the men of Israel assembled
themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the
seventh month. |
|
3 | And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests
took up the ark. |
|
4 | And they brought up the ark of the LORD, and the
tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the
tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up. |
| 5 |
And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto
him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not
be told nor numbered for multitude. |
| 6 | And the priests brought in the
ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, into the oracle of the house,
to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubim. |
| 7 | For
the cherubim spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the
cherubim covered the ark and the staves thereof above. |
| 8 | And they drew
out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place
before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this
day. |
| 9 |
There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone,
which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children
of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. |
| 10 | And it came
to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud
filled the house of the LORD, |
|
11 | So that the priests could not stand to
minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house
of the LORD. |
|
12 | Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would
dwell in the thick darkness. |
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13 | I have surely built thee an house to
dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever. |
| 14 | And the
king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation of Israel: (and
all the congregation of Israel stood;) |
| 15 | And he said, Blessed be the
LORD God of Israel, which spake with his mouth unto David my father, and hath
with his hand fulfilled it, saying, |
| 16 | Since the day that I brought
forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of
Israel to build an house, that my name might be therein; but I chose David to
be over my people Israel. |
|
17 | And it was in the heart of David my
father to build an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. |
| 18 |
And the LORD said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to build
an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart. |
| 19 |
Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth
out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name. |
| 20 | And the
LORD hath performed his word that he spake, and I am risen up in the room of
David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and
have built an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. |
| 21 | And I
have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD, which
he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.
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| 22 | And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all
the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven:
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| 23 | And he said, LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven
above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants
that walk before thee with all their heart: |
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24 | Who hast kept with thy
servant David my father that thou promisedst him: thou spakest also with thy
mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day. |
| 25 |
Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that
thou promisedst him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit
on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they
walk before me as thou hast walked before me. |
| 26 | And now, O
God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto
thy servant David my father. |
|
27 | But will God indeed dwell on the
earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much
less this house that I have builded? |
| 28 | Yet have thou respect unto
the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken
unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to
day: |
| 29 |
That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day,
even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that
thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this
place. |
| 30
| And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and
of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in
heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive. |
| 31 | If any
man trespass against his neighbor, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to
swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house: |
| 32 | Then
hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to
bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him
according to his righteousness. |
| 33 | When thy people Israel be
smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall
turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto
thee in this house: |
| 34 | Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the
sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest
unto their fathers. |
| 35 | When heaven is shut up, and there is no
rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place,
and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them:
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| 36 | Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of
thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk,
and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an
inheritance. |
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37 | If there be in the land famine, if there be
pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpillar; if their
enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever
sickness there be; |
| 38 | What prayer and supplication soever be made
by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague
of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house: |
| 39 | Then
hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every
man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only,
knowest the hearts of all the children of men;) |
| 40 | That they
may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto
our fathers. |
|
41 | Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of thy
people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake; |
| 42 |
(For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy
stretched out arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house; |
| 43 |
Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the
stranger calleth to thee for: that all people of the earth may know thy name,
to fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house,
which I have builded, is called by thy name. |
|
44 | If thy people go out to
battle against their enemy, whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray
unto the LORD toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that
I have built for thy name: |
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45 | Then hear thou in heaven their prayer
and their supplication, and maintain their cause. |
| 46 | If they sin
against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with
them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto
the land of the enemy, far or near; |
| 47 | Yet if they shall bethink
themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make
supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying,
We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;
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| 48 | And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul,
in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee
toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou
hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name: |
| 49 | Then
hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and
maintain their cause, |
| 50 | And forgive thy people that have sinned
against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed
against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive,
that they may have compassion on them: |
| 51 | For they be thy people, and
thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of
the furnace of iron: |
| 52 | That thine eyes may be open unto the
supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to
hearken unto them in all that they call for unto thee. |
| 53 | For thou
didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine
inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou
broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O LORD God. |
| 54 | And it was
so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and
supplication unto the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD, from
kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. |
| 55 | And he
stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice,
saying, |
| 56
| Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people
Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of
all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.
|
| 57 | The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not
leave us, nor forsake us: |
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58 | That he may incline our hearts unto
him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes,
and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers. |
| 59 | And let
these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the LORD, be nigh
unto the LORD our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant,
and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall
require: |
| 60
| That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD
is God, and that there is none else. |
| 61 | Let your heart therefore be
perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his
commandments, as at this day. |
|
62 | And the king, and all Israel with him,
offered sacrifice before the LORD. |
| 63 | And Solomon offered a
sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the LORD, two and twenty
thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all
the children of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD. |
| 64 | The same day
did the king hallow the middle of the court that was before the house of the
LORD: for there he offered burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of
the peace offerings: because the brazen altar that was before the LORD was too
little to receive the burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the
peace offerings. |
|
65 | And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all
Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the
river of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days and seven days, even
fourteen days. |
|
66 | On the eighth day he sent the people away: and they
blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all
the goodness that the LORD had done for David his servant, and for Israel his
people. |
