1 Kings 8
Will God Indeed Dwell with Men on the Earth?
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The Ark Brought into the House
8:1When Solomon had finished building the Lord’s house and his own house after twenty years, King Solomon assembled all Israel’s elders in Zion to bring up the ark of the Lord’s covenant from the City of David, which is Zion,
8:2in the month of Athanin.
8:3The priests carried the ark
8:4and the tent of testimony and all the holy utensils in the tent of testimony,
8:5while the king and all Israel were before the ark, sacrificing innumerable sheep and cattle.
8:6The priests brought the ark to its place, into the house’s inner sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, beneath the cherubim’s wings.
8:7For the cherubim had their wings spread over the ark’s place; the cherubim covered the ark and its holy things from above.
8:8The consecrated things projected, and the ends of the consecrated things could be seen from the holy places in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside.
8:9There was nothing in the ark except two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant, which Moses had placed there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel as they came out of the land of Egypt.
The Cloud Fills the House
8:10When the priests came out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the house.
8:11The priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the Lord’s glory filled the house.
Solomon Blesses the Assembly
8:14The king turned his face, and the king blessed all Israel, while the whole assembly of Israel stood.
8:15He said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, today, who spoke with His mouth concerning my father David and fulfilled it with His hands, saying,
8:16‘Since the day I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city in any tribe of Israel in which to build a house for My name to be there; but I chose Jerusalem for My name to be there, and I chose David to be over My people Israel.’
8:17It came into the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
8:18But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Because it came into your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it came into your heart.
8:19Nevertheless, you shall not build the house; your son who comes from your sides shall build the house for My name.’
8:20The Lord has established the word He spoke. I have risen in place of my father David and sat on Israel’s throne, as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
8:21There I made a place for the ark, in which is the Lord’s covenant that the Lord made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”
The Prayer of Dedication
8:22Solomon stood before the Lord’s altar in the presence of the whole assembly of Israel and spread his hands toward heaven.
8:23He said, “Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and mercy with Your servant who walks before You with all his heart,
8:24which You kept for Your servant David my father; You spoke with Your mouth and fulfilled it with Your hands, as it is today.
8:25Now, Lord, the God of Israel, keep for Your servant David my father what You promised him: ‘A man of yours shall not be removed from before Me sitting on Israel’s throne, if only your children guard their ways, walking before Me as you have walked before Me.’
8:26Now, Lord, the God of Israel, let Your word to David my father indeed be confirmed.
8:27But will God truly dwell with people on earth? If heaven and the heaven of heaven are not sufficient for You, how much less this house that I have built for Your name!
8:28Look upon my supplication, Lord, the God of Israel, to hear the rejoicing that Your servant offers in prayer before You, to You, today,
8:29so that Your eyes may be open toward this house day and night, toward the place of which You said, ‘My name shall be there,’ to hear the prayer Your servant prays toward this place day and night.
8:30Hear the supplication of Your servant and Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear in Your dwelling place, in heaven; act and be merciful.
When a Man Sins Against His Neighbor
8:31“Whatever each person’s sin against his neighbor, if he takes an oath-curse upon himself to swear it, and comes and makes his declaration before Your altar in this house,
8:32then hear from heaven, act, and judge Your people Israel: condemn the lawless by bringing his way upon his own head, and vindicate the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.
When Israel Is Struck Before Enemies
8:33“When Your people Israel stumble before enemies because they have sinned against You, and they return, acknowledge Your name, and pray and plead in this house,
8:34then hear from heaven, be merciful concerning the sins of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land You gave their fathers.
When Heaven Is Shut and Famine Comes
8:35“When heaven is shut and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place, acknowledge Your name, and turn from their sins when You humble them,
8:36then hear from heaven and be merciful concerning the sins of Your servant and Your people Israel, for You will show them the good way in which to walk. Give rain on the land, which You gave Your people as an inheritance.
8:37“If there is famine, if there is death, if there is scorching, locust, or mildew; if their enemy afflicts them in one of their cities; whatever calamity or pain there is,
8:38whatever prayer or supplication is made by any person, each knowing the affliction of his own heart and spreading his hands toward this house,
8:39then hear from heaven, from Your prepared dwelling place; be merciful, act, and give to each person according to his ways, as You know his heart, for You alone know the hearts of all the sons of humankind,
8:40so that they may fear You all the days they live on the land You gave our fathers.
Concerning the Foreigner
8:41“Also concerning the foreigner who is not of Your people,
8:42when they come and pray toward this place,
8:43hear from heaven, from Your prepared dwelling place, and do all that the foreigner calls upon You for, so that all the peoples may know Your name and fear You as Your people Israel do, and may know that Your name is called over this house I have built.
When They Go Out to War
8:44“When Your people go out to war against their enemies by the way You turn them, and pray in the Lord’s name toward the city You chose and the house I built for Your name,
8:45then hear their supplication and prayer from heaven and uphold their cause.
When They Are Carried into Captivity
8:46“When they sin against You—for there is no person who will not sin—and You bring trouble upon them and give them over before enemies, and their captors carry them away to a land far and near,
8:47and they turn their hearts in the land where they were deported, return, and plead with You in the land of their exile, saying, ‘We have sinned, acted lawlessly, and done wrong,’
8:48and they return to You with all their heart and all their soul in the land of their enemies, where You deported them, and pray to You toward their land, which You gave their fathers, the city You chose, and the house I have built for Your name,
8:49then hear from heaven, from Your prepared dwelling place,
8:50and be merciful concerning their wrongs by which they sinned against You, and all their acts of faithlessness by which they were faithless to You. Grant them compassion before those who took them captive, so that their captors may have compassion on them,
8:51for they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron-smelting furnace.
8:52May Your eyes and ears be open to Your servant’s supplication and the supplication of Your people Israel, to hear them in everything for which they call upon You,
8:53for You set them apart for Yourself as an inheritance from all the peoples of the earth, as You spoke through Your servant Moses when You brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, Lord, Lord.”
8:53aThen Solomon spoke concerning the house when he had finished building it: “The Lord made the sun known in heaven;
He spoke of dwelling in gloom: ‘Build My house, a splendid house for yourself, to dwell in newness.’ Is this not written in the Book of Song?”
Solomon Blesses the Whole Assembly
8:54When Solomon finished praying all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, he rose from before the Lord’s altar, having knelt on his knees with his hands spread toward heaven.
8:55He stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying,
8:56“Blessed be the Lord today, who has given rest to His people Israel according to all He promised. Not one word has failed among all His good words which He spoke through His servant Moses.
8:57May the Lord our God be with us as He was with our fathers. May He not abandon us or turn us away,
8:58so that He may incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways and keep all His commandments and ordinances which He commanded our fathers.
8:59May these words, with which I have pleaded before the Lord our God, remain near the Lord our God day and night, to uphold Your servant’s cause and Your people Israel’s cause, each day’s matter in its day,
8:60so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord God, He is God, and there is no other.
8:61Let our hearts be complete toward the Lord our God, walking devoutly in His ordinances and keeping His commandments, as it is today.”
The Sacrifices and the Feast of Dedication
8:62The king and all the sons of Israel offered a sacrifice before the Lord.
8:63King Solomon offered the peace offerings that he sacrificed to the Lord: twenty-two thousand cattle and a hundred twenty thousand sheep. Thus the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the Lord’s house.
8:64That day the king consecrated the middle of the court in front of the Lord’s house, for there he offered the whole burnt offering, sacrifices, and fat of the peace offerings; the bronze altar before the Lord was too small to bear the whole burnt offering and the sacrifices of peace offerings.
8:65That day Solomon kept the feast, and all Israel with him, a great assembly from the entrance of Hamath to the River of Egypt, before the Lord our God in the house he had built, eating, drinking, and rejoicing before the Lord our God for seven days.
8:66On the eighth day he dismissed the people and blessed them. They went, each to his tent, joyful and glad of heart for the good that the Lord had done for His servant David and His people Israel.
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.