The First Book of the Kings

⭑ Literal Standard Version 2020 ⭑

- Chapter 8 -

(2 Chronicles 5:1–14)

Then Solomon assembles the elderly of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, princes of the fathers of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon, to Jerusalem, to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH from the City of David—it [is] Zion;

and all the men of Israel are assembled to King Solomon, in the month of Ethanim, in the festival (the seventh month).

And all [the] elderly of Israel come in, and the priests lift up the Ark,

and bring up the Ark of YHWH, and the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy vessels that [are] in the tent, indeed, the priests and the Levites bring them up.

And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who are assembled to him [are] with him before the Ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that are not counted nor numbered for multitude.

And the priests bring in the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH to its place, to the oracle of the house, to the Holy of Holies, to the place of the wings of the cherubim;

for the cherubim are spreading forth two wings to the place of the Ark, and the cherubim cover over the Ark, and over its poles from above;

and they lengthen the poles, and the heads of the poles are seen from the holy [place] on the front of the oracle, and are not seen outside, and they are there to this day.

There is nothing in the Ark, only the two tablets of stone which Moses put there in Horeb when YHWH covenanted with the sons of Israel in their going out of the land of Egypt.

And it comes to pass, in the going out of the priests from the holy [place], that the cloud has filled the house of YHWH,

and the priests have not been able to stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of YHWH has filled the house of YHWH.

Solomon Blesses the LORD

(2 Chronicles 6:1–11)

Then Solomon said, “YHWH has said [He is] to dwell in thick darkness;

I have surely built a house of habitation for You; a fixed place for Your abiding for all ages.”

And the king turns his face around, and blesses the whole assembly of Israel; and all the assembly of Israel is standing.

And he says, “Blessed [is] YHWH, God of Israel, who spoke by His mouth with my father David, and by His hand has fulfilled [it], saying,

From the day that I brought out My people, even Israel, from Egypt, I have not fixed on a city out of all the tribes of Israel, to build a house for My Name being there; and I fix on David to be over My people Israel.

And it is with the heart of my father David to build a house for the Name of YHWH, God of Israel,

and YHWH says to my father David, Because that it has been with your heart to build a house for My Name, you have done well that it has been with your heart;

only, you do not build the house, but your son who is coming out from your loins, he builds the house for My Name.

And YHWH establishes His word which He spoke, and I am risen up instead of my father David, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as YHWH spoke, and build the house for the Name of YHWH, God of Israel,

and I set a place for the Ark there, where the covenant of YHWH [is], which He made with our fathers in His bringing them out from the land of Egypt.”

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication

(2 Chronicles 6:12–42)

And Solomon stands before the altar of YHWH, in front of all the assembly of Israel, and spreads his hands toward the heavens,

and says, “YHWH, God of Israel, there is not a God like You, in the heavens above and on the earth below, keeping the covenant and the kindness for Your servants, those walking before You with all their heart,

which You have kept for Your servant, my father David, that which You spoke to him; indeed, You speak with Your mouth, and with Your hand have fulfilled [it], as [at] this day.

And now, YHWH, God of Israel, keep for Your servant, my father David, that which You spoke to him, saying, A man of yours is never cut off from before My face, sitting on the throne of Israel—only, if your sons watch their way, to walk before Me as you have walked before Me.

And now, O God of Israel, please let Your word be established which You have spoken to Your servant, my father David.

But is it true [that] God dwells on the earth? Behold, the heavens and the heavens of the heavens cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built!

Then You have turned to the prayer of Your servant, and to his supplication, O YHWH my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant is praying before You today,

for Your eyes being open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which You have said, My Name is there; to listen to the prayer which Your servant prays toward this place.

Then You have listened to the supplication of Your servant, and of Your people Israel, which they pray toward this place; indeed, You listen in the place of Your dwelling, in the heavens—and You have listened, and have forgiven,

that which a man sins against his neighbor, and he has lifted up an oath on him to cause him to swear, and the oath has come in before Your altar in this house,

then You hear in the heavens, and have done, and have judged Your servants, to declare wicked the wicked, to put his way on his [own] head, and to declare righteous the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

In Your people Israel being struck before an enemy, because they sin against You, and they have turned back to You, and have confessed Your Name, and prayed, and made supplication to You in this house,

then you hear in the heavens, and have forgiven the sin of Your people Israel, and brought them back to the ground that You gave to their fathers.

In the heavens being restrained, and there is no rain, because they sin against You, and they have prayed toward this place, and confessed Your Name, and turn back from their sin, for You afflict them,

then You hear in the heavens, and have forgiven the sin of Your servants, and of Your people Israel, for You direct them [to] the good way in which they go, and have given rain on Your land which You have given to Your people for inheritance.

Famine—when it is in the land; pestilence—when it is [in the land]; blasting, mildew, locust; caterpillar—when it is [in the land]; when its enemy has distressed it in the land [in] its gates, any plague, any sickness—

any prayer, any supplication that [is] of any man of all Your people Israel, each who knows the plague of his own heart, and has spread his hands toward this house,

then You hear in the heavens, the settled place of Your dwelling, and have forgiven, and have done, and have given to each according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You have known—You alone—the heart of all the sons of man),

so that they fear You all the days that they are living on the face of the ground that You have given to our fathers.

And also, to the stranger who is not of Your people Israel, and has come from a far-off land for Your Name’s sake—

for they hear of Your great Name, and of Your strong hand, and of Your outstretched arm—and he has come in and prayed toward this house,

You hear in the heavens, the settled place of Your dwelling, and have done according to all that the stranger calls to You for, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Your Name, to fear You like Your people Israel, and to know that Your Name has been called on this house which I have built.

When Your people go out to battle against its enemy, in the way that You send them, and they have prayed to YHWH [in] the way of the city which you have fixed on, and of the house which I have built for Your Name,

then You have heard their prayer and their supplication in the heavens, and have maintained their cause.

When they sin against You (for there is not a man who does not sin), and You have been angry with them, and have given them up before an enemy, and they have taken captive their captivity to the land of the enemy far off or near;

and they have turned [it] back to their heart in the land to where they have been taken captive, and have turned back, and made supplication to You in the land of their captors, saying, We have sinned and done perversely—we have done wickedly;

indeed, they have turned back to You with all their heart and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, and have prayed to You [in] the way of their land, which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen, and the house which I have built for Your Name:

then You have heard in the heavens, the settled place of Your dwelling, their prayer and their supplication, and have maintained their cause,

and have forgiven Your people who have sinned against You, even all their transgressions which they have transgressed against You, and have given them mercies before their captors, and they have had mercy [on] them—

for they [are] Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out of Egypt, out of the midst of the furnace of iron—

for Your eyes being open to the supplication of Your servant, and to the supplication of Your people Israel, to listen to them in all they call to You for;

for You have separated them to Yourself for an inheritance, out of all the peoples of the earth, as You spoke by the hand of Your servant Moses, in Your bringing out our fathers from Egypt, O Lord YHWH.”

Solomon’s Benediction

And it comes to pass, at Solomon’s finishing to pray to YHWH all this prayer and supplication, he has risen from before the altar of YHWH, from bending on his knees and [having] his hands spread out to the heavens,

and he stands and blesses all the assembly of Israel [with] a loud voice, saying,

“Blessed [is] YHWH who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He has spoken; not [even] one word has fallen of all His good word, which He spoke by the hand of His servant Moses.

Our God YHWH is with us as He has been with our fathers; He does not forsake us nor leave us;

to incline our heart to Himself, to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commands, and His statutes, and His judgments, which He commanded our fathers;

and these, my words, with which I have made supplication before YHWH, are near to our God YHWH by day and by night, to maintain the cause of His servant, and the cause of His people Israel, the matter of a day in its day,

that all the peoples of the earth may know that He, YHWH, [is] God; there is none else;

and your heart has been perfect with our God YHWH, to walk in His statutes, and to keep His commands, as [at] this day.”

Sacrifices of Dedication

(2 Chronicles 7:4–10)

And the king and all Israel with him are sacrificing a sacrifice before YHWH;

and Solomon sacrifices the sacrifice of peace-offerings, which he has sacrificed to YHWH: twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep; and the king and all the sons of Israel dedicate the house of YHWH.

On that day the king has sanctified the middle of the court that [is] before the house of YHWH, for he has made the burnt-offering, and the present, and the fat of the peace-offerings there; for the altar of bronze that [is] before YHWH [is] too small to contain the burnt-offering, and the present, and the fat of the peace-offerings.

And Solomon makes, at that time, the festival—and all Israel with him, a great assembly from the entering in of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt—before our God YHWH, [for] seven days and seven [more] days—fourteen days.

On the eighth day he has sent the people away, and they bless the king, and go to their tents, rejoicing and glad of heart for all the good that YHWH has done to His servant David, and to His people Israel.