1 Kings 8:1-39 ▼

1 Then all those greater by birth of Israel, with the leaders of the tribes and the rulers of the families of the sons of Israel, gathered together before king Solomon at Jerusalem, so that they might carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, from the city of David, that is, from Zion.

2 And all of Israel assembled before king Solomon, on the solemn day in the month of Ethanim, which is the seventh month.

3 And all the elders of Israel arrived, and the priests took up the ark.

4 And they carried the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the covenant, and all the vessels of the Sanctuary, which were in the tabernacle; and the priests and the Levites carried these.

5 Then king Solomon, and the entire multitude of Israel, who had assembled before him, advanced with him before the ark. And they immolated sheep and oxen, which could not be numbered or estimated.

6 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the oracle of the temple, in the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim.

7 For indeed, the cherubim extended their wings over the place of the ark, and they protected the ark and its bars from above.

8 And since the bars projected outward, their ends were visible from without, in the Sanctuary before the oracle; but they were not visible farther outward. And they have been in that place even to the present day.

9 Now inside the ark, there was nothing other than the two tablets of stone, which Moses had placed in it at Horeb, when the Lord formed a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they departed from the land of Egypt.

10 Then it happened that, when the priests had exited from the Sanctuary, a cloud filled the house of the Lord.

11 And the priests were unable to stand and minister, because of the cloud. For the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.

12 Then Solomon said: “The Lord has said that he would dwell in a cloud.

13 Building, I have built a house as your dwelling place, your most firm throne forever.”

14 And the king turned his face, and he blessed the entire assembly of Israel. For the entire assembly of Israel was standing.

15 And Solomon said: “Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to my father David, and who, with his own hands, has perfected it, saying:

16 ‘From the day when I led my people Israel away from Egypt, I did not choose any city out of all the tribes of Israel, so that a house would be built, and so that my name might be there. Instead, I chose David to be over my people Israel.’

17 And my father David wanted to build a house to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

18 But the Lord said to my father David: ‘Since you have planned in your heart to build a house to my name, you have done well by considering this plan in your mind.

19 Yet truly, you shall not build a house for me. Instead, your son, who shall go forth from your loins, he himself shall build a house to my name.’

20 The Lord has confirmed his word which he spoke. And so I stand in place of my father David, and I sit upon the throne of Israel, just as the Lord said. And I have built a house to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

21 And there I have appointed a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he struck with our fathers, when they went forth from the land of Egypt.”

22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord, in the sight of the assembly of Israel, and he extended his hands toward heaven.

23 And he said: “Lord God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above, nor on the earth below. You preserve covenant and mercy with your servants, who walk before you with all their heart.

24 You have fulfilled, for your servant David, my father, that which you said to him. With your mouth, you spoke; and with your hands, you completed; just this day proves.

25 Now therefore, O Lord God of Israel, fulfill, for your servant David, my father, that which you spoke to him, saying, ‘There shall not be taken away from you a man before me, who may sit upon the throne of Israel, if only your sons will guard their way, so that they walk before me, just as you have walked in my sight.’

26 And now, O Lord God of Israel, establish your words, which you spoke to your servant David, my father.

27 Is it, then, to be understood that truly God would dwell upon the earth? For if heaven, and the heavens of heavens, are not able to contain you, how much less this house, which I have built?

28 Yet look with favor upon the prayer of your servant and upon his petitions, O Lord, my God. Listen to the hymn and the prayer, which your servant prays before you this day,

29 so that your eyes may be open over this house, night and day, over the house about which you said, ‘My name shall be there,’ so that you may heed the prayer that your servant is praying in this place to you.

30 So may you heed the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel, whatever they will pray for in this place, and so may you heed them in your dwelling place in heaven. And when you heed, you will be gracious.

31 But if any man sins against his neighbor, and he has any kind of an oath by which he is bound, and he arrives because of the oath, before your altar in your house,

32 you will hear in heaven, and you will act and judge your servants, condemning the impious, and repaying his own way upon his own head, but justifying the just, and rewarding him in accord with his justice.

33 And if your people Israel will have fled from their enemies, because they have sinned against you, and doing penance and confessing to your name, shall arrive and pray and petition you in this house,

34 listen in heaven, and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and lead them back to the land, which you gave to their fathers.

35 And if the heavens have closed, so that there is no rain, because of their sins, and they, praying in this place, shall do penance to your name, and shall be converted from their sins, by occasion of their afflictions,

36 hear them from heaven, and forgive the sins of your servants and of your people Israel. And reveal to them the good way, along which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as a possession.

37 Then, if famine rises over the land, or pestilence, or corrupt air, or blight, or locust, or mildew, or if their enemy afflicts them, besieging the gates, or any harm or infirmity,

38 or whatever curse or divine intervention may happen to any man among your people Israel, if anyone understands, having been wounded in his heart, and if he will have extended his hands in this house,

39 you will hear in heaven, in your dwelling place, and you will forgive. And you will act so that you give to each one in accord with his own ways, just as you see in his heart, for you alone know the heart of all the sons of men.