1 Kings, Chapter 8:

Verses from 1 Kings, Chapter 8 of the book of 1 Kings of the Bible.

The transfer of the ark to the temple

• 1. Then King Solomon summoned the authorities of Israel, all the leaders of the tribes and the heads of the Israelite families, to Jerusalem to take the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the City of David, which is Zion.
• 2. And all the men of Israel joined themselves to king Solomon in the feast, in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.
• 3. When all the authorities of Israel arrived, the priests took the ark of the Lord and the Tent of Meeting, together with all the sacred objects contained in it. The priests and the Levites took them.
• 4. King Solomon and the whole assembly of Israel, which had gathered before him before the ark, sacrificed so many oxen and sheep that they could not be counted.
• 7. The priests took the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, in the Most Holy Place, and placed it under the wings of the cherubim.
• 6. The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, covering and protecting it, as well as the carrying poles.
• 7. The sticks were so long that their ends could be seen from the inner room, but not from outside. And they remain that way to this day.
• 8. In the ark there were only the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites when they left Egypt.
• 9. When the priests left the Holy Place, a cloud filled the temple of the Lord.
• 10. And the priests could not continue to perform service in the temple, because the glory of the Lord filled the temple.
• 11. Then Solomon declared: “The Lord said that he would dwell in a dark cloud!
• 12. Indeed, you have built for yourself a magnificent dwelling, a place for your eternal dwelling!”
• 13. Then the king turned and blessed all the assembly of Israel, which were standing.
• 14. And he said: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke personally to my father David and with his own hand fulfilled what he promised, when he said:
• 15. 'Since the day I brought Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen any city among all the tribes of Israel to build a temple in which my name could reside. But I chose David to rule my people, Israel.'
• 16. My father David intended to build a temple in honor of the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
• 17. But the Lord said to my father David, 'It was good that you intended to build a temple in my honor.
• 18. However, you will not be the one who builds it, but your son, who will be your descendant, will build a temple in honor of my name.'
• 19. And the Lord fulfilled his word, as he promised. I succeeded my father David and sat on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised. And I built the temple in honor of the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
• 20. In it I placed the ark, in which are the tablets of the covenant that the Lord made with the Israelites.”
• 21. Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord, before all the assembly of Israel, and stretched out his hands toward heaven

Solomon's Prayer

• 22. and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven or on earth! You who keep the covenant and mercy towards your servants who walk before you with all their heart.
• 23. You fulfilled your promise to my father David; with your hand you spoke it and with your hand you fulfilled it, as it is today.
• 24. “Now, Lord, God of Israel, fulfill the promise you made to my father David, your servant, when you said to him, 'You will never fail to have a descendant to sit on the throne of Israel, as long as your descendants are careful in everything they do, as you have been.'
• 25. “O Lord, God of Israel, may your promise to my father David be fulfilled in full!
• 26. However, will God actually dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple that I built!
• 27. Yet heed the prayer of your servant and his supplication, O Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant makes before you today.
• 28. May your eyes be open day and night about this temple, about this place of which you said, 'My name will be there.' Hear the prayer that your servant prays facing this place.
• 29. Hear the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray towards this place. Hear from your dwelling place in the heavens, hear and forgive.
• 30. “If anyone sins against his neighbor and is forced to swear and comes to swear before your altar in this temple,
• 31. Hear from heaven, act, judge your servants, condemning the guilty, and bringing the consequences of his conduct upon his head, declaring the innocent innocent, giving him what his righteousness deserves.
• 32. “When your people Israel are defeated by the enemy because they have sinned against you and turn to you and confess your name, praying and pleading with you in this temple,
• 33. hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their ancestors.
• 34. “When your people sin against you, for there is no one who does not sin, and you are angry with them and hand them over to the enemy, who will carry them away as prisoners to an enemy land, far or near,
• 35. If they come to their senses in the land where they were taken as prisoners, and repent and pray towards this land where they were taken, towards the city that you have chosen and towards the temple that I built in honor of your name,
• 36. hear their prayer and supplication from heaven, and plead their cause. Forgive your people, who have sinned against you.
• 37. “When there is famine in the land, pestilence, blight, mold, locusts or migrating locusts, enemies besieging your cities, contagious diseases or epidemics,
• 38. If your people Israel, each feeling their own afflictions and pains, turn to you, stretching out their hands toward this temple,
• 39. hear from heaven, from your dwelling place. Forgive, act and give to each one according to all his ways, because you know his heart, you, you alone, know the hearts of all men.
• 40. So they will fear you as long as they live in the land you gave to our ancestors.
• 41. “Also the foreigners, who are not of your people Israel, when they come from distant lands because of your great name, your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, when they come to pray facing this temple,
• 42. Hear from heaven, from your dwelling place, and do whatever the foreigner asks, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as your people Israel do, and may know that This temple that I built bears your name.
• 43. “When your people go out to war against their enemies, whichever way you send them, and they pray to the Lord, facing this city that you have chosen and the temple that I have built in honor of your name,
• 44. hear their prayer and supplication from heaven, and plead their cause.
• 45. “When they sin against you, for there is no one who does not sin, and you are angry with them and hand them over to the enemy, so that he may carry them away as prisoners to a distant or a nearby land,
• 46. When they come to their senses in the land where they were taken captive, they repent and plead with you in the land of those who took them captive, saying, 'We have sinned, we have done evil and we have rebelled,'
• 47. they turn to you with all their heart and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to you, returning to their land, which you gave to them and to their ancestors, for the city that you chose and for the temple that I built in honor of your name,
• 48. Hear from the heavens, from your dwelling place, their prayer and their supplication, and plead their cause.
• 49. Forgive your people, who have sinned against you. Forgive all the transgressions they committed against you and make them have mercy on those who took them prisoner.
• 50. For they are your people and your inheritance, which you brought out of Egypt, out of the iron furnace.
• 51. “May your eyes be open to the supplication of your servant and to the supplication of your people Israel, so that you may hear them whenever they cry out to you.
• 52. For you, Lord, have chosen Israel to be your people, your inheritance, as you promised through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt.”
• 53. When Solomon finished making this prayer and supplication to the Lord, he stood up before the altar of the Lord, where he was kneeling, with his hands stretched out towards heaven.
• 54. He stood up and blessed the whole assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying:
• 55. “Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel, according to everything he promised. Not a single word of all the good promises he made through his servant Moses failed.
• 56. May the Lord, our God, be with us, as he was with our ancestors; May he never leave us nor forsake us.
• 57. May he incline our hearts towards him, so that we will walk in all his ways and obey his commandments, decrees and ordinances, which he gave to our ancestors.
• 58. And may these words that I spoke today before the Lord, our God, always be in our hearts and in our souls; may we faithfully observe all his commandments.
• 59. May these words of my heart and soul, which I have now presented in supplication before the Lord, be in the presence of the Lord our God day and night, so that he may defend the cause of his servant and his people Israel, as each day requires.
• 60. Then all the peoples of the earth will know that the Lord is God and that there is no other.
• 61. Therefore, let our hearts be entirely devoted to the Lord our God, to walk in his decrees and obey his commandments, as we have done to this day.”

The consecration of the temple

• 62. The king and all Israel offered sacrifices before the Lord.
• 63. Solomon offered as a burnt offering twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the temple of the Lord.
• 64. That same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the temple of the Lord, for there he presented the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar that was before the Lord it was too small to contain the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the fellowship offerings.
• 65. And for seven days Solomon and all Israel, a great assembly that came from the entrance of Hamath to the river of Egypt, celebrated the festival.
• 66. On the eighth day Solomon sent the people away. They all went to their homes, joyful and with glad hearts, because of all the good that the Lord had done for David his servant and for Israel his people.

Online Bible