1 Kings 8

1 At that time Solomon assembled before him in Jerusalem the elders of Israel—all the tribal heads and family leaders of the Israelites—to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Zion, the City of David.

2 And all the men of Israel came together to King Solomon at the feast in the seventh month, the month of Ethanim.

3 When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark,

4 and they brought up the ark of the LORD and the Tent of Meeting with all its sacred furnishings. So the priests and Levites carried them up.

5 There, before the ark, King Solomon and the whole congregation of Israel who had assembled with him sacrificed so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.

6 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, beneath the wings of the cherubim.

7 For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed the ark and its poles.

8 The poles extended far enough that their ends were visible from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are there to this day.

9 There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the LORD had made a covenant with the Israelites after they had come out of the land of Egypt.

10 And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the house of the LORD

11 so that the priests could not stand there to minister because of the cloud. For the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.

12 Then Solomon declared: “The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud.

13 I have indeed built You an exalted house, a place for You to dwell forever.”

14 And as the whole assembly of Israel stood there, the king turned around and blessed them all

15 and said: “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who has fulfilled with His own hand what He spoke with His mouth to my father David, saying,

16 ‘Since the day I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house so that My Name would be there. But I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’

17 Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

18 But the LORD said to my father David, ‘Since it was in your heart to build a house for My Name, you have done well to have this in your heart.

19 Nevertheless, you are not the one to build it; but your son, your own offspring, will build the house for My Name.’

20 Now the LORD has fulfilled the word that He spoke. I have succeeded my father David, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised. I have built the house for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

21 And there I have provided a place for the ark, which contains the covenant of the LORD that He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven,

23 and said: “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth below, keeping Your covenant of loving devotion with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts.

24 You have kept Your promise to Your servant, my father David. What You spoke with Your mouth You have fulfilled with Your hand this day.

25 Therefore now, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for Your servant, my father David, what You promised when You said: ‘You will never fail to have a man to sit before Me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants guard their way to walk before Me as you have done.’

26 And now, O God of Israel, please confirm what You promised to Your servant, my father David.

27 But will God indeed dwell upon the earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.

28 Yet regard the prayer and plea of Your servant, O LORD my God, so that You may hear the cry and the prayer that Your servant is praying before You today.

29 May Your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place.

30 Hear the plea of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. May You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place. May You hear and forgive.

31 When a man sins against his neighbor and is required to take an oath, and he comes to take an oath before Your altar in this temple,

32 then may You hear from heaven and act. May You judge Your servants, condemning the wicked man by bringing down on his own head what he has done, and justifying the righteous man by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

33 When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and they return to You and confess Your name, praying and pleading with You in this temple,

34 then may You hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel. May You restore them to the land You gave to their fathers.

35 When the skies are shut and there is no rain because Your people have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and they turn from their sins because You have afflicted them,

36 then may You hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, so that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk. May You send rain on the land that You gave Your people as an inheritance.

37 When famine or plague comes upon the land, or blight or mildew or locusts or grasshoppers, or when their enemy besieges them in their cities, whatever plague or sickness may come,

38 then may whatever prayer or petition Your people Israel make—each knowing his own afflictions and spreading out his hands toward this temple—

39 be heard by You from heaven, Your dwelling place. And may You forgive and act, and repay each man according to all his ways, since You know his heart—for You alone know the hearts of all men—

40 so that they may fear You all the days they live in the land that You gave to our fathers.

41 And as for the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of Your name—

42 for they will hear of Your great name and mighty hand and outstretched arm—when he comes and prays toward this temple,

43 then may You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You. Then all the peoples of the earth will know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and they will know that this house I have built is called by Your Name.

44 When Your people go to war against their enemies, wherever You send them, and when they pray to the LORD in the direction of the city You have chosen and the house I have built for Your Name,

45 then may You hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and may You uphold their cause.

46 When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and deliver them to an enemy who takes them as captives to his own land, whether far or near,

47 and when they come to their senses in the land to which they were taken, and they repent and plead with You in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong; we have acted wickedly,’

48 and when they return to You with all their heart and soul in the land of the enemies who took them captive, and when they pray to You in the direction of the land that You gave to their fathers, the city You have chosen, and the house I have built for Your Name,

49 then may You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, their prayer and petition, and may You uphold their cause.

50 May You forgive Your people who have sinned against You and all the transgressions they have committed against You, and may You grant them compassion in the eyes of their captors to show them mercy.

51 For they are Your people and Your inheritance; You brought them out of Egypt, out of the furnace for iron.

52 May Your eyes be open to the pleas of Your servant and of Your people Israel, and may You listen to them whenever they call to You.

53 For You, O Lord GOD, have set them apart from all the peoples of the earth as Your inheritance, as You spoke through Your servant Moses when You brought our fathers out of Egypt.”

54 Now when Solomon had finished praying this entire prayer and petition to the LORD, he got up before the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven.

55 And he stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying:

56 “Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel according to all that He promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises He made through His servant Moses.

57 May the LORD our God be with us, as He was with our fathers. May He never leave us or forsake us.

58 May He incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep the commandments and statutes and ordinances He commanded our fathers.

59 And may these words with which I have made my petition before the LORD be near to the LORD our God day and night, so that He may uphold the cause of His servant and of His people Israel as each day requires,

60 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God. There is no other!

61 So let your heart be fully devoted to the LORD our God, as it is this day, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments.”

62 Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the LORD.

63 And Solomon offered as peace offerings to the LORD 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the house of the LORD.

64 On that same day the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard in front of the house of the LORD, and there he offered the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, since the bronze altar before the LORD was too small to contain all these offerings.

65 So at that time Solomon and all Israel with him—a great assembly of people from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt—kept the feast before the LORD our God for seven days and seven more days—fourteen days in all.

66 On the fifteenth day Solomon sent the people away. So they blessed the king and went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good things that the LORD had done for His servant David and for His people Israel.

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 cherubims.

7 For the cherubims spread forth [their] two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims 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.

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.

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:

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:

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 neighbour, 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:

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.

37 If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, [or] if there be caterpiller; 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:

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;

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:

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 brasen 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.

1 Then king Solomon gathered unto him the elders of Israel, all the princes of the tribes, and the rulers of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.

2 And there were gathered together unto king Solomon all the men of Israel in the month Ethanim, in the feast, which is the seventh moon.

3 And when all the elders of Israel were come, the priests lifted up the ark of the LORD,

4 And they brought them up, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the vessels of the sanctuary that were in the tabernacle. And the priests and the Levites did so.

5 And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel that were gathered unto him, went with him before the ark, and offered sheep and oxen so much that they could not be numbered nor reckoned.

6 So the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD into their place, into the choir of the house, into the holy of holies, under the wings of the cherubims.

7 For the cherubims spread forth their wings in the place where the ark stood, and covered the ark and the staves thereof from above.

8 And the rods were so long, that the pommels thereof were seen in the sanctuary before the choir, but they were not seen without: and they were there unto this day.

9 And there was nothing in the ark, save the two tables of stone of Moses, which he left there in Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

10 And as the priests went out of the sanctuary, a cloud filled the house of the LORD,

11 So that the priests could not stand and minister before the cloud. For the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.

12 And Solomon said, The LORD hath spoken that he will dwell in darkness.

13 For I have built thee an house for thy dwelling, a habitation, that thou mayest dwell therein for ever.

14 And the king turned his face, 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 by his mouth unto David my father, and fulfilled by his hand, saying:

16 From the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not mentioned a city among any tribe of Israel, to build me an house, that my name might be there: but David have I mentioned to be over my people Israel.

17 And my father David purposed to build an house unto the name of the LORD God of Israel;

18 And the LORD said unto David my father, Because thou hast purposed to build an house for my name, thou hast done well to undertake it;

19 But thou shalt not build the house, but the son that shall come out of thy loins, he shall build an house for my name.

20 And the LORD hath confirmed his word which he spake. For I am risen up in the stead of David my father. And I sit upon the throne of Israel, as the LORD hath spoken; and have built an house unto the name of the LORD God of Israel.

21 And I have prepared there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them up out of the land of Egypt.

22 And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD against all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven.

23 And he said, O LORD God of Israel, there is no God like unto thee in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, that keepeth covenant and mercy unto thy servants which walk before thee with all their heart:

24 Who hast kept unto thy servant David my father that which thou hast spoken unto him. With thy mouth hast thou spoken it, and with thine hand hast thou fulfilled it, as it is this day.

25 Now therefore, O LORD God of Israel, keep unto thy servant David my father that which thou hast spoken unto him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man before me, that sitteth upon the throne of Israel: yet let thy children keep their way, that they may walk before me, as thou hast walked before me.

26 Now therefore, O God of Israel, let thy words come to pass, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David my father.

27 For thinkest thou that God dwelleth on the earth? Behold, the heavens and all the heavens may not provide for thee. How then shall this house which I have built?

28 But turn to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplications, O LORD my God, that thou mayest hear the praise and the prayer which thy servant maketh before thee this day,

29 That thine eyes may be open upon this house night and day, upon the place of which thou hast said: My name shall be there. Thou shalt hear the prayer that thy servant maketh in this place,

30 And hear the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall do in this thy dwelling place which is in heaven; and when thou hearest it, be gracious.

31 If a man sin against his neighbour, and take an oath upon him to be bound, and the oath come before thine altar in this house,

32 Then hear thou in heaven, and do justice unto thy servants, to condemn the wicked, and to bring his way upon his head, and to judge the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

33 When thy people Israel are smitten before their enemies, because they have sinned against thee, and turn unto thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee, in this house,

34 Then hear thou in heaven, and be merciful to the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again into the land which thou gavest unto their fathers.

35 When the heavens are shut up, that it rain not, because they have sinned against thee, and shall pray in this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sins, because thou hast urged them,

36 Then hear thou in heaven, and have mercy on the sin of thy servants, and on thy people Israel, to shew them the good way wherein they shall walk, and to rain upon the land which thou hast given thy people for an inheritance.

37 If there be a famine, or pestilence, or drought, or blight, or locusts, or caterpillars in the land, or his enemy in the land besiege his gates, or any plague or disease:

38 Then whosoever shall ask and beseech, whether it be men or thy people Israel, when they perceive their plague, every man in his heart shall spread out his hands unto this house,

39 Then hear thou in heaven, in the place where thou dwellest, and be gracious, and provide that thou mayest give every man according as he hath walked, as thou knowest his heart: for thou only knowest the heart of all the children of men;

40 That they may fear thee alway, as long as they dwell in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

41 Though a stranger, which is not of thy people Israel, come from a far country for thy name's sake

42 (for they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy mighty hand, and of thy outstretched arm), and come to pray before this house,

43 Then hear thou in heaven, in the habitation of thy dwelling, and do according to all that the stranger calleth unto thee, that all people of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that they may know how that house is called by thy name, which I have built.

44 When thy people go forth to battle against their enemies of the way which thou shalt send them, and they shall pray unto the LORD by the way of the city which thou hast chosen, and by the house which I have built for thy name,

45 then thou wilt hear their prayer and supplication in heaven, and wilt establish justice.

46 If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and give them up before their enemies, that they may carry them captive into the enemy's country, far or near,

47 And they shall smite in their hearts in the land wherein they are captives, and shall be converted, and shall cry unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying: We have sinned and transgressed, and have been ungodly;

48 And they turn unto thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, which they have carried away, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name:

49 Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven, from thy dwelling place, and do justice,

50 And be merciful unto thy people that have sinned against thee, and to all their transgressions, that they have transgressed against thee; and have mercy upon them that hold them captive, and have compassion on them.

51 For they are thy people and thine inheritance, whom thou hast brought out of Egypt out of the iron furnace;

52 That thine eyes may be open unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, that thou mayest hear them in all things wherefore they call upon thee.

53 For thou hast separated them unto thee for an inheritance out of all the people of the earth, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest up our fathers out of Egypt, O LORD, O LORD.

54 And when Solomon had prayed all this prayer and supplication before the LORD, he arose from the altar of the LORD, and left off kneeling, and spreading out his hands toward heaven.

55 And he stood there, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying:

56 Blessed be the LORD, which hath given rest unto his people Israel, as he spake. Not one of his good words, which he spake by his servant Moses, hath perished.

57 May the LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. Let him not forsake us, nor withdraw his hand from us,

58 To incline our hearts unto him, that we may walk in all his ways, and keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers.

59 And these words, which I have prayed before the LORD, must come near unto the LORD our God day and night, to do judgment unto his servant, and to do judgment unto his people Israel, every one in his season,

60 That all the nations of the earth may know that the LORD is GOD, and none more.

61 And let your heart be righteous with the LORD our God, to walk in his customs, and to keep his commandments, as it is this day.

62 And the king and all Israel offered sacrifices before the LORD.

63 And Solomon offered peace offerings, which he offered unto the LORD, twenty and two thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So they dedicated the house of the LORD, the king, and all the children of Israel.

64 And the king consecrated the middle court that was before the house of the LORD the same day, to set there the burnt offering, and the meat offering, and the fat of the peace offerings. For the brass altar that stood before the LORD was too small for the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat of the peace offerings.

65 And Solomon made a feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the border of Hemath unto the river of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days and seven days; which was fourteen days.

66 And he sent the people away the eighth day. And they blessed the king, and went unto their tents rejoicing, and of good cheer, because of all the good that the LORD had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people.