Old Testament · History

1 Kings chapter 8

Then Solomon assembled all the of Israel — every tribal leader and head of the ancestral families — in Jerusalem, to bring up the from the City of David, which is .Every man of Israel gathered to King Solomon during the in the month of — that’s the seventh month.When all the elders of Israel arrived, the lifted the chestand carried it up along with the and all the inside the tent . The priests and the carried them all up.King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel who had gathered with him stood before the chest, so many sheep and cattle that no one could count or keep track of them.Then the priests brought the chest of Yahweh’s covenant to its place in the of the house, , under the wings of the .The winged guardians spread their wings over the place where the chest sat, forming a canopy over the chest and its carrying poles from above.The poles were so long that their ends could be seen from , just in front of , though they couldn’t be seen from outside. They are .There was nothing in the chest except the two that Moses had placed there at , where Yahweh made his with the Israelites when they came out of Egypt.When the priests came out of , a filled Yahweh’s house.The priests couldn’t even stand there to do their work because of the cloud — Yahweh’s had completely filled his house.Then Solomon said, “Yahweh has said he would live in .”“I have built you an — a place for you to live forever.”Then the king turned around and the entire assembly of Israel, while the whole assembly stood.He said, “ Yahweh, the God of Israel, who spoke his promise directly to my father David and has now . He said,”“‘Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I didn’t choose any city from all the tribes of Israel to build a house . But I chose David to lead my people Israel.’”“Now, my father David to build a house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel.”“But Yahweh said to my father David, ‘The fact that you had it in your heart to build a house for my name — you did well to have that in your heart.’”“‘But you won’t be the one to build the house. Instead, your son — the one who will come — he will build the house for my name.’”“And Yahweh has . I’ve risen to take my father David’s place and sit on the , just as Yahweh said. And I’ve built the house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel.”“I’ve set up a place there for the chest that holds the Yahweh made with our ancestors when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”Then Solomon stood before the altar of Yahweh in front of the entire assembly of Israel, ,and said, “Yahweh, God of Israel — there is no God like you in the sky above or on the earth below. You keep your covenant and show to your servants who with everything they have.”“You kept your promise to your servant David, my father. What you spoke with your mouth, you’ve fulfilled with your hand — as it is today.”“So now, Yahweh, God of Israel, keep what you promised your servant David my father when you said, ‘You will sitting before me on the throne of Israel — as long as your descendants are careful to walk before me the way you have walked before me.’”“And now, God of Israel, please let the word you spoke to your servant David my father prove true.”“But will God really live on earth? Look — the sky and can’t contain you. How much less this house I’ve built!”“But please turn toward the prayer of your servant and his , Yahweh my God. Hear the cry and the prayer your servant is praying before you today.”“Let your eyes be open toward this house night and day — the place where you said, ‘’ — and hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place.”“Hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from your home in heaven, and when you hear — .”“When someone and is required to take an , and comes to swear before your altar in this house —““— then hear from heaven and act. between your servants. Declare the guilty party guilty and bring the consequences of their actions on their own head, and declare the innocent party innocent by giving them what their deserves.”“When your people Israel are defeated by an enemy because they’ve , but then they , , and pray and plead with you in this house —““— then hear from heaven and forgive the of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave their ancestors.”“When and there’s no rain because they’ve failed you, but then they pray toward this place, acknowledge your name, and turn away from their failures because you’ve —““— then hear from heaven and forgive the failure of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them , and send rain on your land that you gave your people as their .”“When there’s famine in the land, or , or , or mildew, or locusts, or grasshoppers — when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities — whatever disaster, whatever sickness —““— whatever prayer or plea is made by any person or by all your people Israel — each one knowing — when they spread their hands toward this house,”“— then hear from heaven, your home, and forgive. Act and give each person what their conduct deserves, since you know their heart — because —““— so that they will all the days they live on the land you gave our ancestors.”“And what about the who doesn’t belong to your people Israel but comes from a distant land —““— because they’ll hear about your great name, your , and your — when they come and pray toward this house,”“— then hear from heaven, your home, and do everything the foreigner asks of you. Do this so that will know your name and honor you, just as your people Israel do, and so they’ll know that this house I’ve built carries your name.”“When your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever route you send them, and they pray to Yahweh in the direction of the city you’ve chosen and the house I’ve built for your name —““— then hear their prayer and their plea from heaven and .”“When they fail you — because — and you become angry with them and to an enemy, and their captors carry them away to an enemy land, whether far away or nearby,”“— and they in the land where they’ve been taken captive, and they turn back and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, ‘’ —““— and they return to you in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and they pray to you in the direction of their land that you gave their ancestors, the city you’ve chosen, and the house I’ve built for your name —““— then hear their prayer and their plea from heaven, your home, and uphold their cause.”“Forgive your people who have failed you — all the ways they’ve wronged you — and make their captors show them .”“After all, they are your people, your own inheritance — the ones you brought out of Egypt, out of the middle of that .”“Let your eyes be open to the plea of your servant and the plea of your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call out to you.”“Because you from all the peoples of the earth to be your own inheritance, just as you declared through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, .”When Solomon finished praying this entire prayer and plea to Yahweh, he got up from before the altar of Yahweh — he had been with his hands spread toward the sky —He stood up and the entire assembly of Israel in a loud voice:“Praise Yahweh, who has given to his people Israel — exactly as he promised. of all the good promises he made through his servant Moses.”“May Yahweh our God be with us as he was with our ancestors. May he ,”“— , so that we walk in all his ways and keep his that he gave our ancestors.”“And may these words of mine — this plea I’ve made before Yahweh — our God day and night, so that he upholds the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel ,”“— so that all the peoples of the earth will know that ”“So let your hearts be to Yahweh our God — walking in his laws and keeping his commands, as you’re doing today.”Then the king and all Israel with him offered before Yahweh.Solomon offered as to Yahweh: twenty-two thousand cattle and one hundred twenty thousand sheep. That’s how the king and all the Israelites the house of Yahweh.That same day the king the middle of the courtyard in front of Yahweh’s house , because that is where he offered the , the and the fat of the fellowship sacrifices. The bronze altar in front of Yahweh was too small to hold them all.So Solomon and all Israel held the festival at that time — a massive assembly, with people from as far north as to as far south as the — before Yahweh our God, for : fourteen days total.On the eighth day he sent the people home. They and went to their , over all the good things Yahweh had done for his servant David and for his people Israel.