1 Kings 8:1-43

New International Version

The Ark Brought to the Temple^(A)

8 Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs^(B) of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark^(C) of the Lord’s covenant from Zion, the City of David.^(D) ²All the Israelites came together to King Solomon at the time of the festival^(E) in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month.^(F)

³When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests^(G) took up the ark, ⁴and they brought up the ark of the Lord and the tent of meeting^(H) and all the sacred furnishings in it. The priests and Levites^(I) carried them up, ⁵and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing^(J) so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted.

⁶The priests then brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant^(K) to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place,^(L) and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim.^(M) ⁷The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed^(N) the ark and its carrying poles. ⁸These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today.^(O) ⁹There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets^(P) that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.

¹⁰When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud^(Q) filled the temple of the Lord. ¹¹And the priests could not perform their service^(R) because of the cloud, for the glory^(S) of the Lord filled his temple.

¹²Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud;^(T) ¹³I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell^(U) forever.”

¹⁴While the whole assembly of Israel was standing there, the king turned around and blessed^(V) them. ¹⁵Then he said:

“Praise be to the Lord,^(W) the God of Israel, who with his own hand has fulfilled what he promised with his own mouth to my father David. For he said, ¹⁶‘Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt,^(X) I have not chosen a city in any tribe of Israel to have a temple built so that my Name^(Y) might be there, but I have chosen^(Z) David^(AA) to rule my people Israel.’

¹⁷“My father David had it in his heart^(AB) to build a temple^(AC) for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁸But the Lord said to my father David, ‘You did well to have it in your heart to build a temple for my Name. ¹⁹Nevertheless, you^(AD) are not the one to build the temple, but your son, your own flesh and blood—he is the one who will build the temple for my Name.’^(AE)

²⁰“The Lord has kept the promise he made: I have succeeded^(AF) David my father and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and I have built^(AG) the temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ²¹I have provided a place there for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.”

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication^(AH)

²²Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands^(AI) toward heaven ²³and said:

“Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like^(AJ) you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love^(AK) with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. ²⁴You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today.

²⁵“Now Lord, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises^(AL) you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me faithfully as you have done.’ ²⁶And now, God of Israel, let your word that you promised^(AM) your servant David my father come true.

²⁷“But will God really dwell^(AN) on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven,^(AO) cannot contain^(AP) you. How much less this temple I have built! ²⁸Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. ²⁹May your eyes be open^(AQ) toward^(AR) this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name^(AS) shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. ³⁰Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray^(AT) toward this place. Hear^(AU) from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.^(AV)

³¹“When anyone wrongs their neighbor and is required to take an oath and they come and swear the oath^(AW) before your altar in this temple, ³²then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing down on their heads what they have done, and vindicating the innocent by treating them in accordance with their innocence.^(AX)

³³“When your people Israel have been defeated^(AY) by an enemy because they have sinned^(AZ) against you, and when they turn back to you and give praise to your name, praying and making supplication to you in this temple,^(BA) ³⁴then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to their ancestors.

³⁵“When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain^(BB) because your people have sinned^(BC) against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, ³⁶then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach^(BD) them the right way^(BE) to live, and send rain^(BF) on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.

³⁷“When famine^(BG) or plague^(BH) comes to the land, or blight^(BI) or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers,^(BJ) or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, ³⁸and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel—being aware of the afflictions of their own hearts, and spreading out their hands^(BK) toward this temple— ³⁹then hear^(BL) from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive^(BM) and act; deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know^(BN) their hearts (for you alone know every human heart), ⁴⁰so that they will fear^(BO) you all the time they live in the land^(BP) you gave our ancestors.

⁴¹“As for the foreigner^(BQ) who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name— ⁴²for they will hear^(BR) of your great name and your mighty hand^(BS) and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple, ⁴³then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know^(BT) your name and fear^(BU) you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.^(BV)