1 Kings 8-10

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)

⁴⁴“When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray^(BW) to the Lord toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name, ⁴⁵then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.^(BX)

⁴⁶“When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin^(BY)—and you become angry with them and give them over to their enemies, who take them captive^(BZ) to their own lands, far away or near; ⁴⁷and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead^(CA) with you in the land of their captors and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly’;^(CB) ⁴⁸and if they turn back^(CC) to you with all their heart^(CD) and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray^(CE) to you toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and the temple^(CF) I have built for your Name;^(CG) ⁴⁹then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. ⁵⁰And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their captors to show them mercy;^(CH) ⁵¹for they are your people and your inheritance,^(CI) whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace.^(CJ)

⁵²“May your eyes be open^(CK) to your servant’s plea and to the plea of your people Israel, and may you listen to them whenever they cry out to you.^(CL) ⁵³For you singled them out from all the nations of the world to be your own inheritance,^(CM) just as you declared through your servant Moses when you, Sovereign Lord, brought our ancestors out of Egypt.”

⁵⁴When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the Lord, he rose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven. ⁵⁵He stood and blessed^(CN) the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying:

⁵⁶“Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest^(CO) to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises^(CP) he gave through his servant Moses. ⁵⁷May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us nor forsake^(CQ) us. ⁵⁸May he turn our hearts^(CR) to him, to walk in obedience to him and keep the commands, decrees and laws he gave our ancestors. ⁵⁹And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day’s need, ⁶⁰so that all the peoples^(CS) of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other.^(CT) ⁶¹And may your hearts^(CU) be fully committed^(CV) to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.”

The Dedication of the Temple^(CW)

⁶²Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices^(CX) before the Lord. ⁶³Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the Lord: twenty-two thousand cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated^(CY) the temple of the Lord.

⁶⁴On that same day the king consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the Lord, and there he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings and the fat^(CZ) of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar^(DA) that stood before the Lord was too small to hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings.^(DB)

⁶⁵So Solomon observed the festival^(DC) at that time, and all Israel with him—a vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamath^(DD) to the Wadi of Egypt.^(DE) They celebrated it before the Lord our God for seven days and seven days more, fourteen days in all. ⁶⁶On the following day he sent the people away. They blessed the king and then went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good^(DF) things the Lord had done for his servant David and his people Israel.

The Lord Appears to Solomon^(DG)

9 When Solomon had finished^(DH) building the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had achieved all he had desired to do, ²the Lord appeared^(DI) to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. ³The Lord said to him:

“I have heard^(DJ) the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name^(DK) there forever. My eyes^(DL) and my heart will always be there.

⁴“As for you, if you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heart^(DM) and uprightness, as David^(DN) your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws,^(DO) ⁵I will establish^(DP) your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail^(DQ) to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’

⁶“But if you^[a] or your descendants turn away^(DR) from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you^[b] and go off to serve other gods^(DS) and worship them, ⁷then I will cut off Israel from the land^(DT) I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name.^(DU) Israel will then become a byword^(DV) and an object of ridicule^(DW) among all peoples. ⁸This temple will become a heap of rubble. All^[c] who pass by will be appalled^(DX) and will scoff and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’^(DY) ⁹People will answer,^(DZ) ‘Because they have forsaken^(EA) the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why the Lord brought all this disaster^(EB) on them.’”

Solomon’s Other Activities^(EC)

¹⁰At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built these two buildings—the temple of the Lord and the royal palace— ¹¹King Solomon gave twenty towns in Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre, because Hiram had supplied him with all the cedar and juniper and gold^(ED) he wanted. ¹²But when Hiram went from Tyre to see the towns that Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them. ¹³“What kind of towns are these you have given me, my brother?” he asked. And he called them the Land of Kabul,^[d]^(EE) a name they have to this day. ¹⁴Now Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents^[e] of gold.^(EF)

¹⁵Here is the account of the forced labor King Solomon conscripted^(EG) to build the Lord’s temple, his own palace, the terraces,^[f]^(EH) the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor,^(EI) Megiddo and Gezer.^(EJ) ¹⁶(Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire. He killed its Canaanite inhabitants and then gave it as a wedding gift to his daughter,^(EK) Solomon’s wife. ¹⁷And Solomon rebuilt Gezer.) He built up Lower Beth Horon,^(EL) ¹⁸Baalath,^(EM) and Tadmor^[g] in the desert, within his land, ¹⁹as well as all his store cities^(EN) and the towns for his chariots^(EO) and for his horses^[h]—whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon and throughout all the territory he ruled.

²⁰There were still people left from the Amorites, Hittites,^(EP) Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites^(EQ) (these peoples were not Israelites). ²¹Solomon conscripted the descendants^(ER) of all these peoples remaining in the land—whom the Israelites could not exterminate^[i]^(ES)—to serve as slave labor,^(ET) as it is to this day. ²²But Solomon did not make slaves^(EU) of any of the Israelites; they were his fighting men, his government officials, his officers, his captains, and the commanders of his chariots and charioteers. ²³They were also the chief officials^(EV) in charge of Solomon’s projects—550 officials supervising those who did the work.

²⁴After Pharaoh’s daughter^(EW) had come up from the City of David to the palace Solomon had built for her, he constructed the terraces.^(EX)

²⁵Three^(EY) times a year Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar he had built for the Lord, burning incense before the Lord along with them, and so fulfilled the temple obligations.

²⁶King Solomon also built ships^(EZ) at Ezion Geber,^(FA) which is near Elath^(FB) in Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea.^[j] ²⁷And Hiram sent his men—sailors^(FC) who knew the sea—to serve in the fleet with Solomon’s men. ²⁸They sailed to Ophir^(FD) and brought back 420 talents^[k] of gold,^(FE) which they delivered to King Solomon.

The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon^(FF)

10 When the queen of Sheba^(FG) heard about the fame^(FH) of Solomon and his relationship to the Lord, she came to test Solomon with hard questions.^(FI) ²Arriving at Jerusalem with a very great caravan^(FJ)—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones—she came to Solomon and talked with him about all that she had on her mind. ³Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her. ⁴When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, ⁵the food on his table,^(FK) the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at^[l] the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed.

⁶She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. ⁷But I did not believe^(FL) these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth^(FM) you have far exceeded the report I heard. ⁸How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear^(FN) your wisdom! ⁹Praise^(FO) be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord’s eternal love^(FP) for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice^(FQ) and righteousness.”

¹⁰And she gave the king 120 talents^[m] of gold,^(FR) large quantities of spices, and precious stones. Never again were so many spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

¹¹(Hiram’s ships brought gold from Ophir;^(FS) and from there they brought great cargoes of almugwood^[n] and precious stones. ¹²The king used the almugwood to make supports^[o] for the temple of the Lord and for the royal palace, and to make harps and lyres for the musicians. So much almugwood has never been imported or seen since that day.)

¹³King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for, besides what he had given her out of his royal bounty. Then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country.

Solomon’s Splendor^(FT)

¹⁴The weight of the gold^(FU) that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,^[p] ¹⁵not including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the territories.

¹⁶King Solomon made two hundred large shields^(FV) of hammered gold; six hundred shekels^[q] of gold went into each shield. ¹⁷He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three minas^[r] of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.^(FW)

¹⁸Then the king made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. ¹⁹The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. ²⁰Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. ²¹All King Solomon’s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold.^(FX) Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon’s days. ²²The king had a fleet of trading ships^[s]^(FY) at sea along with the ships^(FZ) of Hiram. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.

²³King Solomon was greater in riches^(GA) and wisdom^(GB) than all the other kings of the earth. ²⁴The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom^(GC) God had put in his heart. ²⁵Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift^(GD)—articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.

²⁶Solomon accumulated chariots and horses;^(GE) he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses,^[t] which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. ²⁷The king made silver as common^(GF) in Jerusalem as stones,^(GG) and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig^(GH) trees in the foothills. ²⁸Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue^[u]—the royal merchants purchased them from Kue at the current price. ²⁹They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty.^[v] They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites^(GI) and of the Arameans.

Footnotes

1 Kings 9:6 The Hebrew is plural.
1 Kings 9:6 The Hebrew is plural.
1 Kings 9:8 See some Septuagint manuscripts, Old Latin, Syriac, Arabic and Targum; Hebrew And though this temple is now imposing, all
1 Kings 9:13 Kabul sounds like the Hebrew for good-for-nothing.
1 Kings 9:14 That is, about 4 1/2 tons or about 4 metric tons
1 Kings 9:15 Or the Millo; also in verse 24
1 Kings 9:18 The Hebrew may also be read Tamar.
1 Kings 9:19 Or charioteers
1 Kings 9:21 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
1 Kings 9:26 Or the Sea of Reeds
1 Kings 9:28 That is, about 16 tons or about 14 metric tons
1 Kings 10:5 Or the ascent by which he went up to
1 Kings 10:10 That is, about 4 1/2 tons or about 4 metric tons
1 Kings 10:11 Probably a variant of algumwood; also in verse 12
1 Kings 10:12 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
1 Kings 10:14 That is, about 25 tons or about 23 metric tons
1 Kings 10:16 That is, about 15 pounds or about 6.9 kilograms; also in verse 29
1 Kings 10:17 That is, about 3 3/4 pounds or about 1.7 kilograms; or perhaps reference is to double minas, that is, about 7 1/2 pounds or about 3.5 kilograms.
1 Kings 10:22 Hebrew of ships of Tarshish
1 Kings 10:26 Or charioteers
1 Kings 10:28 Probably Cilicia
1 Kings 10:29 That is, about 3 3/4 pounds or about 1.7 kilograms