⁵⁴ Solomon prayed this prayer to the Lord. He had been kneeling in front of the altar. And his arms had been raised toward heaven. When Solomon finished praying, he stood up. ⁵⁵ Then, in a loud voice, he blessed all the people of Israel. Solomon said: ⁵⁶ “Praise the Lord! He promised he would give rest to his people Israel. And he has given us rest! The Lord has kept all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses. ⁵⁷ I ask that the Lord our God be with us. May he be with us as he was with our ancestors. May he never leave us. ⁵⁸ May he cause us to turn to him and follow him. May we obey all the laws and commands he gave our ancestors. ⁵⁹ I ask that the Lord our God always remember this prayer. I pray that he will help his servant and his people Israel. I pray he will help us every day as we need it. ⁶⁰ Then all the people of the world will know the Lord is the only true God. ⁶¹ So you must fully obey the Lord our God. You must follow all his laws and commands. You must continue to obey in the future as you do now.”

Sacrifices Are Offered

⁶² Then King Solomon and all Israel with him offered sacrifices to the Lord. ⁶³ Solomon killed 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. These were fellowship offerings. In this way the king and the Israelites showed they had given the Temple to the Lord.

⁶⁴ Also that day King Solomon made the courtyard before the Temple holy. He offered whole burnt sacrifices and grain offerings. He also offered the fat from the fellowship offerings. He had to make these offerings in the courtyard. This was because the bronze altar before the Lord was too small. It could not hold all the offerings.

⁶⁵ So King Solomon and all the people of Israel also celebrated the other festival that came at that time. People came from as far away as Lebo Hamath in the north. And they came from as far as the brook of Egypt in the south. A great many people were there. They ate, drank and rejoiced before the Lord for a total of 14 days. ⁶⁶ On the following day Solomon sent the people home. So they blessed the king and went home. They were happy because of all the good things the Lord had done for his servant David and for his people, Israel.

The Temple Is Given to the Lord

7 When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from the sky. It burned up the burnt offering and the sacrifices. The Lord’s glory filled the Temple. ² The priests could not enter the Temple of the Lord because the Lord’s glory filled it. ³ All the people of Israel saw the fire come down from heaven. They also saw the Lord’s glory on the Temple. Then they bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground. They worshiped and thanked the Lord. They said,

⁴ Then King Solomon and all the Israelites offered sacrifices before the Lord. ⁵ King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people gave the Temple for the worship of God. ⁶ The priests stood ready to do their work. The Levites also stood with the instruments of the Lord’s music. King David had made these instruments for praising the Lord. The priests and Levites were saying, “The Lord’s love continues forever.” The priests, who stood across from the Levites, blew their trumpets. And all the Israelites were standing.

⁷ Solomon made the middle part of the courtyard holy for the Lord. That courtyard is in front of the Temple of the Lord. There Solomon offered burnt offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings. He used the middle of the courtyard because the bronze altar he had made could not hold everything. It couldn’t hold the burnt offerings, grain offerings and fat.

⁸ Solomon and all the Israelites celebrated the festival for seven days. There were many people. They came from as far away as Lebo Hamath. And they came all the way from the brook of Egypt. ⁹ They had given the altar for the worship of the Lord. And they celebrated that for seven days. Then they celebrated the festival for seven days. On the eighth day they had a meeting. ¹⁰ On the twenty-third day of the seventh month Solomon sent the people home. They were full of joy. They were happy because the Lord had been so good to David, Solomon and his people the Israelites.

The Lord Appears to Solomon Again

9 So Solomon finished building the Temple of the Lord and his royal palace. Solomon finished building everything he wanted to build. ² Then the Lord appeared to him again. This was just as he had done before, in Gibeon. ³ The Lord said to him: “I have heard your prayer. I have heard what you asked me to do. You built this Temple. And I have made it a holy place. So I will be worshiped there forever. I will watch over it and protect it always.

⁴ “But you must serve me as your father David did. He was fair and sincere. You must obey my laws and do everything I command. ⁵ If you do these things, I will allow your family to rule Israel forever. I made this promise to your father David. I told him that someone from his family would always be king over Israel.

⁶ “But you and your children must follow me. You must obey the laws and commands I have given you. You must not go off to serve or worship other gods. ⁷ If you do, I will force Israel to leave the land I have given them. I made the Temple holy for people to worship me there. But if you don’t obey me, I will tear it down. Then Israel will become a bad example, a joke, to other people. ⁸ If the Temple is destroyed, everyone who sees it will be shocked. They will make fun of you and ask, ‘Why did the Lord do this? Why did he do this terrible thing to this land and this Temple?’ ⁹ Other people will answer, ‘This happened because they left the Lord their God. He brought their ancestors out of Egypt. But they decided to follow other gods. They worshiped and served those gods. That is why the Lord brought all this disaster to them.’”

The Lord Appears to Solomon

¹¹ Solomon finished the Temple of the Lord and the king’s palace. He had success in doing everything he planned in the Temple of the Lord and his own palace. ¹² Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night. The Lord said, “Solomon, I have heard your prayer. And I have chosen this place for myself to be a Temple for sacrifices.

¹³ “I may stop the sky from sending rain. I may command the locusts to destroy the land. I may send sicknesses to my people. ¹⁴ Then my people, who are called by my name, will be sorry for what they have done. They will pray and obey me and stop their evil ways. If they do, I will hear them from heaven. I will forgive their sin, and I will heal their land. ¹⁵ Now I will see them. And I will listen to the prayers prayed in this place. ¹⁶ I have chosen this Temple and made it holy. So I will be worshiped here forever. Yes, I will always watch over it and love it.

¹⁷ “Solomon, obey me as your father David did. Obey all I have commanded. Obey my laws and rules. ¹⁸ If you do, I will make your kingdom strong. This is the agreement I made with your father David. I told him, ‘David, someone from your family will always be king in Israel.’

¹⁹ “But you must not turn away from me. You must not stop obeying the laws and commands I gave you. You must not serve and worship other gods. ²⁰ If you do, I will take the Israelites out of my land, the land I gave them. And I will leave this Temple that I have made holy. All the nations will make fun of it and speak evil about it. ²¹ This Temple is honored now. But then, everyone who passes by will be surprised. They will say, ‘Why has the Lord done this terrible thing to this land and this Temple?’ ²² Then people will answer, ‘It’s because the Israelites left the Lord, the God their ancestors obeyed. He is the God who led them out of Egypt. But they accepted other gods and worshiped and served them. That is why the Lord brought this disaster on them.’”

Solomon’s Other Activities

¹⁰ By the end of 20 years, King Solomon had built the Temple of the Lord. And he had built the royal palace. ¹¹ At that time King Solomon gave 20 towns in Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre. Solomon did this because Hiram had helped with the buildings. Hiram had given him all the cedar, pine and gold he wanted. ¹² So Hiram traveled from Tyre to see the towns Solomon had given him. When Hiram saw them, he was not pleased. ¹³ He asked, “What are these towns you have given me, my brother?” So he named that land the Land of Cabul.^[a] And it is still called that today. ¹⁴ Hiram had sent to King Solomon about 9,000 pounds of gold.