The Ark Is Brought into the Temple

5 ^(A)Thus all the work that Solomon performed for the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the ^[a](B)things that David his father had dedicated, even the silver and the gold and all the utensils, and put them in the treasuries of the house of God.

^2 (C)Then Solomon assembled to Jerusalem the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, ^(D)to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion. ^3 (E)All the men of Israel assembled themselves to the king at ^(F)the feast, that is in the seventh month. ⁴ Then all the elders of Israel came, and ^(G)the Levites took up the ark. ⁵ They brought up the ark and the tent of meeting and all the holy utensils which were in the tent; the Levitical priests brought them up. ⁶ And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled with him before the ark, were sacrificing ^[b]so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. ⁷ Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the holy of holies, under the wings of the cherubim. ⁸ For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its ^[c]poles. ⁹ The poles were so long that ^(H)the ends of the poles of the ark could be seen in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; and ^[d]they are there to this day. ^10 (I)There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.

The Glory of God Fills the Temple

¹¹ When the priests came forth from the holy place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without regard ^(J)to divisions), ¹² and all the Levitical singers, ^(K)Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and kinsmen, clothed in fine linen, ^(L)with cymbals, harps and lyres, standing east of the altar, and with them one hundred and twenty priests ^(M)blowing trumpets ¹³ in unison when the trumpeters and the singers were to make themselves heard with one voice to praise and to glorify the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice ^(N)accompanied by trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and when they praised the Lord saying, “^(O)He indeed is good for His lovingkindness is everlasting,” then the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, ¹⁴ so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for ^(P)the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.

Solomon’s Dedication

6 ^(Q)Then Solomon said,

³ Then the king ^[e]faced about and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing. ⁴ He said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David and has fulfilled it with His hands, saying, ⁵ ‘Since the day that I brought My people from the land of Egypt, I did not choose a city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house that My name might be there, nor did I choose any man for a leader over My people Israel; ⁶ but ^(R)I have chosen Jerusalem that My name might be there, and I ^(S)have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’ ^7 (T)Now it was ^[f]in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁸ But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Because it was ^[g]in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it was ^[h]in your heart. ⁹ Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who ^[i]will be born to you, he shall build the house for My name.’ ¹⁰ Now the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for I have risen in the place of my father David and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord ^[j]promised, and have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹¹ There I have set the ark ^(U)in which is the covenant of the Lord, which He made with the sons of Israel.”

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication

¹² Then he stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. ^13 (V)Now Solomon had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court; and he stood on it, ^(W)knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven. ¹⁴ He said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, ^(X)there is no god like You in heaven or on earth, ^(Y)keeping covenant and showing lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart; ^15 (Z)who has kept with Your servant David, my father, that which You have ^[k]promised him; indeed You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day. ¹⁶ Now therefore, O Lord, the God of Israel, keep with Your servant David, my father, that which You have ^[l]promised him, saying, ‘^[m](AA)You shall not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons take heed to their way, to walk in My law as you have walked before Me.’ ¹⁷ Now therefore, O Lord, the God of Israel, let Your word be confirmed which You have spoken to Your servant David.

¹⁸ “But ^(AB)will God indeed dwell with mankind on the earth? Behold, ^(AC)heaven and the ^[n]highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house which I have built. ¹⁹ Yet have regard to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You; ²⁰ that Your ^(AD)eye may be open toward this house day and night, toward ^(AE)the place of which You have said that You would put Your name there, to listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place. ²¹ Listen to the supplications of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place; hear from Your dwelling place, from heaven; ^(AF)hear and forgive.

²² “If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath, and he comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this house, ²³ then hear from heaven and act and judge Your servants, ^[o](AG)punishing the wicked by bringing his way on his own head and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.

²⁴ “If Your people Israel ^[p]are defeated before an enemy because ^(AH)they have sinned against You, and they return to You and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication before You in this house, ²⁵ then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You have given to them and to their fathers.

²⁶ “When the ^(AI)heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin when You afflict them; ²⁷ then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel, indeed, ^(AJ)teach them the good way in which they should walk. And send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people for an inheritance.

²⁸ “If there is ^(AK)famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight or mildew, if there is locust or grasshopper, if their enemies besiege them in the land of their ^[q]cities, whatever plague or whatever sickness there is, ²⁹ whatever prayer or supplication is made by any man or by all Your people Israel, ^[r]each knowing his own affliction and his own pain, and spreading his hands toward this house, ³⁰ then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and render to each according to all his ways, whose heart You know ^(AL)for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men, ³¹ that they may ^[s]fear You, to walk in Your ways ^[t]as long as they live in the land which You have given to our fathers.

³² “Also concerning ^(AM)the foreigner who is not from Your people Israel, when he comes from a far country for Your great name’s sake and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm, when they come and pray toward this house, ³³ then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, and ^[u]fear You as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that ^[v]this house which I have built is ^(AN)called by Your name.

³⁴ “When Your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way You shall send them, and they pray to You toward this city which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your name, ³⁵ then hear from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

³⁶ “When they sin against You (^(AO)for there is no man who does not sin) and You are angry with them and deliver them to an enemy, so that ^[w]they take them away captive to a land far off or near, ³⁷ if they ^[x]take thought in the land where they are taken captive, and repent and make supplication to You in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, we have committed iniquity and have acted wickedly’; ^38 (AP)if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been taken captive, and pray toward their land which You have given to their fathers and the city which You have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for Your name, ³⁹ then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, their prayer and supplications, and maintain their cause and forgive Your people who have sinned against You.

⁴⁰ “Now, O my God, I pray, ^(AQ)let Your eyes be open and ^(AR)Your ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place.

⁴¹ “^(AS)Now therefore arise, O Lord God, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your might; let Your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation and let Your godly ones rejoice in what is good.

⁴² “O Lord God, do not turn away the face of Your anointed; ^(AT)remember Your lovingkindness to Your servant David.”

The Shekinah Glory

7 ^(AU)Now when Solomon had finished praying, ^(AV)fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the house. ^2 (AW)The priests could not enter into the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house. ³ All the sons of Israel, seeing the fire come down and the glory of the Lord upon the house, bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave praise to the Lord, saying, “^(AX)Truly He is good, truly His lovingkindness is everlasting.”

Sacrifices Offered

^4 (AY)Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the Lord. ⁵ King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. Thus the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. ⁶ The priests stood at their posts, and ^(AZ)the Levites also, with the instruments of music to the Lord, which King David had made for giving praise to the Lord—“for His lovingkindness is everlasting”—whenever ^[y]he gave praise by their ^[z]means, while ^(BA)the priests on the other side blew trumpets; and all Israel was standing.

^7 (BB)Then Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord, for there he offered the burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings because the bronze altar which Solomon had made was not able to contain the burnt offering, the grain offering and the fat.

The Feast of Dedication

⁸ So ^(BC)Solomon observed the feast at that time for seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly who came from the entrance of Hamath to the ^(BD)brook of Egypt. ⁹ On the eighth day they held ^(BE)a solemn assembly, for the dedication of the altar they observed seven days and the feast seven days. ¹⁰ Then on the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people to their tents, rejoicing and happy of heart because of the goodness that the Lord had shown to David and to Solomon and to His people Israel.

God’s Promise and Warning

^11 (BF)Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s palace, and successfully completed all that ^[aa]he had planned on doing in the house of the Lord and in his palace.

¹² Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, “I have heard your prayer and ^(BG)have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. ^13 (BH)If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, ^14 (BI)and My people ^[ab]who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. ^15 (BJ)Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the ^[ac]prayer offered in this place. ¹⁶ For ^(BK)now I have chosen and consecrated this house that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. ¹⁷ As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, even to do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep My statutes and My ordinances, ¹⁸ then I will establish your royal throne as I covenanted with your father David, saying, ‘^[ad](BL)You shall not lack a man to be ruler in Israel.’

¹⁹ “^(BM)But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, ^20 (BN)then I will uproot you from My land which I have given ^[ae]you, and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight and I will make it ^(BO)a proverb and a byword among all peoples. ²¹ As for this house, which was exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, ‘^(BP)Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ ²² And they will say, ‘Because ^(BQ)they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers who brought them from the land of Egypt, and they adopted other gods and worshiped them and served them; therefore He has brought all this adversity on them.’”

The Lord the Keeper of Israel.

A Song of Ascents.

Apostasy

4 But ^(A)the Spirit explicitly says that ^(B)in later times some will ^[a]fall away from the faith, paying attention to ^(C)deceitful spirits and ^(D)doctrines of demons, ² by means of the hypocrisy of liars ^(E)seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, ³ men who ^(F)forbid marriage and advocate ^(G)abstaining from foods which ^(H)God has created to be ^(I)gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. ⁴ For ^(J)everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is ^(K)received with gratitude; ⁵ for it is sanctified by means of ^(L)the word of God and prayer.

A Good Minister’s Discipline

⁶ In pointing out these things to ^(M)the brethren, you will be a good ^(N)servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the ^[b](O)sound doctrine which you ^(P)have been following. ⁷ But ^[c]have nothing to do with ^(Q)worldly ^(R)fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of ^(S)godliness; ⁸ for ^(T)bodily discipline is only of little profit, but ^(U)godliness is profitable for all things, since it ^(V)holds promise for the ^(W)present life and also for the life to come. ^9 (X)It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. ¹⁰ For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed ^(Y)our hope on ^(Z)the living God, who is ^(AA)the Savior of all men, especially of believers.

^11 [d](AB)Prescribe and teach these things. ^12 (AC)Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, ^(AD)love, faith and purity, show yourself ^(AE)an example ^[e]of those who believe. ^13 (AF)Until I come, give attention to the public ^(AG)reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. ¹⁴ Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through ^(AH)prophetic utterance with ^(AI)the laying on of hands by the ^[f](AJ)presbytery. ¹⁵ Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. ^16 (AK)Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ^[g](AL)ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.