Old/New Testament
8 Then King Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes (the chief fathers of the children of Israel) to him in Jerusalem, to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD from the City of David, which is Zion.
2 And all the men of Israel assembled to King Solomon at the feast, in the month of Ethanim, which is the seventh month.
3 And all the elders of Israel came. And the priests took the Ark.
4 They bore the Ark of the LORD. And they bore the Tabernacle of the Congregation and all the holy vessels that were in the Tabernacle, those the priests and Levites brought up.
5 And King Solomon, and all the Congregation of Israel who were assembled to him, were with him before the Ark, offering sheep and oxen (which were too numerous to count or assess).
6 So, the priests brought the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD to its place, into the Oracle of the House, into the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the Cherubim.
7 For the Cherubim stretched out their wings over the place of the Ark. And the Cherubim covered the Ark and its poles above.
8 And they drew out the poles, so that the ends of the poles might appear out of the Sanctuary, before the Oracle. But they were not seen outside. And they are there to this day.
9 Nothing was in the Ark except the two Tables of stone which Moses had put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a Covenant with the children of Israel, when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.
10 And when the priests had come out of the Sanctuary, the cloud filled the House of the LORD,
11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud. For the Glory of the LORD had filled the House of the LORD.
12 Then Solomon spoke, “The LORD said that He would dwell in the dark cloud.
13 “I have built You a House to dwell in, a habitation for You to abide in forever.”
14 And the king turned his face and blessed all the Congregation of Israel. For all the Congregation of Israel stood.
15 And he said, “Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, Who spoke with His Mouth to David, my father, and has, with His Hand, fulfilled it, saying,
16 ‘Since the day that I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city of all the tribes of Israel to build a House, so that My Name might be there. But I have chosen David to be over My people, Israel.’
17 “And it was in the heart of David, my father, to build a House to the Name of the LORD God of Israel.
18 “And the LORD said to David, my father, ‘Insomuch as it was in your heart to build a House to My Name, you did well that you were so minded.
19 ‘Nevertheless, you shall not build the House. But your son, who shall come out of your loins, he shall build the House to My Name.’
20 “And the LORD has made good His Word that He spoke. And I have risen up in the room of David, my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the House for the Name of the LORD God of Israel.
21 “And I have prepared a place for the Ark in it, in which is the Covenant of the LORD which He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”
22 Then Solomon stood before the Altar of the LORD, in the sight of all the Congregation of Israel, and stretched out his hands toward Heaven,
23 and said, “O LORD God of Israel! There is no God like You in Heaven above or on the Earth beneath, You Who keep Covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their heart;
24 “You Who have kept with Your servant David, my father, that You have promised him. For You spoke with Your Mouth and have fulfilled it with Your Hand, as it is this day.
25 “Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with Your servant David, my father, that You have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man in My sight to sit upon the throne of Israel, so that your children attend to their way, so that they walk before Me, as you have walked in My sight.’
26 “And now, O God of Israel, I pray, let Your Word be verified which You spoke to your servant David, my father.
27 “Is it indeed true that God will dwell on the Earth? Behold, the heavens, and the heavens of heavens, are not able to contain You! How much more so is this House that I have built?
28 “But have respect to the prayer of Your servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hear the cry and prayer which Your servant prays before You this day!
29 “So that Your Eyes may be open toward this House, night and day, toward the place of which You have said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that You may listen to the prayer which Your servant prays in this place.
30 “Hear, therefore, the supplication of Your servant, and of Your people Israel, who pray in this place! And hear in the place of Your habitation, in Heaven! And when You hear, have mercy!
31 “When a man shall trespass against his neighbor, and he lays upon him an oath, to cause him to swear. And the swearer shall come before Your Altar, into this House,
32 “then hear in Heaven and do, and judge Your servants, so that You condemn the wicked, to bring his way upon his head! And justify the righteous, to give to him according to his righteousness.
33 “When Your people Israel shall be overthrown before the enemy, because they have sinned against You, and turn back to you and confess Your Name and pray and make supplication to You in this House,
34 “then hear in Heaven and be merciful to the sin of Your people Israel! And bring them back to the land which You gave to their fathers.
35 “When the sky shall be shut up, and there shall be no rain because they have sinned against You, and shall pray in this place, and confess Your Name, and turn from their sin, when You afflict them,
36 “then hear in Heaven! And pardon the sin of Your servants and of Your people Israel (after You have taught them the good way in which they may walk) and give rain upon the land that You have given Your people to inherit!
37 “When there shall be famine in the land, when there shall be pestilence, when there shall be blight, mildew, grasshopper or caterpillar; when their enemies shall besiege them in the cities of their land, any plague, any sickness,
38 “whatever prayer, supplication shall be made by any man of all Your people Israel, when everyone shall know the plague in his own heart and stretch forth his hands in this House,
39 “hear then in Heaven, in Your dwelling place, and be merciful, and do, and give every man according to all his ways, as You know his heart (for only You know the hearts of all the children of men),
40 “so that they may fear You as long as they live in the land which You gave to our fathers!
41 “Moreover, regarding the stranger who is not of Your people Israel, who shall come out of a far country for Your Name’s sake
42 “(when they shall hear of Your great Name and of Your mighty Hand and of Your outstretched Arm), and shall come and pray in this House,
43 “hear in Heaven (Your dwelling place) and do according to all that the stranger calls to You for, so that all the people of the Earth may know Your Name and fear You as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that Your Name is called upon in this House which I have built!
44 “When Your people shall go out to battle against their enemy, by the way that You shall send them, and shall pray to the LORD, toward the way of the city which You have chosen, and the House that I have built for Your Name,
45 “hear, then, their prayer in Heaven, and their supplication, and judge their cause.
46 “When they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin) and You are angry with them, and deliver them to the enemies, so that they carry them away prisoners to the land of the enemies, either far or near,
47 “yet, if they turn back their heart in the land to which they are carried away captives and return and pray to You in the land of those who carried them away captives, saying, ‘We have sinned! We have transgressed and done wickedly!’
48 “if they turn back to You with all their heart and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies who led them away captives, and pray to You toward the way of their land which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen and the House which I have built for Your Name,
49 “then hear their prayer and their supplication in Heaven, Your dwelling place, and judge their cause!
50 “And be merciful to Your people who have sinned against You, and to all their iniquities in which they have transgressed against You. And cause it to be that those who led them away captives may have pity and compassion on them.
51 “For they are Your people, and Your inheritance, which You brought out of Egypt from the midst of the iron furnace.
52 “Let Your Eyes be open to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your people Israel, to listen to them in all that they call for to You.
53 “For You separated them to Yourself from among all people of the Earth for an inheritance, as You said by the hand of Moses, Your servant, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, O LORD God!”
54 And when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and supplication to the LORD, he rose from before the Altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees, and stretching of his hands to Heaven,
55 and stood and blessed all the Congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying,
56 “Blessed be the LORD Who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised! There has not failed one Word of all His good promise which He promised by the hand of Moses, His servant!
57 “The LORD our God be with us, as He was with our fathers, so that He does not forsake us or leave us,
58 “so that He may bow our hearts to Him, so that we may walk in all His ways, and keep His Commandments, and His Statutes, and His Laws which He Commanded our fathers!
59 “And these, my words, which I have prayed before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God, day and night, so that He defends the cause of His servant, and the cause of His people Israel always, as the matter requires,
60 “so that all the people of the Earth may know that the LORD is God! None other!
61 “Therefore, let your heart be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in His Statutes and to keep His Commandments, as this day!”
62 Then the king, and all Israel with him, offered Sacrifice before the LORD.
63 And Solomon offered a Sacrifice of Peace Offerings, which he offered to the LORD: twenty-two thousand oxen, and a hundred twenty thousand sheep. So, the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the House of the LORD.
64 The same day, the king consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the House of the LORD. For he made the Burnt Offerings and Meat Offerings and the fat of the Peace Offerings there, because the bronze Altar that was before the LORD was too little to receive the Burnt Offerings and the Meat Offerings and the fat of the Peace Offerings.
65 And Solomon made a feast before the LORD our God at that time, and all Israel with him (a very great Congregation), from the entrance of Hamath to the river of Egypt, for seven days and seven days (fourteen days).
66 And on the eighth day, he sent the people away. And they thanked the king and went to their tents joyous and with glad hearts, because of all the goodness that the LORD had done for David, His servant, and for Israel, His people.
9 When Solomon had finished building the House of the LORD, and the king’s palace, and all of Solomon desires which it pleased him to do,
2 then the LORD appeared to Solomon a second time, as He appeared to him at Gibeon.
3 And the LORD said to him: “I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before Me. I have sanctified this House which you have built to put My Name there forever. And My Eyes and My Heart shall be there perpetually.
4 “And if you will walk before Me, as David your father walked in pureness of heart and in righteousness, to do according to all that I have Commanded you, and keep My Statutes and My Judgments,
5 “then will I establish the throne of your kingdom upon Israel forever, as I promised to David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man upon the throne of Israel.’
6 “If you and your children turn away from Me, and will not keep My Commandments, My Statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them,
7 “then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them. And I will cast the House which I have sanctified for My Name out of My sight. And Israel shall be a proverb and a common talk among all people.
8 “Even this high House shall be so. Everyone who passes by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss, and they shall say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this House?’
9 “And they shall answer, ‘Because they forsook the LORD their God, Who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them. Therefore, the LORD has brought all this misery upon them.’”
10 And at the end of twenty years, after Solomon had built the two houses (the House of the LORD and the king’s palace,
11 for which Hiram the king of Tyre had brought timber from cedar and fir trees to Solomon, and gold, and whatever he desired), then King Solomon gave twenty cities in the land of Galilee to Hiram.
12 And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him. And they did not please him.
13 Therefore he said, “What cities are these which you have given me, my brother?” And he called them the land of Cabul to this day.
14 And Hiram had sent the king one hundred twenty talents of gold.
15 And this is the reason for the tribute (why King Solomon raised tribute): to build the House of the LORD, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer.
16 Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had come up and taken Gezer and burnt it with fire and killed the Canaanites who dwelt in the city and gave it for a present to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.
17 Therefore, Solomon built Gezer and Beth Horon the lower,
18 and Baalath and Tadmor, in the wilderness of the land,
19 and all the cities of store that Solomon had (cities for chariots and cities for horsemen and all that Solomon desired and would build in Jerusalem and in Lebanon and in all the land of his dominion).
20 All the people who were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel
21 (their children who were left after them in the land whom the children of Israel were not able to destroy), those Solomon made tributaries to this day.
22 But of the children of Israel Solomon made no bondmen. But they were men of war and his servants and his princes and his captains and rulers of his chariots and his horsemen.
23 These were the princes of the officers who were over Solomon’s work: five hundred fifty. And they ruled the people who labored in the work.
24 And Pharaoh’s daughter came up from the City of David to the house which Solomon had built for her. Then he built Millo.
25 And three times a year Solomon offered Burnt Offerings and Peace Offerings upon the Altar which he built to the LORD. And he burnt incense upon the Altar that was before the LORD, when he had finished the House.
26 Also, King Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion Geber, which is beside Elath and the edge of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.
27 And Hiram sent his servants (who were mariners and had knowledge of the sea) with the navy, with the servants of Solomon.
28 And they came to Ophir and fetched four hundred twenty talents of gold from there and brought it to King Solomon.
21 And as He looked, He saw the rich, who cast their gifts into the treasury.
2 And He also saw a certain poor widow, who cast in two lepta.
3 And He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has cast in more than all of them.
4 “For they have all cast into the offerings of God out of their excess. But she, out of her poverty, has cast in all her livelihood.”
5 Now as some spoke of the Temple (how it was decorated with beautiful stones and consecrated things), He said,
6 “Are these the things that you look upon? The days will come when a stone shall not be left upon a stone; that it shall not be thrown down.”
7 Then they asked Him, saying, “Master, but when shall these things be? And what sign shall there be when these things shall happen?”
8 And He said, “Watch carefully, so that you are not deceived. For many will come in My Name, saying, ‘I am Christ,’ and ‘The time draws near.’ Therefore, do not follow them.
9 “And when you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be afraid. For these things must come first. But the end will not follow right away.”
10 Then He said to them, “Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
11 “And great earthquakes shall occur in diverse places. And hunger and pestilence and fearful things and great signs from Heaven shall happen.
12 “But before all these things, they shall lay their hands on you and persecute you - delivering you up to the assemblies and into prisons - and bring you before kings and rulers, for My Name’s sake.
13 “And this shall result in a testimonial for you.
14 “Therefore, resolve in your hearts not to prepare what you shall answer beforehand.
15 “For I will give you a mouth, and wisdom, against which all your adversaries shall not be able to speak or resist.
16 “Indeed, you shall also be betrayed by your parents and by your brothers, and kinsmen, and friends. And they shall put you to death.
17 “And you shall be hated by all, for My Name’s sake.
18 “Yet, not one hair of your heads shall perish.
19 “By your patience, gain your souls.
© 2019, 2024 by Five Talents Audio. All rights reserved.