1Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ houses of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh from the City of David, which is Zion.
2And all the men of Israel assembled to King Solomon in the month of Ethanim, at the feast — that is, the seventh month.
3And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests lifted up the ark.
4And they brought up the ark of Yahweh, and the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up.
5And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who had assembled to him were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and cattle that could not be counted or numbered for their abundance.
6And the priests brought the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, into the Most Holy Place, beneath the wings of the cherubim.
7For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles from above.
8And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles could be seen from the Holy Place before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside; and they are there to this day.
9There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone that Moses had placed there at Horeb, where Yahweh made a covenant with the sons of Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt.
10And it happened, when the priests came out from the Holy Place, that the cloud filled the house of Yahweh,
11and the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of Yahweh filled the house of Yahweh.
12Then Solomon said: “Yahweh has said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
13I have surely built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.”
14Then the king turned his face around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing.
15And he said: “Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David my father and with his hand has fulfilled it, saying:
16‘From the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, that my name might be there; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.’
17Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel.
18But Yahweh said to David my father, ‘Because it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart.
19Only you yourself shall not build the house, but your son who comes out of your loins — he shall build the house for my name.’
20And Yahweh has established his word that he spoke, for I have arisen in the place of David my father and sit on the throne of Israel, as Yahweh spoke, and I have built the house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel.
21And I have set there a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of Yahweh that he made with our fathers when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”
22Then Solomon stood before the altar of Yahweh in front of all the assembly of Israel, and he spread out his palms toward the heavens.
23And he said: “Yahweh, God of Israel, there is no God like you in the heavens above or on the earth below, keeping the covenant and the loyal love for your servants who walk before you with all their heart,
24who have kept for your servant David my father what you spoke to him; you spoke with your mouth and with your hand have fulfilled it, as it is this day.
25And now, Yahweh, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you spoke to him, saying, ‘There shall not be cut off for you a man from before me sitting on the throne of Israel, if only your sons keep their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’
26And now, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, please, which you spoke to your servant David my father.
27But will God really dwell on the earth? Look, the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain you — how much less this house that I have built!
28Yet turn to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, Yahweh my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you today,
29that your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which you said, ‘My name shall be there,’ to listen to the prayer that your servant prays toward this place.
30And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place; and may you hear in the place of your dwelling, in the heavens; and hear and forgive.
31When a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath, and he comes and swears an oath before your altar in this house,
32then you yourself hear in heaven and act, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing his way upon his own head, and justifying the righteous by giving to him according to his righteousness.
33When your people Israel are struck down before an enemy because they have sinned against you, and they turn back to you and give thanks to your name and pray and plead for grace before you in this house,
34then you yourself hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land that you gave to their fathers.
35When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, and they pray toward this place and give thanks to your name and turn back from their sin because you afflict them,
36then you yourself hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and your people Israel, for you teach them the good way in which they should walk; and give rain upon your land, which you gave to your people as an inheritance.
37If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, blight, mildew, locust, or caterpillar, if their enemy besieges them in the land of their gates — any plague, any sickness —
38whatever prayer, whatever plea for grace is made by any person of all your people Israel, each one knowing the plague of his own heart, and he spreads out his palms toward this house,
39then you yourself hear in heaven, the fixed place of your dwelling, and forgive and act and give to each man according to all his ways, for you know his heart — for you alone know the heart of all the children of humankind —
40so that they may fear you all the days that they live on the face of the land that you gave to our fathers.
41And also toward the foreigner, who is not of your people Israel but comes from a distant land for the sake of your name —
42for they will hear of your great name and your strong hand and your outstretched arm — and he comes and prays toward this house,
43you yourself hear in heaven, the fixed place of your dwelling, and act according to all that the foreigner calls out to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name, to fear you as does your people Israel, and to know that your name is called over this house that I have built.
44When your people go out to war against their enemy by the way that you send them, and they pray to Yahweh toward the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name,
45then you hear in heaven their prayer and their plea for grace, and uphold their cause.
46When they sin against you — for there is no person who does not sin — and you are angry with them and give them over before an enemy, and their captors carry them captive to the land of the enemy, far or near,
47and they take it to heart in the land where they were carried captive, and they turn back and plead for grace to you in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong; we have acted wickedly,’
48and they turn back to you with all their heart and with all their self in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and they pray to you toward their land that you gave to their fathers, toward the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name,
49then you hear in heaven, the fixed place of your dwelling, their prayer and their plea for grace, and uphold their cause,
50and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions by which they transgressed against you, and grant them compassion before their captors, so that they may have compassion on them —
51for they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out from Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace.
52May your eyes be open to the plea for grace of your servant and to the plea for grace of your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call out to you.
53For you yourself set them apart for yourself as an inheritance from all the peoples of the earth, as you spoke through the hand of Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out from Egypt, O Lord Yahweh.
54And it came about, when Solomon had finished praying to Yahweh all this prayer and plea for grace, that he rose from before the altar of Yahweh, from kneeling on his knees with his palms spread out to the heavens.
55And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying:
56“Blessed be Yahweh, who has given rest to his people Israel according to all that he spoke. Not one word has fallen from all his good word that he spoke through the hand of Moses his servant.
57May Yahweh our God be with us as he was with our fathers; may he not forsake us or abandon us,
58turning our hearts toward him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, which he commanded our fathers.
59And may these words of mine, with which I have pleaded for grace before Yahweh, be near to Yahweh our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, each day’s matter in its day,
60so that all the peoples of the earth may know that Yahweh is God; there is no other.
61And let your heart be wholly devoted to Yahweh our God, to walk in his statutes and to keep his commandments, as at this day.”
62Now the king and all Israel with him were offering sacrifice before Yahweh.
63And Solomon offered as the sacrifice of well-being that he sacrificed to Yahweh twenty-two thousand cattle and one hundred twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the house of Yahweh.
64On that day the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard that was before the house of Yahweh, for he offered there the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat portions of the offerings of well-being, because the bronze altar that was before Yahweh was too small to contain the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat portions of the offerings of well-being.
65So Solomon held the festival at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from Lebo-hamath to the Wadi of Egypt, before Yahweh our God, seven days and seven days—fourteen days.
66On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they blessed the king and went to their tents, joyful and glad of heart over all the good that Yahweh had done for David his servant and for Israel his people.
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