1Kings:8

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* Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel , and all the heads of the tribes , the princes of the fathers of the sons of Israel , to king Solomon in Jerusalem , to bring up the ark of the covenant of LORD out of the city of David , whi * And all the men of Israel assembled themselves to king Solomon at the feast , in the month Ethanim , which is the seventh month . * And all the elders of Israel came , and the priests took up the ark . * And they brought up the ark of LORD , and the tent of meeting , and all the holy vessels that were in the tent ; even these the priests and the Levites brought up . * And king Solomon and all the congregation of Israel , that were assembled to him , were with him before the ark , sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted nor numbered for multitude . * And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of LORD to its place , into the oracle of the house , to the most holy place , even under the wings of the cherubim . * For the cherubim spread forth their wings over the place of the ark , and the cherubim covered the ark and the staves of it above . * And the staves were so long that the ends of the staves were seen from the holy place before the oracle . But they were not seen outside . And there they are to this day . * There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb when LORD made a covenant with the sons of Israel , when they came out of the land of Egypt . * And it came to pass , when the priests came out of the holy place , that the cloud filled the house of LORD , * so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud , for the glory of LORD filled the house of LORD . * Then Solomon spoke , LORD has said that he would dwell in the thick darkness . * I have surely built thee a house of habitation , a place for thee to dwell in forever . * And the king turned his face around , and blessed all the assembly of Israel . And all the assembly of Israel stood . * And he said , Blessed be LORD , the God of Israel , who spoke with his mouth to David my father , and has with his hand fulfilled it , saying , * Since the day that I brought forth 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 . * Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of LORD , the God of Israel . * But LORD said to David my father , Whereas it was in thy heart to build a house for my name , thou did well that it was in thy heart . * Nevertheless thou shall not build the house , but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins , he shall build the house for my name . * And LORD has established his word that he spoke , for I have risen up in the place of David my father , and sit on the throne of Israel , as LORD promised , and have built the house for the name of LORD , the God of Israel . * And there I have set a place for the ark , in which is the covenant of LORD , which he made with our fathers when he brought them out of the land of Egypt . * And Solomon stood before the altar of LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel , and spread forth his hands toward heaven . * And he said , O LORD , the God of Israel , there is no God like thee , in heaven above , or on earth beneath , who keeps covenant and loving kindness with thy servants , who walk before thee with all their heart , * who have kept with thy servant David my father that which thou did promise him . Yea , thou spoke with thy mouth , and have fulfilled it with thy hand , as it is this day . * Now therefore , O LORD , the God of Israel , keep with thy servant David my father that which thou have promised him , saying , There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel , if only thy sons take heed to th * Now therefore , O God of Israel , let thy word , I pray thee , be verified , which thou spoke to thy servant David my father . * But will God indeed dwell on the earth ? Behold , heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee . How much less this house that I have built ! * Yet have thou respect to the prayer of thy servant , and to his supplication , O LORD my God , to hearken to the cry and to the prayer which thy servant prays before thee this day , * that thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day , even toward the place whereof thou have said , My name shall be there , to hearken to the prayer which thy servant shall pray toward this place . * And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant , and of thy people Israel , when they shall pray toward this place . Yea , hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place , and when thou hear , forgive . * If a man sins against his neighbor , and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear , and he comes [and ] swears before thine altar in this house , * then hear thou in heaven , and do , and judge thy servants , condemning the wicked , to bring his way upon his own head , and justifying the righteous , to give him according to his righteousness . * When thy people Israel are smitten down before the enemy because they have sinned against thee , if they turn again to thee , and confess thy name , and pray and make supplication to thee in this house , * then hear thou in heaven , and forgive the sin of thy people Israel , and bring them again to the land which thou gave to their fathers . * When heaven is shut up , and there is no rain because they have sinned against thee , if they pray toward this place , and confess thy name , and turn from their sin when thou afflict them , * then hear thou in heaven , and forgive the sin of thy servants , and of thy people Israel , when thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk , and send rain upon thy land , which thou have given to thy people for an inheritanc * If there be famine in the land , if there be pestilence , if there be blight , mildew , locust [or ] caterpillar , if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities , whatever plague , whatever sickness there be , * whatever prayer and supplication be made by any man , [or ] by all thy people Israel , who shall know every man the plague of his own heart , and spread forth his hands toward this house , * then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place , and forgive , and do , and render to every man according to all his ways , whose heart thou know (for thou , even thou only , know the hearts of all the sons of men ), * that they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gave to our fathers . * Moreover concerning the foreigner who is not of thy people Israel , when he shall come out of a far country for thy name 's sake * (for they shall hear of thy great name , and of thy mighty hand , and of thine outstretched arm ), when he shall come and pray toward this house , * hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place , and do according to all that the foreigner calls to thee for , that all the peoples of the earth may know thy name , to fear thee , as does thy people Israel , and that they may know that this ho * If thy people go out to battle against their enemy , by whatever way thou shall send them , and they pray to LORD toward the city which thou have chosen , and toward the house which I have built for thy name , * then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication , and maintain their cause . * If they sin against thee (for there is no man that sins not ), and thou be angry with them , and deliver them to the enemy , so that they carry them away captive to the land of the enemy , afar off or near , * yet if they shall rethink themselves in the land where they are carried captive , and turn again , and make supplication to thee in the land of those who carried them captive , saying , We have sinned , and have done perversely , we have * if they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who carried them captive , and pray to thee toward their land , which thou gave to their fathers , the city which thou have chosen , and t * then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling-place , and maintain their case , * and forgive thy people who have sinned against thee , and all their transgressions by which they have transgressed against thee , and give them compassion before those who carried them captive , that they may have compassion on them * (for they are thy people , and thine inheritance , which thou brought forth out of Egypt , from the midst of the furnace of iron ); * that thine eyes may be open to the supplication of thy servant , and to the supplication of thy people Israel , to hearken to them whenever they cry to thee . * For thou separated them from among all the peoples of the earth , to be thine inheritance , as thou spoke by Moses thy servant when thou brought our fathers out of Egypt , O lord LORD . * And it was so , that , when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication to LORD , he arose from before the altar of LORD , from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread forth toward heaven . * And he stood , and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice , saying , * Blessed be 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 Moses his servant . * LORD our God be with us as he was with our fathers . Let him not leave us , nor forsake us , * that he may incline our hearts to him , to walk in all his ways , and to keep his commandments , and his statutes , and his ordinances , which he commanded our fathers . * And let these my words , with which I have made supplication before LORD , be near to LORD our God day and night , that he maintain the cause of his servant , and the cause of his people Israel , as every day shall require , * that all the peoples of the earth may know that LORD , he is God ; there is none else . * Let your heart therefore be perfect with LORD our God , to walk in his statutes , and to keep his commandments , as at this day . * And the king , and all Israel with him , offered sacrifice before LORD . * And Solomon offered for the sacrifice of peace-offerings , which he offered to LORD , twenty-two thousand oxen , and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep . So the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the house of LORD . * The same day the king hallowed the middle of the court that was before the house of LORD , for there he offered the burnt-offering , and the meal-offering , and the fat of the peace-offerings , because the brazen altar that was before * So Solomon held the feast at that time , and all Israel with him , a great assembly , from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt , before LORD our God , seven days and seven days , even fourteen days . * On the eighth day he sent the people away . And they blessed the king , and went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that LORD had shown to David his servant , and to Israel his people .

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