rsv 1Kings:8:12-66 SEEK
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Then Solomon said , "
The LORD has set the sun in the heavens ,
but has said that he would dwell in thick darkness .
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I have built thee an exalted house ,
a place for thee to dwell in for ever ."
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Then the king faced about ,
and blessed all the assembly of Israel ,
while all the assembly of Israel stood .
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And he said , "
Blessed be the LORD ,
the God of Israel ,
who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father ,
saying ,
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Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt ,
I chose no city in all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house ,
that my name might be there ;
but I chose David to be over my people Israel .'
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Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD ,
the God of Israel .
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But the LORD said to David my father , `
Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name ,
you did well that it was in your heart ;
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nevertheless you shall not build the house ,
but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name .'
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Now the LORD has fulfilled his promise which he made ;
for I have risen in the place of David my father ,
and sit on the throne of Israel ,
as the LORD promised ,
and I have built the house for the name of the LORD ,
the God of Israel .
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And there I have provided a place for the ark ,
in which is the covenant of the LORD which he made with our fathers ,
when he brought them out of the land of Egypt ."
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Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel ,
and spread forth his hands toward heaven ;
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and said , "
O LORD ,
God of Israel ,
there is no God like thee ,
in heaven above or on earth beneath ,
keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to thy servants who walk before thee with all their heart ;
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who hast kept with thy servant David my father what thou didst declare to him ;
yea ,
thou didst speak with thy mouth ,
and with thy hand hast fulfilled it this day .
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Now therefore ,
O LORD ,
God of Israel ,
keep with thy servant David my father what thou hast promised him ,
saying , `
There shall never fail you a man before me to sit upon the throne of Israel ,
if only your sons take heed to their way ,
to walk before me as you have walked before me .'
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Now therefore ,
O God of Israel ,
let thy word be confirmed ,
which thou hast spoken to thy servant David my father .
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But will God indeed dwell on the earth ?
Behold ,
heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain thee ;
how much less this house which I have built !
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Yet have regard to the prayer of thy servant and to his supplication ,
O LORD my God ,
hearkening to the cry and to the prayer which thy servant prays before thee this day ;
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that thy eyes may be open night and day toward this house ,
the place of which thou hast said , `
My name shall be there ,'
that thou mayest hearken to the prayer which thy servant offers toward this place .
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And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant and of thy people Israel ,
when they pray toward this place ;
yea ,
hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place ;
and when thou hearest ,
forgive .
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If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath ,
and comes and swears his oath before thine altar in this house ,
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then hear thou in heaven ,
and act ,
and judge thy servants ,
condemning the guilty by bringing his conduct upon his own head ,
and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness .
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When thy people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against thee ,
if they turn again to thee ,
and acknowledge thy name ,
and pray and make supplication to thee in this house ;
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then hear thou in heaven ,
and forgive the sin of thy people Israel ,
and bring them again to the land which thou gavest to their fathers .
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When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against thee ,
if they pray toward this place ,
and acknowledge thy name ,
and turn from their sin ,
when thou dost afflict them ,
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then hear thou in heaven ,
and forgive the sin of thy servants ,
thy people Israel ,
when thou dost teach them the good way in which they should walk ;
and grant rain upon thy land ,
which thou hast given to thy people as an inheritance .
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If there is famine in the land ,
if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar ;
if their enemy besieges them in any of their cities ;
whatever plague ,
whatever sickness there is ;
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whatever prayer ,
whatever supplication is made by any man or by all thy people Israel ,
each knowing the affliction of his own heart and stretching out his hands toward this house ;
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then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place ,
and forgive ,
and act ,
and render to each whose heart thou knowest ,
according to all his ways (
for thou ,
thou only ,
knowest the hearts of all the children of men );
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that they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest to our fathers .
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Likewise when a foreigner ,
who is not of thy people Israel ,
comes from a far country for thy name '
s sake
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for they shall hear of thy great name ,
and thy mighty hand ,
and of thy outstretched arm ),
when he comes and prays toward this house ,
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hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place ,
and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to thee ;
in order that all the peoples of the earth may know thy name and fear thee ,
as do thy people Israel ,
and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name .
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If thy people go out to battle against their enemy ,
by whatever way thou shalt send them ,
and they pray to the LORD toward the city which thou hast chosen and the house which I have built for thy name ,
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then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication ,
and maintain their cause .
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If they sin against thee--for there is no man who does not sin--and thou art angry with them ,
and dost give them to an enemy ,
so that they are carried away captive to the land of the enemy ,
far off or near ;
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yet if they lay it to heart in the land to which they have been carried captive ,
and repent ,
and make supplication to thee in the land of their captors ,
saying , `
We have sinned ,
and have acted perversely and wickedly ';
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if they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their enemies ,
who carried them captive ,
and pray to thee toward their land ,
which thou gavest to their fathers ,
the city which thou hast chosen ,
and the house which I have built for thy name ;
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then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place their prayer and their supplication ,
and maintain their cause
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and forgive thy people who have sinned against thee ,
and all their transgressions which they have committed against thee ;
and grant them compassion in the sight of those who carried them captive ,
that they may have compassion on them
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for they are thy people ,
and thy heritage ,
which thou didst bring out of Egypt ,
from the midst of the iron furnace ).
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Let thy eyes be open to the supplication of thy servant ,
and to the supplication of thy people Israel ,
giving ear to them whenever they call to thee .
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For thou didst separate them from among all the peoples of the earth ,
to be thy heritage ,
as thou didst declare through Moses ,
thy servant ,
when thou didst bring our fathers out of Egypt ,
O Lord GOD ."
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Now as Solomon finished offering all this prayer and supplication to the LORD ,
he arose from before the altar of the LORD ,
where he had knelt with hands outstretched toward heaven ;
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and he stood ,
and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice ,
saying ,
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Blessed be the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel ,
according to all that he promised ;
not one word has failed of all his good promise ,
which he uttered by Moses his servant .
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The LORD our God be with us ,
as he was with our fathers ;
may he not leave us or forsake us ;
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that he may incline our hearts to him ,
to walk in all his ways ,
and to keep his commandments ,
his statutes ,
and his ordinances ,
which he commanded our fathers .
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Let these words of mine ,
wherewith I have made supplication before the LORD ,
be near to the LORD our God day and night ,
and may he maintain the cause of his servant ,
and the cause of his people Israel ,
as each day requires ;
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that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God ;
there is no other .
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Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the LORD our God ,
walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments ,
as at this day ."
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Then the king ,
and all Israel with him ,
offered sacrifice before the LORD .
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Solomon offered as peace offerings to the LORD twenty-two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep .
So the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD .
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The same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD ;
for there he offered the burnt offering and the cereal offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings ,
because the bronze altar that was before the LORD was too small to receive the burnt offering and the cereal offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings .
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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 the LORD our God ,
seven days .
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On the eighth day he sent the people away ;
and they blessed the king ,
and went to their homes joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had shown to David his servant and to Israel his people .