CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0; user-scalable=0;"/><title>1 Kings 8 New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/1_kings/8.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="/bmcc/1_kings/8-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com/catholic">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NRSVCE</a> > 1 Kings 8</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../1_kings/7.htm" title="1 Kings 7">◄</a> 1 Kings 8 <a href="../1_kings/9.htm" title="1 Kings 9">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition</td><td width="1%" valign="top"></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><div class="text-html"> <h3><span id="en" class="text">Dedication of the Temple</span></h3><p class="chapter-1"><span class="text"><span class="versenum">1</span>Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the ancestral houses of the Israelites, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> out of the city of David, which is Zion. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">2</span>All the people of Israel assembled to King Solomon at the festival in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">3</span>And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests carried the ark. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">4</span>So they brought up the ark of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span>, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">5</span>King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">6</span>Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the most holy place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">7</span>For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering above the ark and its poles. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">8</span>The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside; they are there to this day. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">9</span>There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone that Moses had placed there at Horeb, where the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> made a covenant with the Israelites, when they came out of the land of Egypt. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">10</span>And when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span>, </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">11</span>so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> filled the house of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span>.</span></p> <p><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">12</span>Then Solomon said,</span></p><div class="poetry"><p class="line"><span class="text">“The <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> has said that he would dwell in thick darkness.</span><br /><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">13</span>I have built you an exalted house,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks">    </span><span class="text">a place for you to dwell in forever.”</span></span></p></div> <h3><span id="en" class="text">Solomon’s Speech</span></h3><p><span class="text"><span class="versenum">14</span>Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">15</span>He said, “Blessed be the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span>, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to my father David, saying, </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">16</span>‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from any of 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.’ </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">17</span>My father David had it in mind to build a house for the name of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span>, the God of Israel. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">18</span>But the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> said to my father David, ‘You did well to consider building a house for my name; </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">19</span>nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">20</span>Now the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> has upheld the promise that he made; for I have risen in the place of my father David; I sit on the throne of Israel, as the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> promised, and have built the house for the name of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span>, the God of Israel. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">21</span>There I have provided a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> that he made with our ancestors when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”</span></p> <h3><span id="en" class="text">Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication</span></h3><p><span class="text"><span class="versenum">22</span>Then Solomon stood before the altar of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands to heaven. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">23</span>He said, “O <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span>, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and steadfast love for your servants who walk before you with all their heart, </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">24</span>the covenant that you kept for your servant my father David as you declared to him; you promised with your mouth and have this day fulfilled with your hand. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">25</span>Therefore, O <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span>, God of Israel, keep for your servant my father David that which you promised him, saying, ‘There shall never fail you a successor before me to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children look to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’ </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">26</span>Therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you promised to your servant my father David.</span></p> <p><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">27</span>“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built! </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">28</span>Regard your servant’s prayer and his plea, O <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you today; </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">29</span>that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may heed the prayer that your servant prays toward this place. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">30</span>Hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place; O hear in heaven your dwelling place; heed and forgive.</span></p> <p><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">31</span>“If someone sins against a neighbor and is given an oath to swear, and comes and swears before your altar in this house, </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">32</span>then hear in heaven, and act, and judge your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing their conduct on their own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding them according to their righteousness.</span></p> <p><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">33</span>“When your people Israel, having sinned against you, are defeated before an enemy but turn again to you, confess your name, pray and plead with you in this house, </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">34</span>then hear in heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them again to the land that you gave to their ancestors.</span></p> <p><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">35</span>“When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, and then they pray toward this place, confess your name, and turn from their sin, because you punish<span data-fn='#fen-NRSVCE-9021a' class='footnote' data-link='[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-9021a" title="See footnote a">a</a>]'>[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-9021a" title="See footnote a">a</a>]</span> them, </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">36</span>then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk; and grant rain on your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.</span></p> <p><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">37</span>“If there is famine in the land, if there is plague, blight, mildew, locust, or caterpillar; if their enemy besieges them in any<span data-fn='#fen-NRSVCE-9023b' class='footnote' data-link='[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-9023b" title="See footnote b">b</a>]'>[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-9023b" title="See footnote b">b</a>]</span> of their cities; whatever plague, whatever sickness there is; </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">38</span>whatever prayer, whatever plea there is from any individual or from all your people Israel, all knowing the afflictions of their own hearts so that they stretch out their hands toward this house; </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">39</span>then hear in heaven your dwelling place, forgive, act, and render to all whose hearts you know—according to all their ways, for only you know what is in every human heart— </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">40</span>so that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our ancestors.</span></p> <p><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">41</span>“Likewise when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a distant land because of your name </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">42</span>—for they shall hear of your great name, your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm—when a foreigner comes and prays toward this house, </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">43</span>then hear in heaven your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and so that they may know that your name has been invoked on this house that I have built.</span></p> <p><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">44</span>“If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> toward the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">45</span>then hear in heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause.</span></p> <p><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">46</span>“If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near; </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">47</span>yet if they come to their senses in the land to which they have been taken captive, and repent, and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned, and have done wrong; we have acted wickedly’; </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">48</span>if they repent with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies, who took them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their ancestors, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name; </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">49</span>then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, maintain their cause </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">50</span>and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you; and grant them compassion in the sight of their captors, so that they may have compassion on them </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">51</span>(for they are your people and heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron-smelter). </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">52</span>Let your eyes be open to the plea of your servant, and to the plea of your people Israel, listening to them whenever they call to you. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">53</span>For you have separated them from among all the peoples of the earth, to be your heritage, just as you promised through Moses, your servant, when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, O Lord <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">God</span>.”</span></p> <h3><span id="en" class="text">Solomon Blesses the Assembly</span></h3><p><span class="text"><span class="versenum">54</span>Now when Solomon finished offering all this prayer and this plea to the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span>, he arose from facing the altar of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span>, where he had knelt with hands outstretched toward heaven; </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">55</span>he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice:</span></p> <p><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">56</span>“Blessed be the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span>, 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 spoke through his servant Moses. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">57</span>The <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> our God be with us, as he was with our ancestors; may he not leave us or abandon us, </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">58</span>but 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 ancestors. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">59</span>Let these words of mine, with which I pleaded before the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span>, be near to the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> 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; </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">60</span>so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> is God; there is no other. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">61</span>Therefore devote yourselves completely to the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.”</span></p> <h3><span id="en" class="text">Solomon Offers Sacrifices</span></h3><p><span class="text"><span class="versenum">62</span>Then the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span>. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">63</span>Solomon offered as sacrifices of well-being to the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the house of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span>. </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">64</span>The same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the house of the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span>; for there he offered the burnt offerings and the grain offerings and the fat pieces of the sacrifices of well-being, because the bronze altar that was before the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> was too small to receive the burnt offerings and the grain offerings and the fat pieces of the sacrifices of well-being.</span></p> <p><span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">65</span>So Solomon held the festival at that time, and all Israel with him—a great assembly, people from Lebo-hamath to the Wadi of Egypt—before the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> our God, seven days.<span data-fn='#fen-NRSVCE-9051c' class='footnote' data-link='[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-9051c" title="See footnote c">c</a>]'>[<a href="#fen-NRSVCE-9051c" title="See footnote c">c</a>]</span> </span> <span id="en" class="text"><span class="versenum">66</span>On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their tents, joyful and in good spirits because of all the goodness that the <span style="font-variant: small-caps" class="small-caps">Lord</span> had shown to his servant David and to his people Israel.</span></p> <A name="fen"></a><div class="footnotes"><h4>Footnotes</h4><ol><li id="fen"><a hlef="#en" xtitle="Go to 1 Kings 8:35">1 Kings 8:35</a> <span class='footnote-text'>Or <i>when you answer</i></span></li><li id="fen"><a hlef="#en" xtitle="Go to 1 Kings 8:37">1 Kings 8:37</a> <span class='footnote-text'>Gk Syr: Heb <i>in the land</i></span></li><li id="fen"><a hlef="#en" xtitle="Go to 1 Kings 8:65">1 Kings 8:65</a> <span class='footnote-text'>Compare Gk: Heb <i>seven days and seven days, fourteen days</i></span></li></ol></div> </div></div></div></div></div> </div> </div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span></div></div></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="../1_kings/7.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="1 Kings 7"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="1 Kings 7" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../1_kings/9.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="1 Kings 9"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="1 Kings 9" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhchap.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>