The Dedication of the Temple

61 Then Solomon said , "The Lord has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud . 2 "I have built You a lofty house , And a place for Your dwelling forever ." 3 Then the king faced e about and blessed all the assembly of Israel , while all the assembly of Israel was standing . 4 He said , "Blessed be the Lord , the God of Israel , who spoke with His mouth to my father David and has fulfilled it with His hands , saying , 5 'Since the day that I brought My people from the land of Egypt , I did not choose a city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house that My name might be there , nor did I choose any man for a leader over My people Israel ; 6 but I have chosen Jerusalem that My name might be there , and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel .' 7 " Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the Lord , the God of Israel . 8 "But the Lord said to my father David , 'Because e it was in your heart to build a house for My name , you did well that it was in your heart . 9 'Nevertheless you shall not build the house , but your son who will be born e to you, he shall build the house for My name .' 10 "Now the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke ; for I have risen in the place of my father David and sit on the throne of Israel , as the Lord promised , and have built the house for the name of the Lord , the God of Israel . 11 "There I have set the ark in which is the covenant of the Lord , which He made with the sons of Israel ."

12 Then he stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands . 13 Now Solomon had made a bronze platform , five cubits long , five cubits wide and three cubits high , and had set it in the midst of the court ; and he stood on it, knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven . 14 He said , "O Lord , the God of Israel , there is no god like You in heaven or on earth , keeping covenant and showing lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart ; 15 who has kept with Your servant David , my father , that which You have promised him; indeed You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand , as it is this day . 16 "Now therefore, O Lord , the God of Israel , keep with Your servant David , my father , that which You have promised him, saying , ' You shall not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel , if only your sons take heed to their way , to walk in My law as you have walked before Me.' 17 "Now therefore, O Lord , the God of Israel , let Your word be confirmed which You have spoken to Your servant David . 18 "But will God indeed dwell with mankind on the earth ? Behold , heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You; how much e less this house which I have built . 19 "Yet have regard to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplication , O Lord my God , to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You; 20 that Your eye may be open toward this house day and night , toward the place of which You have said that You would put Your name there , to listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place . 21 "Listen to the supplications of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place ; hear from Your dwelling place , from heaven ; hear and forgive . 22 "If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath , and he comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this house , 23 then hear from heaven and act and judge Your servants , punishing the wicked by bringing his way on his own head and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness . 24 "If Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and they return to You and confess Your name , and pray and make supplication before You in this house , 25 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel , and bring them back to the land which You have given to them and to their fathers . 26 "When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name , and turn from their sin when You afflict them; 27 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel , indeed , teach them the good way in which they should walk . And send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people for an inheritance . 28 "If there is famine in the land , if there is pestilence , if there is blight or mildew , if there is locust or grasshopper , if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities , whatever plague or whatever sickness there is, 29 whatever e prayer or supplication is made by any man or by all Your people Israel , each knowing his own affliction and his own pain , and spreading his hands toward this house , 30 then hear from heaven Your dwelling place , and forgive , and render to each according to all his ways , whose heart You know for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men , 31 that they may fear You, to walk in Your ways as long e as they live in the land which You have given to our fathers . 32 "Also concerning the foreigner who is not from Your people Israel , when he comes from a far country for Your great name's sake and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm , when they come and pray toward this house , 33 then hear from heaven , from Your dwelling place , and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name , and fear You as do Your people Israel , and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Your name . 34 "When Your people go out to battle against their enemies , by whatever way You shall send them, and they pray to You toward this city which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your name , 35 then hear from heaven their prayer and their supplication , and maintain their cause . 36 "When they sin against You ( for there is no man who does not sin ) and You are angry with them and deliver them to an enemy , so that they take them away captive to a land far off or near , 37 if they take thought in the land where e they are taken captive , and repent and make supplication to You in the land of their captivity , saying , 'We have sinned , we have committed iniquity and have acted wickedly '; 38 if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity , where they have been taken captive , and pray toward their land which You have given to their fathers and the city which You have chosen , and toward the house which I have built for Your name , 39 then hear from heaven , from Your dwelling place , their prayer and supplications , and maintain their cause and forgive Your people who have sinned against You. 40 "Now , O my God , I pray , let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place . 41 " Now therefore arise , O Lord God , to Your resting place , You and the ark of Your might ; let Your priests , O Lord God , be clothed with salvation and let Your godly ones rejoice in what is good . 42 "O Lord God , do not turn away the face of Your anointed ; remember Your lovingkindness to Your servant David ."

71 Now when Solomon had finished praying , fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices , and the glory of the Lord filled the house . 2 The priests could not enter into the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord'S house . 3 All the sons of Israel , seeing the fire come down and the glory of the Lord upon the house , bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground , and they worshiped and gave praise to the Lord , saying, " Truly He is good , truly His lovingkindness is everlasting ." 4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the Lord . 5 King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 e e oxen and 120,000 e e sheep . Thus the king and all the people dedicated the house of God . 6 The priests stood at their posts , and the Levites also, with the instruments of music to the Lord , which King David had made for giving praise to the Lord -"for His lovingkindness is everlasting "-whenever he gave praise by their means , while the priests on the other side blew trumpets ; and all Israel was standing . 7 Then Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord , for there he offered the burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings because the bronze altar which Solomon had made was not able to contain the burnt offering , the grain offering and the fat . 8 So Solomon observed the feast at that time for seven days , and all Israel with him, a very great assembly who came from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt . 9 On the eighth day they held a solemn assembly , for the dedication of the altar they observed seven days and the feast seven days . 10 Then on the twenty-third e day of the seventh month he sent the people to their tents , rejoicing and happy of heart because of the goodness that the Lord had shown to David and to Solomon and to His people Israel .

The LORD's Covenant with Solomon

11 Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king's palace , and successfully completed all that he had planned e e on doing in the house of the Lord and in his palace .

12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice . 13 " If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain , or if I command the locust to devour the land , or if I send pestilence among My people , 14 and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways , then I will hear from heaven , will forgive their sin and will heal their land . 15 " Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place . 16 "For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that My name may be there forever e , and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually e . 17 "As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked , even to do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep My statutes and My ordinances , 18 then I will establish your royal throne as I covenanted with your father David , saying , ' You shall not lack a man to be ruler in Israel .' 19 " But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will uproot you from My land which I have given you, and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples . 21 "As for this house , which was exalted , everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say , ' Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house ?' 22 "And they will say , 'Because e they forsook the Lord , the God of their fathers who brought them from the land of Egypt , and they adopted other gods and worshiped them and served them; therefore e He has brought all this adversity on them.' "

Praise for the LORD's Everlasting Mercy

1361 Give thanks to the Lord , for He is good , For His lovingkindness is everlasting . 2 Give thanks to the God of gods , For His lovingkindness is everlasting . 3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords , For His lovingkindness is everlasting . 4 To Him who alone does great wonders , For His lovingkindness is everlasting ; 5 To Him who made the heavens with skill , For His lovingkindness is everlasting ; 6 To Him who spread out the earth above the waters , For His lovingkindness is everlasting ; 7 To Him who made the great lights , For His lovingkindness is everlasting : 8 The sun to rule by day , For His lovingkindness is everlasting , 9 The moon and stars to rule by night , For His lovingkindness is everlasting .

10 To Him who smote the Egyptians in their firstborn , For His lovingkindness is everlasting , 11 And brought Israel out from their midst , For His lovingkindness is everlasting , 12 With a strong hand and an outstretched arm , For His lovingkindness is everlasting . 13 To Him who divided the Red e Sea asunder , For His lovingkindness is everlasting , 14 And made Israel pass through the midst of it, For His lovingkindness is everlasting ; 15 But He overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red e Sea , For His lovingkindness is everlasting . 16 To Him who led His people through the wilderness , For His lovingkindness is everlasting ; 17 To Him who smote great kings , For His lovingkindness is everlasting , 18 And slew mighty kings , For His lovingkindness is everlasting : 19 Sihon , king of the Amorites , For His lovingkindness is everlasting , 20 And Og , king of Bashan , For His lovingkindness is everlasting , 21 And gave their land as a heritage , For His lovingkindness is everlasting , 22 Even a heritage to Israel His servant , For His lovingkindness is everlasting .

23 Who remembered us in our low estate , For His lovingkindness is everlasting , 24 And has rescued us from our adversaries , For His lovingkindness is everlasting ; 25 Who gives food to all flesh , For His lovingkindness is everlasting . 26 Give thanks to the God of heaven , For His lovingkindness is everlasting .