1 Kings 8:26-36

26 Now Lord [a] God of Israel, please confirm what You promised to Your servant, my father David.
27 But will God indeed live on earth? Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.
28 Listen[b] to Your servant's prayer and his petition, Lord my God, so that You may hear the cry and the prayer that Your servant prays before You today,
29 so that Your eyes may watch over this temple night and day, toward the place where You said: My name will be there,[c] and so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place.
30 Hear the petition of Your servant and Your people Israel, which they pray toward this place. May You hear in Your dwelling place in heaven. May You hear and forgive.
31 When a man sins against his neighbor and is forced to take an oath,[d] and he comes to take an oath before Your altar in this temple,
32 may You hear in heaven and act. May You judge Your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing what he has done on his own head and providing justice for the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.
33 When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy, because they have sinned against You, and they return to You and praise Your name, and they pray and plead with You for mercy in this temple,
34 may You hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel. May You restore them to the land You gave their ancestors.
35 When the skies are shut and there is no rain, because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and praise Your name, and they turn from their sins because You are afflicting them,
36 may You hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel, so that You may teach them the good way they should walk in. May You send rain on Your land that You gave Your people for an inheritance.

1 Kings 8:26-36 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 8

This chapter gives an account of the introduction of the ark into the temple, 1Ki 8:1-9 of the glory of the Lord filling it, 1Ki 8:10,11 of a speech Solomon made to the people concerning the building of the temple, and how he came to be engaged in it, 1Ki 8:12-21, of a prayer of his he put up on this occasion, requesting, that what supplications soever were made at any time, or on any account, by Israelites or strangers, might be accepted by the Lord, 1Ki 8:22-53, and of his blessing the people of Israel at the close of it, with some useful exhortations, 1Ki 8:54-61, and of the great number of sacrifices offered up by him, and the feast he made for the people, upon which he dismissed them, 1Ki 8:62-66.

Footnotes 4

  • [a]. Many Hb mss, LXX, Syr, Tg ms, Vg mss, 2 Ch 6:16; MT omits Lord
  • [b]. Lit Turn
  • [c]. Dt 12:11
  • [d]. Lit and he lifts a curse against him to curse him
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