Parallel Bible results for "1 kings 8"

1 Kings 8

English Standard Version ESV

1 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.

2 And all the men of Israel assembled to King Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.

3 And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.

4 And they brought up the ark of the LORD, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up.

5 And 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.

6 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim.

7 For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles.

8 And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day.

9 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone that Moses put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

10 And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD,

11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.

12 Then Solomon said, "The LORD has said that he would dwell in thick darkness.

13 I have indeed built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever."

14 Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood.

15 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,

16 'Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of 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.'

17 Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

18 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.

19 Nevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.'

20 Now the LORD has fulfilled his promise that 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.

21 And there I have provided a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD that he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt."

22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven,

23 and said, "O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart,

24 who have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day.

25 Now therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, 'You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.'

26 Now therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David my father.

27 "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!

28 Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O LORD my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day,

29 that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, 'My name shall be there,' that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place.

30 And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

31 "If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house,

32 then hear in heaven and act and judge your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

33 "When your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and if they turn again to you and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house,

34 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to their fathers.

35 "When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflict them,

36 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 upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.

37 "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 the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is,

38 whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart and stretching out his hands toward this house,

39 then hear in heaven your dwelling place and forgive and act and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways (for you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind),

40 that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers.

41 "Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name's sake

42 (for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house,

43 hear in heaven 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 that I have built is called by your name.

44 "If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to the LORD toward the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name,

45 then hear in heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause.

46 "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,

47 yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, 'We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,'

48 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 you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name,

49 then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause

50 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 those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them

51 (for they are your people, and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace).

52 Let your eyes be open to the plea of your servant and to the plea of your people Israel, giving ear to them whenever they call to you.

53 For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be your heritage, as you declared through Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD."

54 Now as Solomon finished offering all this prayer and plea to the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD, where he had knelt with hands outstretched toward heaven.

55 And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying,

56 "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 spoke by Moses his servant.

57 The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us,

58 that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers.

59 Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded 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,

60 that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God; there is no other.

61 Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the LORD our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day."

62 Then the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD.

63 Solomon offered as peace offerings to the LORD 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD.

64 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 grain 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 grain offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings.

65 So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days.

66 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.

The Message Bible MSG

1 Bringing all this to a climax, King Solomon called in the leaders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the family patriarchs, to bring up the Chest of the Covenant of God from Zion, the City of David.

2 And they came, all Israel before King Solomon in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month, for the great autumn festival.

3 With all Israel's leaders present, the priests took up the Chest of God

4 and carried up the Chest and the Tent of Meeting and all the holy vessels that went with the Tent.

5 King Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel were there at the Chest worshiping and sacrificing huge numbers of sheep and cattle - so many that no one could keep track.

6 Then the priests brought the Chest of the Covenant of God to its place in the Inner Sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim.

7 The outspread wings of the cherubim stretched over the Chest and its poles.

8 The poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the entrance to the Inner Sanctuary, but were not noticeable farther out. They're still there today.

9 There was nothing in the Chest but the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb where God made a covenant with Israel after bringing them up from Egypt. The Temple Finished, Dedicated, Filled

10 When the priests left the Holy Place, a cloud filled The Temple of God.

11 The priests couldn't carry out their priestly duties because of the cloud - the glory of God filled The Temple of God!

12 Then Solomon spoke: God has told us that he lives in the dark where no one can see him;

13 I've built this splendid Temple, O God, to mark your invisible presence forever.

14 The king then turned to face the congregation and blessed them:

15 "Blessed be God, the God of Israel, who spoke personally to my father David. Now he has kept the promise he made when he said,

16 'From the day I brought my people Israel from Egypt, I haven't set apart one city among the tribes of Israel to build a Temple to fix my Name there. But I did choose David to rule my people Israel.'

17 "My father David had it in his heart to build a Temple honoring the Name of God, the God of Israel.

18 But God told him 'It was good that you wanted to build a Temple in my honor - most commendable!

19 But you are not the one to do it - your son will build it to honor my Name.'

20 "God has done what he said he would do: I have succeeded David my father and ruled over Israel just as God promised; and now I've built a Temple to honor God, the God of Israel,

21 and I've secured a place for the Chest that holds the covenant of God, the covenant that he made with our ancestors when he brought them up from the land of Egypt."

22 Before the entire congregation of Israel, Solomon took a position before the Altar, spread his hands out before heaven,

23 and prayed,

24 You kept your word to David my father, your personal word. You did exactly what you promised - every detail. The proof is before us today!

25 Keep it up, God, O God of Israel! Continue to keep the promises you made to David my father when you said, "You'll always have a descendant to represent my rule on Israel's throne, on the condition that your sons are as careful to live obediently in my presence as you have."

26 God of Israel, let this all happen; confirm and establish it!

27 Can it be that God will actually move into our neighborhood? Why, the cosmos itself isn't large enough to give you breathing room, let alone this Temple I've built.

28 Even so, I'm bold to ask: Pay attention to these my prayers, both intercessory and personal, O God, my God. Listen to my prayers, energetic and devout, that I'm setting before you right now.

29 Keep your eyes open to this Temple night and day, this place of which you said, "My Name will be honored there,"

30 and listen to the prayers that I pray at this place. Listen from your home in heaven and when you hear, forgive.

31 When someone hurts a neighbor and promises to make things right, and then comes and repeats the promise before your Altar in this Temple,

32 listen from heaven and act accordingly: Judge your servants, making the offender pay for his offense and setting the offended free of any charges.

33 When your people Israel are beaten by an enemy because they've sinned against you, but then turn to you and acknowledge your rule in prayers desperate and devout in this Temple,

34 Listen from your home in heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, return them to the land you gave their ancestors.

35 When the skies shrivel up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, but then they pray at this place, acknowledging your rule and quitting their sins because you have scourged them,

36 isten from your home in heaven, forgive the sins of your servants, your people Israel. Then start over with them: Train them to live right and well; send rain on the land you gave your people as an inheritance.

37 When disasters strike, famine or catastrophe, crop failure or disease, locust or beetle, or when an enemy attacks their defenses - calamity of any sort

38 - any prayer that's prayed from anyone at all among your people Israel, hearts penetrated by the disaster, hands and arms thrown out to this Temple for help,

39 Listen from your home in heaven.

40 so that they'll live before you in lifelong reverent and believing obedience on this land you gave our ancestors.

41 And don't forget the foreigner who is not a member of your people Israel but has come from a far country because of your reputation.

42 People are going to be attracted here by your great reputation, your wonder-working power, who come to pray at this Temple.

43 Listen from your home in heaven. Honor the prayers of the foreigner so that people all over the world will know who you are and what you're like and will live in reverent obedience before you, just as your own people Israel do; so they'll know that you personally make this Temple that I've built what it is.

44 When your people go to war against their enemies at the time and place you send them and they pray to God toward the city you chose and this Temple I've built to honor your Name,

45 Listen from heaven to what they pray and ask for, and do what's right for them.

46 When they sin against you - and they certainly will; there's no one without sin! - and in anger you turn them over to the enemy and they are taken captive to the enemy's land, whether far or near,

47 but repent in the country of their captivity and pray with changed hearts in their exile, "We've sinned; we've done wrong; we've been most wicked,"

48 and turn back to you heart and soul in the land of the enemy who conquered them, and pray to you toward their homeland, the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you chose, and this Temple I have built to the honor of your Name,

49 isten from your home in heaven to their prayers desperate and devout and do what is best for them.

50 Forgive your people who have sinned against you; forgive their gross rebellions and move their captors to treat them with compassion.

51 They are, after all, your people and your precious inheritance whom you rescued from the heart of that iron-smelting furnace, Egypt!

52 O be alert and attentive to the needy prayers of me, your servant, and your dear people Israel; listen every time they cry out to you!

53 You handpicked them from all the peoples on earth to be your very own people, as you announced through your servant Moses when you, O God, in your masterful rule, delivered our ancestors from Egypt.

54 Having finished praying to God - all these bold and passionate prayers - Solomon stood up before God's Altar where he had been kneeling all this time, his arms stretched upward to heaven.

55 Standing, he blessed the whole congregation of Israel, blessing them at the top of his lungs:

56 "Blessed be God, who has given peace to his people Israel just as he said he'd do. Not one of all those good and wonderful words that he spoke through Moses has misfired.

57 May God, our very own God, continue to be with us just as he was with our ancestors - may he never give up and walk out on us.

58 May he keep us centered and devoted to him, following the life path he has cleared, watching the signposts, walking at the pace and rhythms he laid down for our ancestors.

59 "And let these words that I've prayed in the presence of God be always right there before him, day and night, so that he'll do what is right for me, to guarantee justice for his people Israel day after day after day.

60 Then all the people on earth will know God is the true God; there is no other God.

61 And you, your lives must be totally obedient to God, our personal God, following the life path he has cleared, alert and attentive to everything he has made plain this day."

62 The king and all Israel with him then worshiped, offering sacrifices to God.

63 Solomon offered Peace-Offerings, sacrificing to God twenty-two thousand cattle, a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. This is how the king and all Israel dedicated The Temple of God.

64 That same day, the king set apart the central area of the Courtyard in front of God's Temple for sacred use and there sacrificed the Whole-Burnt-Offerings, Grain-Offerings, and fat from the Peace-Offerings - the bronze Altar was too small to handle all these offerings.

65 This is how Solomon kept the great autumn feast, and all Israel with him, people there all the way from the far northeast (the Entrance to Hamath) to the far southwest (the Brook of Egypt) - a huge congregation. They started out celebrating for seven days - and then did it another seven days! Two solid weeks of celebration!

66 Then he dismissed them. They blessed the king and went home, exuberant with heartfelt gratitude for all the good God had done for his servant David and for his people Israel.