Solomon’s Benediction

54 ^aNow 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 ^brest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. ^cNot one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. 57 The Lord our God be ^dwith us, as he was with our fathers. May he not ^eleave us or forsake us, 58 that he may ^fincline our hearts to him, to ^gwalk 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 ^hthat all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; ⁱthere is no other. 61 Let your heart therefore be ^jwholly true to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.”

Fire from Heaven

1 ^dAs soon as Solomon finished his prayer, ^efire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and ^fthe glory of the Lord filled the temple. 2 And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house. 3 When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, ^g“For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”

The Dedication of the Temple

4 ^hThen the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the Lord. 5 King Solomon offered as a sacrifice ⁱ22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people ^jdedicated the house of God. 6 The priests stood at their posts; ^kthe Levites also, with the instruments for music to the Lord that King David had made for giving thanks to the Lord—for his steadfast love endures forever—whenever David offered praises by their ministry;¹ opposite them the priests sounded trumpets, and all Israel stood.

7 And Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord, for there he offered the burnt offering and the fat of the peace offerings, because the ^lbronze altar Solomon had made could not hold the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat.

8 At that time Solomon held the ^mfeast for seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly, from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt. 9 And on the ⁿeighth day they held a solemn assembly, for they had kept the dedication of the altar seven days and the feast seven days. 10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their homes, joyful and glad of heart for the prosperity² that the Lord had granted to David and to Solomon and to Israel his people.

Solomon Builds His Palace

1 Solomon was building his own house ^xthirteen years, and he finished his entire house.

2 He built the ^yHouse of the Forest of Lebanon. Its length was a hundred cubits¹ and its breadth fifty cubits and its height thirty cubits, and it was built on four² rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars. 3 And it was covered with cedar above the chambers that were on the forty-five pillars, fifteen in each row. 4 There were window frames in three rows, and window opposite window in three tiers. 5 All the doorways and windows³ had square frames, and window was opposite window in three tiers.

6 And he made the Hall of Pillars; its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth thirty cubits. There was a porch in front with pillars, and a ^zcanopy in front of them.

7 And he made the Hall of the Throne where he was to pronounce judgment, even the Hall of Judgment. It was finished with cedar from floor to rafters.⁴

8 His own house where he was to dwell, in the other court at the back of the hall, was of like workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this hall for ^aPharaoh’s daughter whom he had taken in marriage.

9 All these were made of costly stones, cut according to measure, sawed with saws, back and front, even from the foundation to the coping, and from the outside to the great court. 10 The foundation was of costly stones, huge stones, stones of eight and ten cubits. 11 And above were costly stones, cut according to measurement, and cedar. 12 The great court had ^bthree courses of cut stone all around, and a course of cedar beams; so had the inner court of the house of the Lord and the vestibule of the house.

If My People Pray

11 ^oThus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s house. All that Solomon had planned to do in the house of the Lord and in his own house he successfully accomplished. 12 Then ^pthe Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have ^qchosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. 13 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14 if my people who are ^rcalled by my name ^shumble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. 16 For now I have chosen and consecrated this house ^tthat my name may be there forever. My ^ueyes and my heart will be there for all time. 17 And as for you, ^vif you will walk before me ^was David your father walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my rules, 18 then I will ^xestablish your royal throne, as I ^ycovenanted with David your father, saying, ^z‘You shall not lack a man to rule Israel.’

19 “But if you¹ turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will ^apluck you² up from my land that I have given you, and ^bthis house that I have consecrated for my name, I will ^ccast out of my sight, and I will make it a ^dproverb and a byword among all peoples. 21 And at this house, which was exalted, everyone passing by will be astonished and say, ^e‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ 22 Then they will say, ‘Because they ^fabandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore he has ^gbrought all this disaster on them.’”