12 ^yThen Solomon said, “The Lord¹ has said that he would dwell ^zin thick darkness. 13 ^aI have indeed built you an exalted house, ^ba place for you to dwell in forever.” 14 Then the king turned around and ^cblessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. 15 And he said, ^d“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled ^ewhat he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, 16 ^f‘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, ^gthat my name might be there. ^hBut I chose David to be over my people Israel.’ 17 ⁱNow 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 ^jNevertheless, 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, ^kas 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, ^lin which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

54 ^uNow as Solomon finished offering all this prayer and plea to the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had ^vknelt with hands outstretched toward heaven. 55 And he stood and ^wblessed 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. ^xNot 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. ^yMay he not leave us or forsake us, 58 that he may ^zincline 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 ^aall the peoples of the earth may know that ^bthe Lord is God; there is no other. 61 ^cLet your heart therefore be wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.”