1 Kings 8

The Ark Moves In

1 Then King Solomon got all the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, and the leaders of the Israelite families to link up with him in Jerusalem. They were bringing up the Ark of the Lord’s Promise from Zion, also known as David’s City.

2 So all the Israelite dudes gathered around King Solomon during the festival in the month of Ethanim (that is the seventh month).

3 When all the elders of Israel rolled up, the priests picked up the Ark.

4 They brought the Ark of the Lord, along with the Tent of Meeting and all the holy gear that was in the Tent. The priests and Levites brought it all.

5 King Solomon and the whole crew of Israel, who were assembled with him in front of the Ark, were sacrificing so many sheep and oxen, you could not even count them, there were just too many.

6 The priests then brought the Ark of the Lord’s Promise to its spot, in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, right under the wings of the cherubim.

7 Because the cherubim’s wings were spread out over the place where the Ark sat, covering the Ark and its poles.

8 The poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place, in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside. And they still there to this day.

9 There was nothing in the Ark except the two stone tablets Moses had put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a deal with the Israelites after they bounced from Egypt.

10 And it happened, when the priests walked out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the Lord’s temple.

11 The priests could not even stand there and do their service because of the cloud, because the glory of the Lord was so heavy in the Lord’s temple.

12 Then Solomon said, “The Lord said He would live in thick darkness.”

13 “I have built you a royal crib, a place where You can chill forever.”

14 Then the king turned around and blessed the whole assembly of Israel, and the whole assembly of Israel was standing up.

15 He said, “Shout out to the Lord, the God of Israel, who kept His word to my father David with His own hands, saying?”

16 “’Since the day I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I am not chosen no city from any of the tribes of Israel to build a house in so My Name could be there. But I chose David to run My people Israel.’”

17 “Now, it was in my father David’s heart to build a house for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel.”

18 “But the Lord told my father David, ‘Since you had it in your heart to build a house for My Name, you did well to have that thought.’”

19 “But you are not going to be the one to build the house. It is going to be your son, the one who comes from you, he is the one who is going to build the house for My Name.”

20 “Now the Lord has made good on His promise He made. I have stepped up in my father David’s shoes and now I am sitting on the throne of Israel, just like the Lord said, and I have built this house for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel.”

21 “And I put the Ark there, where the Lord’s covenant is, the covenant He made with our ancestors when He snatched them out of Egypt.”

Solomon Prays

22 Then Solomon stood in front of the altar of the Lord, in front of the whole assembly of Israel, and he spread out his hands toward the sky.

23 He said, “Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like You, not up in the sky, not down here on earth! You keep Your promise and show Your love to Your servants who walk straight with You with all their heart.”

24 “You kept the promise You made to Your boy David, my father. You said it with Your mouth, and today, You made it happen with Your own hand.”

25 “So now, Lord, God of Israel, keep the promise You made to Your boy David, my father, when You said, ‘You will never be short of a man sitting on the throne of Israel, as long as your kids watch their step and walk in My ways, just like you have.’”

26 “And now, God of Israel, please let Your words come true, the ones You spoke to Your boy David, my father.”

27 “But for real, can God actually live on earth, Look, even the heavens, the highest heavens, cannot contain You! How much less this house I built?”

28 “Still, pay attention to Your servant’s prayer and plea, Lord my God. Listen to the cry and the prayer Your servant is praying before You today?”

29 “So Your eyes can be on this house night and day, on this spot You said, ‘My Name will be there.’ Listen to the prayer Your servant prays toward this place.”

30 “Hear the plea of Your servant and Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from Your spot in the heavens, Your dwelling place. And when You hear, forgive.”

31 “If someone wrongs their neighbor, and they must swear an oath and come swear before Your altar in this house?”

32 “Then You must hear from heaven and act. Judge Your servants, condemning the bad guy by bringing his own actions back on him, and clearing the innocent by giving him justice based on his righteousness."

33 “When Your people Israel get beat down by an enemy because they sinned against You, but then they turn back to You and confess Your Name and pray and plead with You in this house?”

34 “Then You must hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land You gave to their ancestors.”

35 “When the sky gets locked up and there is no rain because they sinned against You, but then they pray toward this place and confess Your Name and turn away from their sin when You humble them?”

36 “Then You must hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, because You will show them the right path to walk on, and send rain on Your land that You gave to Your people as their inheritance.”

37 “If there is a famine in the land, or a plague, or blight, or mildew, or locusts, or grasshoppers; if their enemy lays siege to their cities; whatever disaster or sickness hits them;”

38 “Whatever prayer or plea is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, each person knowing their own pain and suffering, and they spread their hands toward this house?”

39 “Then You must hear from heaven, Your dwelling place. Forgive and act, giving every person exactly what they deserve, knowing their heart, because only You know the human heart.”

40 “So they will respect You all the days they live in the land You gave our ancestors.”

41 “Even a foreigner, someone who is not from Your people Israel, but comes from a far-off land because of Your Name?”

42 “(For they will hear about Your big Name, Your powerful hand, and Your stretched-out arm), when they come and pray toward this house?”

43 “Then You must hear from heaven, Your dwelling place. Do whatever that foreigner asks You for, so all the nations on earth can know Your Name and respect You, just like Your people Israel do, and know that this house I built is called by Your Name."

44 “If Your people go out to war against their enemy, wherever You send them, and they pray to the Lord toward the city You chose and the house I built for Your Name,”

45 “Then hear their prayer and plea from heaven, and uphold their cause.”

46 “If they sin against You, and who does not sin, right, and You get mad at them and let their enemies take them captive to enemy territory, far or near;”

47 “And if they come to their senses in the land where they were taken captive, and they turn around and plead with You in that land, saying, ‘We messed up, we did wrong, we sinned;’”

48 “And they turn back to You with all their heart and all their soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and they pray to You toward their land You gave their ancestors, the city You chose, and the house I built for Your Name;”

49 “Then hear their prayer and plea from heaven, Your dwelling place, and uphold their cause.”

50 “Forgive Your people who sinned against You, and all the bad moves they made against You. Make their captors feel for them so they will show them mercy?”

51 “Because they are Your people, Your inheritance, whom You brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace.”

52 “May Your eyes be open to the plea of Your servant and the plea of Your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call out to You.”

53 “For You set them apart for Yourself as Your own inheritance from all the peoples of the earth, just like You said through Your servant Moses when You brought our ancestors out of Egypt, Lord God.”

54 When Solomon finished praying all this prayer and plea to the Lord, he got up from kneeling in front of the altar of the Lord, with his hands spread toward the sky.

55 He stood up and blessed the whole assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying:

56 “Shout out to the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, just like He promised! Not one word has failed from all the good promises He made through His servant Moses.”

57 “May the Lord our God be with us, just like He was with our ancestors. May He not leave us or ditch us.”

58 “May He bend our hearts toward Him, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commands, His rules, and His laws, which He ordered our ancestors.”

59 “And may these words of mine, which I have pleaded before the Lord, be close to the Lord our God day and night, so He upholds the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, every single day, as needed?”

60 “So all the nations on earth will know that the Lord is God, and there is no other.”

61 “May your hearts be fully committed to the Lord our God, to walk in His rules and to keep His commands, just like you are today.”

The Sacrifices

62 Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices to the Lord.

63 Solomon offered peace offerings to the Lord: twenty-two thousand oxen and a hundred twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the Lord’s temple.

64 On that same day, the king set apart the middle part of the courtyard that was in front of the Lord’s temple, because he offered the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings there. The bronze altar in front of the Lord was too small to hold all the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.

65 So Solomon and all Israel with him, a huge crowd from Lebo Hamath all the way to the Wadi of Egypt, celebrated the festival before the Lord our God for seven days, and then another seven days, fourteen days total.

66 On the eighth day, he sent the people home. They blessed the king and then bounced to their tents, happy and with good vibes in their hearts for all the goodness the Lord had shown His boy David and His people Israel.