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Chapter 8
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1
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Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all
the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the
children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that
they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD
out of the city of David, which is Zion. |
2
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And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king
Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the
seventh month. |
3
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And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took
up the ark. |
4
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And they brought up the ark of the LORD, and the tabernacle
of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were
in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites
bring up. |
5
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And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel,
that were assembled unto him, were with him before the
ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told
nor numbered for multitude. |
6
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And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of
the LORD unto his place, into the oracle of the house,
to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubim. |
7
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For the cherubim spread forth their two wings over the
place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and
the staves thereof above. |
8
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And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves
were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and
they were not seen without: and there they are unto this
day. |
9
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There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone,
which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant
with the children of Israel, when they came out of the
land of Egypt. |
10
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And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of
the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the
LORD, |
11
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So that the priests could not stand to minister because
of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the
house of the LORD. |
12
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Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell
in the thick darkness. |
13
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I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled
place for thee to abide in for ever. |
14
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And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the
congregation of Israel: (and all the congregation of Israel
stood;) |
15
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And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which
spake with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with
his hand fulfilled it, saying, |
16
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Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out
of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel
to build an house, that my name might be therein; but I
chose David to be over my people Israel. |
17
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And it was in the heart of David my father to build an
house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. |
18
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And the LORD said unto David my father, Whereas it was
in thine heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst
well that it was in thine heart. |
19
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Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy
son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build
the house unto my name. |
20
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And the LORD hath performed his word that he spake, and
I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on
the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built
an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. |
21
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And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is
the covenant of the LORD, which he made with our fathers,
when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. |
22
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And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the
presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread
forth his hands toward heaven: |
23
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And he said, LORD God of Israel, there is no God like
thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest
covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee
with all their heart: |
24
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Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou
promisedst him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast
fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day. |
25
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Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant
David my father that thou promisedst him, saying, There
shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne
of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way,
that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me. |
26
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And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee,
be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David
my father. |
27
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But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven
and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less
this house that I have builded? |
28
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Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant,
and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto
the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before
thee to day: |
29
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That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and
day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My
name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the
prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place. |
30
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And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant,
and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this
place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and
when thou hearest, forgive. |
31
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If any man trespass against his neighbor, and an oath
be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come
before thine altar in this house: |
32
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Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants,
condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head;
and justifying the righteous, to give him according to
his righteousness. |
33
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When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy,
because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again
to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication
unto thee in this house: |
34
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Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy
people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which
thou gavest unto their fathers. |
35
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When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because
they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this
place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when
thou afflictest them: |
36
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Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy
servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them
the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon
thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance. |
37
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If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence,
blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpillar; if
their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever
plague, whatsoever sickness there be; |
38
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What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man,
or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man
the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands
toward this house: |
39
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Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive,
and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose
heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest
the hearts of all the children of men;) |
40
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That they may fear thee all the days that they live in
the land which thou gavest unto our fathers. |
41
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Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people
Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name's
sake; |
42
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(For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong
hand, and of thy stretched out arm;) when he shall come
and pray toward this house; |
43
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Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according
to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all
people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as
do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this
house, which I have builded, is called by thy name. |
44
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If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever
thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the LORD toward
the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that
I have built for thy name: |
45
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Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication,
and maintain their cause. |
46
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If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth
not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to
the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the
land of the enemy, far or near; |
47
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Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither
they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication
unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives,
saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have
committed wickedness; |
48
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And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with
all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led
them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land,
which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou
hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name: |
49
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Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in
heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause, |
50
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And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee,
and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed
against thee, and give them compassion before them who
carried them captive, that they may have compassion on
them: |
51
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For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which
thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the
furnace of iron: |
52
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That thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of
thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel,
to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto thee. |
53
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For thou didst separate them from among all the people
of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest
by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest
our fathers out of Egypt, O LORD God. |
54
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And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying
all this prayer and supplication unto the LORD, he arose
from before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his
knees with his hands spread up to heaven. |
55
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And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel
with a loud voice, saying, |
56
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Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people
Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not
failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised
by the hand of Moses his servant. |
57
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The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers:
let him not leave us, nor forsake us: |
58
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That he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all
his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes,
and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers. |
59
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And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication
before the LORD, be nigh unto the LORD our God day and
night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the
cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter
shall require: |
60
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That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD
is God, and that there is none else. |
61
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Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our
God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments,
as at this day. |
62
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And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice
before the LORD. |
63
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And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which
he offered unto the LORD, two and twenty thousand oxen,
and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and
all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD. |
64
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The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court
that was before the house of the LORD: for there he offered
burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the
peace offerings: because the brazen altar that was before
the LORD was too little to receive the burnt offerings,
and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings. |
65
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And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel
with him, a great congregation, from the entering in of
Hamath unto the river of Egypt, before the LORD our God,
seven days and seven days, even fourteen days. |
66
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On the eighth day he sent the people away: and they blessed
the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of
heart for all the goodness that the LORD had done for David
his servant, and for Israel his people. |
