The Dedicatioin of the Temple
1
When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed
the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.
2
The priests could not enter the temple of the LORD because the glory the LORD
filled it.
3
When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and and the glory of the LORD
above the temple, they knelt on the pavement wth their faces to the ground,
and they worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying,
"He is good; his love endures forever."
4
Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the LORD.
5
And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand head of cattle
and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats.
So the king and all the people dedicated the temple of God.
6
The priests took their positions, as did the Levites with the LORD's musical
instruments, which King David had made for praising the LORD
and which were used when he gave thanks, saying,
"His love endures forever." Opposite the Levites, the priests blew their trumpets,
and all the Israelites were standing.
7
Solomon consecreated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple
of the LORD, and there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the fellowship
offerings, because the bronze altar he had made could not hold
the burnt offerings, the grain offerinsg and the fat portions.
8
So Solomon observed the festival at the time for seven days,
and all Israel with him - a vast assembly,
people from Lebo Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt.
9
On the eighth day of the seventh month he sent the people to their homes,
joyful and glad in heart for the good things the LORD had done for David
and Solomon and for his people Israel.
10
On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people to their homes,
joyful and glad in heart for the good things the LORD had done for David and
Solomon and for his people Israel.
The LORD Appears to Solomon
11
When Solomon had finished the temple of the LORD and the royal palace,
and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple
of the LORD and in his own palace,
12
the LORD apprared to him at night and said:
"I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself
as a temple for sacrifices.
13
"When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain,
or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people,
14
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray
and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven
and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
15
Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to prayers offered in this place.
16
I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name
may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
17
"As for you, if you walk before me as David your father did,
and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws,
18
I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father
when I said, 'You shall never fail to have a man to rule over Israel.'
19
"But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you
and go off to serve other gods and worship them,
20
then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them,
and I will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name.
I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples.
21
And though this temple is now so imposing, all who pass by will be appalled
and say, 'Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?'
22
People will answer, 'Because they have forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers,
who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and
serving them - that is why he brought all this disaster on them.' "
