Solomon Blesses the LORD (1 Kings 8:12–21)
1 UEB Then Solomon said, "Yahweh has said that he would live in thick darkness, BSB BSB: Then Solomon declared: “The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud.
2 UEB but I have built you a lofty residence, a place for you to live in forever." BSB BSB: But I have built You an exalted house, a place for You to dwell forever.”
3 UEB Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing. BSB BSB: And as the whole assembly of Israel stood there, the king turned around and blessed them all
4 UEB He said, "May Yahweh, the God of Israel, be praised, who spoke to David my father, and has fulfilled it with his own hands, saying, BSB BSB: and said: “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who has fulfilled with His own hand what He spoke with His mouth to my father David, saying,
5 UEB 'Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, in order for my name to be there. Neither did I choose any man to be prince over my people Israel. BSB BSB: ‘Since the day I brought My people out of the land of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house so that My Name would be there, nor have I chosen anyone to be ruler over My people Israel.
6 UEB However, I have chosen Jerusalem, so that my name might be there, and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.' BSB BSB: But now I have chosen Jerusalem for My Name to be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’
7 UEB Now it was in the heart of David my father, to build a house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel. BSB BSB: Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel.
8 UEB But Yahweh said to David my father, 'In that it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well for it to be in your heart. BSB BSB: But the LORD said to my father David, ‘Since it was in your heart to build a house for My Name, you have done well to have this in your heart.
9 UEB Nevertheless, you must not build the house; instead, your son, one who will come from your loins, will build the house for my name.' BSB BSB: Nevertheless, you are not the one to build it; but your son, your own offspring, will build the house for My Name.’
10 UEB Yahweh has carried out the word that he had said, for I have arisen in the place of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as Yahweh promised. I have built the house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel. BSB BSB: Now the LORD has fulfilled the word that He spoke. I have succeeded my father David, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised. I have built the house for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel.
11 UEB I have placed the ark there, in which is Yahweh's covenant, which he made with the people of Israel." BSB BSB: And there I have placed the ark, which contains the covenant of the LORD that He made with the children of Israel.”
Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication (1 Kings 8:22–53)
12 UEB Solomon stood before the altar of Yahweh in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands. BSB BSB: Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands.
13 UEB For he had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high. He had placed it in the middle of the courtyard. He stood on it and knelt down before all the assembly of Israel, and then he spread out his hands toward the heavens. BSB BSB: Now Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high and had placed it in the middle of the courtyard. He stood on it, knelt down before the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven,
14 UEB He said, "Yahweh, God of Israel, there is no God like you in the heavens or on the earth, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with your servants who walk before you with all their heart; BSB BSB: and said: “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven or on earth, keeping Your covenant of loving devotion with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts.
15 UEB you who have kept with your servant David my father, what you promised him. Yes, you spoke with your mouth and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is today. BSB BSB: You have kept Your promise to Your servant, my father David. What You spoke with Your mouth You have fulfilled with Your hand this day.
16 UEB Now then, Yahweh, God of Israel, carry out what you have promised to your servant David my father, when you said, 'You will not fail to have a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful to walk in my law, as you have walked before me.' BSB BSB: Therefore now, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for Your servant, my father David, what You promised when You said: ‘You will never fail to have a man to sit before Me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants guard their way to walk in My law as you have walked before Me.’
17 UEB Now then, Yahweh, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David. BSB BSB: And now, O LORD, God of Israel, please confirm what You promised to Your servant David.
18 UEB But will God actually live with mankind on the earth? Look, the entire universe and heaven itself cannot contain you—how much less can this temple that I have built! BSB BSB: But will God indeed dwell with man upon the earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.
19 UEB Yet please respect this prayer of your servant and his request, Yahweh my God; listen to the cry and prayer that your servant prays before you. BSB BSB: Yet regard the prayer and plea of Your servant, O LORD my God, so that You may hear the cry and the prayer that Your servant is praying before You.
20 UEB May your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, the place where you promised to put your name. May you listen to the prayer your servant prays toward this place. BSB BSB: May Your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, toward the place where You said You would put Your Name, so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place.
21 UEB So listen to the requests of your servant and of your people Israel when we pray toward this place. Yes, listen from the place where you live, from the heavens; and when you listen, forgive. BSB BSB: Hear the plea of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. May You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place. May You hear and forgive.
22 UEB If a man sins against his neighbor and is required to swear an oath, and if he comes and swears an oath before your altar in this house, BSB BSB: When a man sins against his neighbor and is required to take an oath, and he comes to take an oath before Your altar in this temple,
23 UEB listen from the heavens and act. Judge your servants, condemning the guilty and bringing what he has done upon his own head. Declare the innocent not guilty and give to him according to his righteousness. BSB BSB: then may You hear from heaven and act. May You judge Your servants, condemning the wicked man by bringing down on his own head what he has done, and justifying the righteous man by rewarding him according to his righteousness.
24 UEB When your people Israel are defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, if they turn back to you, confess your name, pray, and request forgiveness before you in this temple— BSB BSB: When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and they return to You and confess Your name, praying and pleading before You in this temple,
25 UEB then please listen from the heavens and forgive the sin of your people Israel; bring them back to the land that you gave to them and to their ancestors. BSB BSB: then may You hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel. May You restore them to the land You gave to them and their fathers.
26 UEB When the skies are shut up and there is no rain because the people have sinned against you—if they pray toward this place, confess your name, and turn from their sin when you have afflicted them— BSB BSB: When the skies are shut and there is no rain because Your people have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and they turn from their sins because You have afflicted them,
27 UEB then listen in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Israel, when you direct them to the good way in which they should walk. Send rain on your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance. BSB BSB: then may You hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, so that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk. May You send rain on the land that You gave Your people as an inheritance.
28 UEB Suppose there is famine in the land, or suppose that there is disease, blight or mildew, locusts or caterpillars; or suppose that its enemies attack the city gates in their land, or that there is any plague or sickness— BSB BSB: When famine or plague comes upon the land, or blight or mildew or locusts or grasshoppers, or when their enemies besiege them in their cities, whatever plague or sickness may come,
29 UEB and suppose then that prayers and requests are made by a person or by all your people Israel—each knowing the plague and sorrow in his own heart as he spreads out his hands toward this temple. BSB BSB: then may whatever prayer or plea Your people Israel make—each knowing his own afflictions and spreading out his hands toward this temple—
30 UEB Then listen from heaven, the place where you live; forgive, and reward every person for all his ways; you know his heart, because you and you only know the hearts of human beings. BSB BSB: be heard by You from heaven, Your dwelling place. And may You forgive and repay each man according to all his ways, since You know his heart—for You alone know the hearts of men—
31 UEB Do this so that they may fear you, so that they may walk in your ways all the days that they live on the land that you gave to our ancestors. BSB BSB: so that they may fear You and walk in Your ways all the days they live in the land that You gave to our fathers.
32 UEB As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel, but who—because of your great name, your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm—comes and prays toward this house, BSB BSB: And as for the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of Your great name and Your mighty hand and outstretched arm—when he comes and prays toward this temple,
33 UEB then please listen from heaven, the place where you live, and do all that the foreigner asks of you, so that all the people of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and that they might know that this house I have built is called by your name. BSB BSB: then may You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You. Then all the peoples of the earth will know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and they will know that this house I have built is called by Your Name.
34 UEB Suppose that your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way you may send them, and suppose that they pray to you toward this city that you have chosen, and toward the house that I have built for your name. BSB BSB: When Your people go to war against their enemies, wherever You send them, and when they pray to You in the direction of this city You have chosen and the house I have built for Your Name,
35 UEB Then listen from the heavens to their prayer, their request, and help their cause. BSB BSB: then may You hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and may You uphold their cause.
36 UEB Suppose they sin against you—since there is no one who does not sin—and suppose that you are angry with them and hand them over to the enemy, so that the enemy carries them away and takes them as captives to their land, whether distant or near. BSB BSB: When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and deliver them to an enemy who takes them as captives to a land far or near,
37 UEB Then suppose they realize they are in the land where they have been exiled, and suppose that they repent and seek favor from you in the land of their captivity. Suppose that they say, 'We have acted perversely and sinned. We have behaved wickedly.' BSB BSB: and when they come to their senses in the land to which they were taken, and they repent and plead with You in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong; we have acted wickedly,’
38 UEB Suppose that they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they took them as captives, and suppose that they pray toward their land, which you gave to their ancestors, and toward the city that you chose, and toward the house that I have built for your name. BSB BSB: and when they return to You with all their heart and soul in the land of the enemies who took them captive, and when they pray in the direction of the land that You gave to their fathers, the city You have chosen, and the house I have built for Your Name,
39 UEB Then listen from the heavens, the place where you live, to their prayer and to their requests, and help their cause. Forgive your people, who have sinned against you. BSB BSB: then may You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, their prayer and pleas, and may You uphold their cause. May You forgive Your people who sinned against You.
40 UEB Now, my God, I beg you, let your eyes be open, and let your ears be attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. BSB BSB: Now, my God, may Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place.
41 UEB Now then arise, Yahweh God, to your resting place, you and the ark of your strength. Let your priests, Yahweh God, be clothed with salvation, and let your saints rejoice in your goodness. BSB BSB: Now therefore, arise, O LORD God, and enter Your resting place, You and the ark of Your might. May Your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and may Your godly ones rejoice in goodness.
42 UEB Yahweh God, do not turn the face of your anointed away from you. Keep in mind your acts of covenant loyalty for David, your servant." BSB BSB: O LORD God, do not reject Your anointed one. Remember Your loving devotion to Your servant David.”
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