The Ark Brought into the Temple

¹jThen Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, kthe leaders of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, lto bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of mthe city of David, which is Zion. ²And all the men of Israel assembled to King Solomon at nthe feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. ³And all the elders of Israel came, and othe priests took up the ark. ⁴And they brought up the ark of the Lord, pthe tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. ⁵And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, qsacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. ⁶rThen the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord sto its place in tthe inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. ⁷For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles. ⁸uAnd the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before tthe inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day. ⁹There was nothing in the ark except vthe two tablets of stone that Moses put there at Horeb, where wthe Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, xa cloud filled the house of the Lord, ¹¹so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.

Solomon Blesses the Lord

¹²yThen Solomon said, “The Lord1 has said that he would dwell zin thick darkness. ¹³aI have indeed built you an exalted house, ba place for you to dwell in forever.” ¹⁴Then the king turned around and cblessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. ¹⁵And 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, ¹⁶f‘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.’ ¹⁷iNow it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁸But 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. ¹⁹jNevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ ²⁰Now 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. ²¹And 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.”

Solomon's Prayer of Dedication

²²Then Solomon mstood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and nspread out his hands toward heaven, ²³and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, othere is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, pkeeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart; ²⁴you have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. eYou spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. ²⁵Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, q‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’ ²⁶rNow therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David my father.

²⁷“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, sheaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! ²⁸Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, ²⁹tthat your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, u‘My name shall be there,’ that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. ³⁰And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

³¹“If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take van oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, ³²then hear in heaven and act and judge your servants, wcondemning the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

³³x“When your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and yif they turn again to you and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house, ³⁴then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to their fathers.

³⁵z“When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflict them, ³⁶then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when ayou teach them bthe good way in which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.

³⁷c“If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemy besieges them in the land at their gates,2 whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, ³⁸whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart and stretching out his hands toward this house, ³⁹then hear in heaven your dwelling place and forgive and act and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways (dfor you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind), ⁴⁰that they may fear you eall the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers.

⁴¹“Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name's sake ⁴²(for they shall hear of your great name fand your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, ⁴³hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order gthat all the peoples of the earth may know your name and hfear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.

⁴⁴“If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to the Lord itoward the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, ⁴⁵then hear in heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause.

⁴⁶“If they sin against you—jfor there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive kto the land of the enemy, far off or near, ⁴⁷yet lif they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, m‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ ⁴⁸nif they repent with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you otoward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name, ⁴⁹then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause ⁵⁰and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you, and pgrant them compassion in the sight of those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them ⁵¹(qfor they are your people, and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, rfrom the midst of the iron furnace). ⁵²sLet your eyes be open to the plea of your servant and to the plea of your people Israel, giving ear to them whenever they call to you. ⁵³For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be your heritage, tas you declared through Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.”

Solomon's Benediction

⁵⁴uNow 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. ⁵⁵And 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. ⁵⁷The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. yMay he not leave us or forsake us, ⁵⁸that 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. ⁵⁹Let 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, ⁶⁰that aall the peoples of the earth may know that bthe Lord is God; there is no other. ⁶¹cLet your heart therefore be wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.”

Solomon's Sacrifices

⁶²dThen ethe king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the Lord. ⁶³Solomon offered as peace offerings to the Lord 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord. ⁶⁴The same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord, for there he offered the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings, because fthe bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to receive the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings.

⁶⁵So Solomon held gthe feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from hLebo-hamath to ithe Brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days.3 ⁶⁶On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they blessed the king and went to their homes joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had shown to David his servant and to Israel his people.

Walk in Love

¹jTherefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. ²And kwalk in love, las Christ loved us and mgave himself up for us, a nfragrant ooffering and sacrifice to God.

³But psexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness qmust not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. ⁴Let there be rno filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, swhich are out of place, but instead tlet there be thanksgiving. ⁵For you may be sure of this, that ueveryone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (vthat is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. ⁶wLet no one xdeceive you with empty words, for because of these things ythe wrath of God comes upon zthe sons of disobedience. ⁷Therefore ado not become partners with them; ⁸for bat one time you were cdarkness, but now you are light in the Lord. dWalk as children of light ⁹(for ethe fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), ¹⁰and ftry to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹gTake no part in the hunfruitful iworks of darkness, but instead jexpose them. ¹²For kit is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. ¹³But when lanything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, ¹⁴for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

m“Awake, O sleeper,

and narise from the dead,

and oChrist will shine on you.”

¹⁵pLook carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶pmaking the best use of the time, because qthe days are evil. ¹⁷Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what rthe will of the Lord is. ¹⁸And sdo not get drunk with wine, for that is tdebauchery, but ube filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹addressing one another in vpsalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, ²⁰wgiving thanks always and for everything to God the Father xin the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ysubmitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Wives and Husbands

²²zWives, asubmit to your own husbands, bas to the Lord. ²³For cthe husband is the head of the wife even as dChrist is the head of the church, his body, and is ehimself its Savior. ²⁴Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit fin everything to their husbands.

²⁵gHusbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and hgave himself up for her, ²⁶that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by ithe washing of water jwith the word, ²⁷so kthat he might present the church to himself in splendor, lwithout spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.1 ²⁸In the same way mhusbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, ³⁰because nwe are members of his body. ³¹o“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and pthe two shall become one flesh.” ³²This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. ³³However, qlet each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she rrespects her husband.

Prophecy Against Gog

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²k“Son of man, lset your face toward mGog, of the land of nMagog, the ochief prince of pMeshech1 and pTubal, and qprophesy against him ³and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, rI am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech2 and Tubal. ⁴sAnd I will turn you about and tput hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and uall your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords. ⁵vPersia, wCush, and vPut are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; ⁶xGomer and all his yhordes; zBeth-togarmah from athe uttermost parts of the north with all his hordes—umany peoples are with you.

⁷b“Be ready and keep ready, you and all your hosts that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them. ⁸cAfter many days you will be mustered. dIn the latter years you will go against dthe land that is restored from war, the land whose people ewere gathered from many peoples upon fthe mountains of Israel, which had been a continual waste. Its people were brought out from the peoples and gnow dwell securely, all of them. ⁹You will advance, coming on hlike a storm. You will be ilike a cloud covering the land, you and all your yhordes, and many peoples with you.

¹⁰“Thus says the Lord God: On that day, jthoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil scheme ¹¹and say, ‘I will go up against kthe land of unwalled villages. I will fall upon lthe quiet people who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having no bars or gates,’ ¹²to seize spoil and carry off plunder, to turn your hand against mthe waste places that are now inhabited, and mthe people who were gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, nwho dwell at the center of the earth. ¹³oSheba and pDedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all qits leaders3 will say to you, ‘Have you come to seize spoil? Have you assembled your hosts to carry off plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to seize great spoil?’

¹⁴“Therefore, rson of man, prophesy, and say to sGog, Thus says the Lord God: On that day when my people Israel are gdwelling securely, twill you not know it? ¹⁵You will come from your place out of uthe uttermost parts of the north, you and vmany peoples with you, wall of them riding on horses, a great host, a mighty army. ¹⁶You will come up against my people Israel, ilike a cloud covering the land. xIn the latter days I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when through you, O Gog, yI vindicate my holiness before their eyes.

¹⁷“Thus says the Lord God: Are you zhe of whom I spoke in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel, who in those days prophesied for years that I would bring you against them? ¹⁸But on that day, the day that Gog shall come against the land of Israel, declares the Lord God, amy wrath will be roused in my anger. ¹⁹For bin my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare, On that day cthere shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. ²⁰dThe fish of the sea and the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the field and all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all the people who are on the face of the earth, eshall quake at my presence. And fthe mountains shall be thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall, and every wall shall tumble to the ground. ²¹gI will summon a sword against Gog4 on all my mountains, declares the Lord God. hEvery man's sword will be against his brother. ²²With pestilence and bloodshed iI will enter into judgment with him, and jI will rain upon him and khis hordes and the many peoples who are with him ltorrential rains and hailstones, mfire and sulfur. ²³So I will show my greatness and my nholiness and omake myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then pthey will know that I am the Lord.

I Will Sing of the Steadfast Love of the Lord

A Maskil1 of hEthan the Ezrahite.

¹iI will sing of jthe steadfast love of the Lord, forever;

with my mouth I will make known your kfaithfulness to all generations.

²For I said, j“Steadfast love will be built up forever;

in the heavens lyou will establish your kfaithfulness.”

³You have said, “I have made ma covenant with my nchosen one;

I have osworn to David my servant:

⁴‘I will establish your poffspring forever,

and build your qthrone for all generations.’” Selah

⁵Let rthe heavens praise your swonders, O Lord,

your faithfulness in the assembly of tthe holy ones!

⁶For uwho in the skies can be compared to the Lord?

uWho among the heavenly beings2 is like the Lord,

⁷a God greatly vto be feared in the council of tthe holy ones,

and awesome above all wwho are around him?

⁸O Lord God of hosts,

xwho is mighty as you are, O yLord,

with your faithfulness all around you?

⁹You rule the raging of the sea;

when its waves rise, you zstill them.

¹⁰You acrushed bRahab like a carcass;

you cscattered your enemies with your mighty arm.

¹¹dThe heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;

ethe world and all that is in it, you have ffounded them.

¹²gThe north and the south, you have created them;

hTabor and iHermon jjoyously praise your name.

¹³You have a mighty arm;

strong is your hand, high your right hand.

¹⁴kRighteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;

lsteadfast love and faithfulness go before you.

¹⁵Blessed are the people who know mthe festal shout,

who walk, O Lord, in nthe light of your face,

¹⁶who exult in your oname all the day

and in your righteousness are pexalted.

¹⁷For you are qthe glory of their strength;

by your favor our rhorn is exalted.

¹⁸For our sshield belongs to the Lord,

our king to tthe Holy One of Israel.

¹⁹uOf old you spoke in a vision to your godly one,3 and said:

“I have vgranted help to one who is wmighty;

I have exalted one xchosen from the people.

²⁰yI have found David, my servant;

with my holy oil I have zanointed him,

²¹so that my ahand shall be established with him;

my arm also shall strengthen him.

²²The enemy shall not outwit him;

bthe wicked shall not humble him.

²³I will ccrush his foes before him

and strike down those who hate him.

²⁴My dfaithfulness and my dsteadfast love shall be with him,

and in my name shall his ehorn be exalted.

²⁵I will set his hand on fthe sea

and his right hand on fthe rivers.

²⁶He shall cry to me, ‘You are my gFather,

my God, and hthe Rock of my salvation.’

²⁷And I will make him the ifirstborn,

jthe highest of the kings of the earth.

²⁸My steadfast love I will keep for him forever,

and my kcovenant will stand firm4 for him.

²⁹I will establish his loffspring forever

and his lthrone as mthe days of the heavens.

³⁰nIf his children forsake my law

and do not walk according to my rules,5

³¹if they violate my statutes

and do not keep my commandments,

³²then I will punish their transgression with othe rod

and their iniquity with stripes,

³³but I will not remove from him my steadfast love

or be false to my faithfulness.

³⁴I will not violate my kcovenant

or alter the word that went forth from my lips.

³⁵Once for all I have sworn pby my holiness;

I will not qlie to David.

³⁶His loffspring shall endure forever,

rhis lthrone as long as sthe sun before me.

³⁷Like sthe moon it shall be established forever,

ta faithful witness in the skies.” Selah

³⁸But now you have ucast off and rejected;

you are full of wrath against your vanointed.

³⁹You have wrenounced xthe covenant with your servant;

you have ydefiled his zcrown in the dust.

⁴⁰You have abreached all his walls;

you have laid his strongholds in ruins.

⁴¹aAll who pass by plunder him;

he has become bthe scorn of his neighbors.

⁴²You have exalted the right hand of his foes;

you have made all his enemies rejoice.

⁴³You have also turned back the edge of his sword,

and you have not made him stand in battle.

⁴⁴You have made his splendor to cease

and cast his throne to the ground.

⁴⁵You have cut short cthe days of his youth;

you have dcovered him with shame. Selah

⁴⁶eHow long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?

How long will your wrath fburn like fire?

⁴⁷gRemember hhow short my itime is!

For what vanity you have created all the children of man!

⁴⁸jWhat man can live and never ksee death?

Who can deliver his soul from the power of lSheol? Selah

⁴⁹Lord, where is your msteadfast love of old,

which by your mfaithfulness you swore to David?

⁵⁰nRemember, O Lord, how your servants are mocked,

and how I bear in my oheart the insults6 of all the many nations,

⁵¹with which your enemies mock, O Lord,

with which they mock pthe footsteps of your qanointed.

⁵²rBlessed be the Lord forever!

Amen and Amen.