World English Bible · The united kingdom
1 Kings 8
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Then assembled the with all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers' households of the , to King in , to bring up the out of city, which is . All the men of Israel assembled themselves to King at the feast in the month , which is the seventh month. All the came, and the priests picked up the ark. They brought up ark, the , and all the vessels that were in the Tent. The priests and the brought these up. King and all of Israel, who were assembled to him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and cattle that could not be counted or numbered for multitude. The priests brought in the to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most place, even under the . 7For the spread their out over the place of the ark, and the covered the ark and its poles above. The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the place before the inner sanctuary, but they were not seen outside. They are there to this day. There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets which put there at , when made a with the , when they came out of the land of . It came to pass, when the priests had come out of the place, that the cloud filled house, so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud; for filled house. Then said, " has said that he would in the thick . I have surely built you a house of habitation, a place for you to in ." The king turned around and all of Israel; and all of Israel stood. He said, " is , the of Israel, who spoke with his to your , and has with his hand fulfilled it, saying, 'Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of , I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, that my name might be there; but I chose to be over my people Israel.' "Now it was in of to build a house for the name of , the of Israel. But said to , 'Whereas it was in to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in . Nevertheless, you shall not build the house; but your son who shall come out of your body, he shall build the house for my name.' has established his word that he spoke; for I have up in the place of , and I sit on of Israel, as promised, and have built the house for the name of , the of Israel. There I have set a place for the ark, in which is , which he made with our fathers when he brought them out of the land of ." stood before in the of all of Israel, and spread out his hands toward ; and he said, ", the of Israel, there is no like you, in above, or on earth beneath; who keeps and with your servants who walk before you with all their ; who has kept with that which you promised him. Yes, you spoke with your , and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is today. Now therefore, may , the of Israel, keep with that which you have promised him, saying, 'There shall not fail from you a man in my sight to sit on of Israel, if only your children take heed to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.' "Now therefore, of Israel, please let your word be verified, which you spoke to . But will in very deed on the earth? Behold, and the can't contain you; how much less this house that I have built! Yet have respect for the of and for his , my , to listen to the cry and to the which prays before you today; that your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which you have said, 'My name shall be there;' to listen to the which prays toward this place. Listen to the of , and of your people Israel, when they toward this place. Yes, hear in , your ; and when you hear, forgive. "If a man against his neighbor, and an is laid on him to cause him to , and he comes and swears before your in this house, then hear in , and act, and judge your servants, condemning , to bring his way on his own head, and justifying , to give him according to his . "When your people Israel are struck down before because they have against you, if they turn again to you and your name, and and make to you in this house, then hear in , and forgive the of your people Israel, and bring them again to the land which you gave to their fathers. "When is shut up and there is no because they have against you, if they toward this place and your name, and turn from their when you afflict them, then hear in , and forgive the of your servants, and of your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send on your land which you have given to your people for an . "If there is in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight, mildew, or caterpillar; if their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, whatever and is made by any man, or by all your people Israel, who shall each know the plague of his own , and spread out his hands toward this house, then hear in , your , and forgive, and act, and give to every man according to all his ways, whose you know (for you, even you only, know the of all the children of men); that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land which you gave to our fathers. "Moreover, concerning the , who is not of your people Israel, when he comes out of a far country for your name's sake (for they shall hear of your great name and of your mighty hand and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, hear in , your , and do according to all that the calls to you for; that all the peoples of the earth may know your name, to fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by your name. "If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they to toward the city which you have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for your name, then hear in their and their , and maintain their cause. If they against you (for there is no man who doesn't ), and you are angry with them and them to , so that they carry them away to the land of , far off or near; yet if they in the land where they are carried , and turn again, and make to you in the land of those who carried them , saying, 'We have and have done perversely; we have dealt wickedly,' if they return to you with all their and with all their in the land of their who carried them , and to you toward their land which you gave to their fathers, the city which you have chosen and the house which I have built for your name, then hear their and their in , your , and maintain their cause; and forgive your people who have against you, and all their in which they have transgressed against you; and give them before those who carried them , that they may have on them (for they are your people and your , which you brought out of , from the middle of the iron furnace); that your eyes may be open to the of and to the of your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they cry to you. For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be your , as you spoke by , when you brought our fathers out of , ." It was so, that when had finished praying all this and to , he arose from before , from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread out toward . He stood and all of Israel with a loud voice, saying, " be , who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. There has not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by his servant. May our be with us as he was with our fathers. Let him not leave us or forsake us, that he may incline our to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his , his , and his ordinances, which he commanded our fathers. Let these my words, with which I have made before , be near to our day and night, that he may maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as every day requires; that all the peoples of the earth may know that himself is . There is no one else. "Let therefore be perfect with our , to walk in his , and to keep his , as it is today." The king, and all Israel with him, offered before . offered for the of , which he offered to , twenty two thousand head of cattle and one hundred twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the dedicated house. The same day the king made the middle of the court that was before house; for there he offered the burnt offering, the , and the , because the bronze that was before was too little to receive the burnt offering, the , and the . So held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great , from the entrance of to the brook of , before our , seven days and seven more days, even fourteen days. On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad in their for all the goodness that had shown to his servant, and to Israel his people.
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · The united kingdom, 1050 BC to 931 BC ›
Saul, David, and Solomon. A rare window when both Egypt and Mesopotamia are weak, which is how a small kingdom in the corridor between them could briefly become a regional power.
- The power vacuum
- This is the whole political explanation for the united kingdom. Egypt is fragmented, Assyria is recovering but still local, the Hittites are gone, and nobody is in a position to object to a strong state in the corridor. It lasts about a century, and Israel's golden age fits exactly inside it.
- Phoenicia
- Tyre under Hiram is the commercial power of the coast, and supplies the cedar, the craftsmen, and the shipping for Solomon's building programme. The alliance is trade, not charity: Israel had grain and a land route, Tyre had timber and ships.
- Egypt
- Weak enough that a pharaoh gives a daughter in marriage to an Israelite king, which is the opposite of Egyptian practice in stronger centuries. Late in the era it recovers under a new house, and Shishak will invade within five years of Solomon's death.
- Further afield
- Greece is still in its dark age but beginning to recover, and will adopt the Phoenician alphabet within a century or two. Carthage is founded by settlers from Tyre by tradition in 814 BC. In the Americas the Olmec centre shifts to La Venta.