King James Version · The united kingdom
1 Kings 8
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Then assembled the , and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the , unto king in , that they might bring up the of out of , which is . And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king at the feast in the month , which is the seventh month. And all the came, and the priests took up the ark. And they brought up the , and the of , and all the vessels that were in the , even those did the priests and the bring up. And king , and all 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. And the priests brought in the of unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most place, even under the of the cherubims. 7For the cherubims spread forth their two over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above. And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the place before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day. There was nothing in the ark the two tables of stone, which put there at , when made a with the , when they came out of the land of . And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the place, that the cloud filled the , So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for had filled the . Then spake , said that he would in the thick . I have surely built thee an house to in, a settled place for thee to in for ever. And the king turned about, and all of Israel: (and all of Israel stood;) And he said, be of Israel, which spake with his unto , and hath with his hand fulfilled it, saying, Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of , I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that my name might be therein; but I chose to be over my people Israel. And it was in of to build an house for the name of of Israel. And said unto , Whereas it was in thine to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine . 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. And hath performed his word that he spake, and I am up in the room of , and sit on of Israel, as promised, and have built an house for the name of of Israel. And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is of , which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of . And stood before the of in the of all of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward : And he said, of Israel, there is no like thee, in above, or on earth beneath, who keepest and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their : Who hast kept with thy servant that thou promisedst him: thou spakest also with thy , and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day. Therefore now, of Israel, keep with thy servant that thou promisedst him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me. And now, O of Israel, let thy word, I thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant . But will indeed on the earth? behold, the and cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded? Yet have thou respect unto the of thy servant, and to his , O my , to unto the cry and to the , which thy servant prayeth before thee to day: 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 unto the which thy servant shall make toward this place. And thou to the of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall toward this place: and hear thou in thy : and when thou hearest, forgive. If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an be laid upon him to cause him to , and the come before thine in this house: Then hear thou in , and do, and judge thy servants, condemning , to bring his way upon his head; and justifying , to give him according to his . When thy people Israel be smitten down before , because they have against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and thy name, and , and make unto thee in this house: Then hear thou in , and forgive the of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers. When is shut up, and there is no , because they have against thee; if they toward this place, and thy name, and turn from their , when thou afflictest them: Then hear thou in , and forgive the of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an . If there be in the land , if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, , or if there be caterpiller; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be; What and soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own , and spread forth his hands toward this house: Then hear thou in thy , and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the of all the children of men;) That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers. Moreover concerning a , that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name’s sake; (For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm;) when he shall come and toward this house; Hear thou in thy , and do according to all that the 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. If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall unto toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name: Then hear thou in their and their , and maintain their cause. If they against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and them to , so that they carry them away unto the land of , far or near; Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried , and , and make unto thee in the land of them that carried them , saying, We have , and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness; And so return unto thee with all their , and with all their , in the land of their , which led them away , and 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: Then hear thou their and their in thy , and maintain their cause, And forgive thy people that have against thee, and all their wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them before them who carried them , that they may have on them: For they be thy people, and thine , which thou broughtest forth out of , from the midst of the furnace of iron: That thine eyes may be open unto the of thy servant, and unto the of thy people Israel, to unto them in all that they call for unto thee. For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine , as thou spakest by the hand of thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of , O . And it was so, that when had made an end of praying all this and unto , he arose from before the of , from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to . And he stood, and all of Israel with a loud voice, saying, be , 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 his servant. our be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us: That he may incline our unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his , and his , and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers. And let these my words, wherewith I have made before , be nigh unto our 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: That all the people of the earth may know that is , and that there is none else. Let therefore be perfect with our , to walk in his , and to keep his , as at this day. And the king, and all Israel with him, offered before . And offered a of , which he offered unto , two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the dedicated the . The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that was before the : for there he offered burnt offerings, and meat , and the : because the brasen that was before was too little to receive the burnt offerings, and meat , and the . And at that time held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great , from the entering in of unto the river of , before our , seven days and seven days, even fourteen days. On the eighth day he sent the people away: and they the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of for all the goodness that had done for his servant, and for Israel his people.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. 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.