The Ark Brought to the Temple
1Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Zion, the City of David. 2All the Israelites came together to King Solomon at the time of the festival in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month.
3When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark, 4and they brought up the ark of the Lord and the tent of meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it. The priests and Levites carried them up, 5and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted.
6The priests then brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. 7The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed the ark and its carrying poles. 8These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today. 9There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.
10When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord. 11And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his temple.
12Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud; 13I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever.”
14While the whole assembly of Israel was standing there, the king turned around and blessed them. 15Then he said:
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his own hand has fulfilled what he promised with his own mouth to my father David. For he said, 16‘Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city in any tribe of Israel to have a temple built so that my Name might be there, but I have chosen David to rule my people Israel.’
17“My father David had it in his heart to build a temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 18But the Lord said to my father David, ‘You did well to have it in your heart to build a temple for my Name. 19Nevertheless, you are not the one to build the temple, but your son, your own flesh and blood—he is the one who will build the temple for my Name.’
20“The Lord has kept the promise he made: I have succeeded David my father and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and I have built the temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 21I have provided a place there for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.”
Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication
22Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven 23and said:
“Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. 24You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today.
25“Now Lord, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me faithfully as you have done.’ 26And now, God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David my father come true.
27“But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! 28Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. 29May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. 30Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.
31“When anyone wrongs their neighbor and is required to take an oath and they come and swear the oath before your altar in this temple, 32then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing down on their heads what they have done, and vindicating the innocent by treating them in accordance with their innocence.
33“When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, and when they turn back to you and give praise to your name, praying and making supplication to you in this temple, 34then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to their ancestors.
35“When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, 36then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.
37“When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, 38and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel—being aware of the afflictions of their own hearts, and spreading out their hands toward this temple— 39then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know every human heart), 40so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors.
41“As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name— 42for they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple, 43then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.
44“When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to the Lord toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name, 45then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.
46“When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to their enemies, who take them captive to their own lands, far away or near; 47and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly’; 48and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to you toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name; 49then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. 50And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their captors to show them mercy; 51for they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace.
52“May your eyes be open to your servant’s plea and to the plea of your people Israel, and may you listen to them whenever they cry out to you. 53For you singled them out from all the nations of the world to be your own inheritance, just as you declared through your servant Moses when you, Sovereign Lord, brought our ancestors out of Egypt.”
54When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the Lord, he rose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven. 55He stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying:
56“Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses. 57May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us nor forsake us. 58May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in obedience to him and keep the commands, decrees and laws he gave our ancestors. 59And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day’s need, 60so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other. 61And may your hearts be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.”
The Dedication of the Temple
62Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord. 63Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the Lord: twenty-two thousand cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the temple of the Lord.
64On that same day the king consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the Lord, and there he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar that stood before the Lord was too small to hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings.
65So Solomon observed the festival at that time, and all Israel with him—a vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt. They celebrated it before the Lord our God for seven days and seven days more, fourteen days in all. 66On the following day he sent the people away. They blessed the king and then went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good things the Lord had done for his servant David and his people Israel.
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契約の箱の安置
1ソロモン王は、イスラエルの部族や氏族の長をみなエルサレムに集めました。契約の箱を、ダビデの町シオンにある幕屋から、神殿に運び入れるためでした。 2この祝典が挙行されたのは十月の仮庵の祭りの時で、 3-4祭りの間に、祭司たちは契約の箱と、それまで幕屋に置いてあった神聖な器具をすべて神殿に運び入れました。 5王とイスラエル国民は契約の箱の前に集まり、数えきれないほどの羊や牛をいけにえとしてささげました。
6それから祭司たちは、契約の箱を神殿の奥の至聖所に運び、ケルビムの翼の下に安置しました。 7ケルビムの像は、翼が箱の上に来るように設計されていたので、その翼は箱とかつぎ棒を覆いました。 8かつぎ棒は長く、先がケルビムの横から突き出ているので、前方の聖所からも見えましたが、外庭からは見えませんでした。現在もそのままです。 9箱の中には、二枚の石板しか入っていませんでした。その石板は、主がエジプトを出たイスラエルの民とホレブ山（シナイ山）で契約を結ばれた時、モーセが納めたものです。
10祭司たちが至聖所から出て来ると、雲が神殿に満ちました。 11主の栄光が神殿に満ちあふれたので、祭司たちは外に出なければなりませんでした。
12-13その時、ソロモン王はこう祈りました。「主は、暗闇の中に住むとお語りになりました。そこで主よ。私はあなたの永遠のお住まいとして、地上に美しい家を建てました。」
14それから、振り向いて民を祝福しました。 15「イスラエルの神、主をほめたたえよう。主は、今日このように、父ダビデに約束なさったことを成し遂げてくださった。 16主は父にこうお語りになった。『わたしは民をエジプトから連れ出した時からこれまで、神殿を建てる場所を選ぶことはしなかったが、わたしの民の指導者となる一人の者を選んだ。』 17それが、父ダビデだ。父は、イスラエルの神、主のために神殿を建てたかった。 18しかし主はそれをお許しにならず、『あなたの志はうれしい。 19だが、わたしの神殿を建てるのはあなたの息子だ』と言われた。 20主は今、お約束を果たしてくださった。私はイスラエルの王として父の跡を継ぎ、こうして、主のために神殿を建て上げることができた。 21そして、主がエジプトを出た私たちの先祖と結ばれた契約を納めた箱を、神殿の中に置く場所を用意した。」
ソロモンの祈りと神殿の奉献
22-23王は、人々が見守る中で祭壇の前に立ち、両手を天に差し伸べて祈りました。
「ああ、イスラエルの神、主。天にも地にも、あなたのようなお方はありません。あなたは、心からお従いしようとする民を愛し、約束を守ってくださるからです。 24今日このとおり、あなたのしもべである父ダビデへの約束を実現してくださいました。 25イスラエルの神、主よ。どうか、父ダビデとの約束をこれからも果たしてください。父の子孫が、父と同じようにお従いし、主の言われるとおりにするなら、その中の一人がいつもイスラエルの王位につくようにしてください。 26イスラエルの神よ！ どうか、この約束もまた果たしてください。
27それにしても、神様ははたしてこの地上にお住みになるでしょうか。大空も天も、あなたをお入れすることはできません。まして、私が建てたこの神殿などなおのことです。 28けれども、どうか、このしもべの願いをお聞き届けください。 29確かに住むと約束なさったこの場所を、昼も夜も見守ってください。そして、私がこの神殿に向かって祈る時、昼であっても夜であっても、祈りを聞き、それに答えてください。 30イスラエルの民が、この場所に向かって祈る時、いつでも願いを聞き届けてください。あなたがお住まいになる天で、その願いを聞き、彼らの罪を赦してください。
31だれかが何か悪いことをして訴えられた時、この神殿の祭壇の前に立ち、自分はそのようなことはしなかったと誓うなら、 32天でその訴えを聞き、正しくさばいてください。
33-34イスラエルの民が罪を犯したため敵に負かされたとき、もし彼らが反省し、もう一度あなたをあがめるなら、天で彼らの願いを聞き、その罪を赦してください。そして、先祖にお与えになった地に、彼らを連れ帰してください。
35-36彼らの罪が原因で雨が降らないとき、彼らがこの場所に向かって祈り、あなたをあがめるなら、天でその願いを聞き、彼らを赦してください。また、罰を下したあと、正しい道に彼らを引き戻し、あなたがお与えになった地に雨を降らせてください。
37農作物の立ち枯れや、いなごや油虫の発生によってききんが起こったり、敵が攻めて来たり、また疫病や災害に襲われたり、そのほか、どんな問題が起こった時でも、 38もし民が罪を悟り、この神殿に向かって祈るなら、 39天で彼らの祈りを聞き、正直に罪を告白した人々を赦し、願いをかなえてください。あなたは、一人一人の心のうちを知っておられるからです。 40そうすれば、あなたが私たちの先祖にお与えになった地に生きている限り、彼らはいつもあなたを信じ、お従いするようになるでしょう。
41-42それから、外国人があなたのすばらしさを聞き、遠い地からはるばる礼拝に来て、この神殿に向かって祈るなら、 43天で彼らの祈りを聞き、願いをかなえてください。そうすれば、世界中の人が、あなたの民イスラエルと同じようにあなたの御名を知り、信じてお従いするようになるでしょう。こうして全世界は、これがあなたの神殿であることを知るでしょう。
44イスラエルの民があなたの命で戦いに遣わされるとき、あなたがお選びになった町エルサレム、私があなたのために建てたこの神殿に向かって祈るなら、 45天で彼らの祈りを聞き、彼らを助けてください。
46罪を犯さない人間などいませんから、あなたに罪を犯し、あなたのお怒りをこうむって、外国に捕虜として連れて行かれることもあるでしょう。 47そのようなとき、『私たちが悪かった』と反省して、 48心からあなたに立ち返り、あなたが先祖にお与えになった地、あなたがお選びになったエルサレムの町、私が御名のために建てたこの神殿に向かって祈るなら、 49お住まいである天で彼らの祈りと願いとを聞き、助けの手を差し伸べてください。
50あなたの民の悪事をみな赦し、彼らを捕らえた者にあわれみの心を起こさせてください。 51彼らは、あなたがエジプトから連れ出された大切な民だからです。 52どうか、御目を開き、御耳を傾けて、彼らの願いを聞き届けてください。ああ主よ。彼らが祈り求める時、いつも願い事をかなえてください。 53あなたが私たちの先祖をエジプトから連れ出された時、しもべモーセにお告げになったとおり、全世界の民の中からイスラエルを選び出し、特別な民としてくださったからです。」
54-55ソロモンは両手を天に伸ばしたまま、ひざまずいて祈っていました。祈り終えると、祭壇の前から立ち上がり、全会衆を大声で祝福しました。 56「イスラエルの主をほめたたえます。主は約束どおり、ご自分の民イスラエルに安息をお与えになりました。しもべモーセによって示された、すばらしい約束のすべてが、一つもたがわず実現したのです。 57どうか、主が先祖たちとともにおられたように、私たちをも見捨てず、共にいてくださいますように。 58私たちがすべてのことで主をお喜ばせし、先祖たちにお与えになった教えをみな守ろうという願いを起こさせてください。 59この祈りを、いつも覚えていてください。こうして、毎日、何かあるたびに、私とイスラエルの全国民を助けてくださいますように。 60世界中の国々が、あなたのほかに神はいないことを知るためです。 61私の民よ。あなたがたは主の前で、正しく、きよい生活を送らなければなりません。今日のように、いつも主の教えを守らなければなりません。」
62-63それから王と民は、主の前にいけにえをささげました。この時ささげた和解のいけにえは、なんと牛二万二千頭、羊とやぎ十二万頭にものぼりました。 64その日、臨時の計らいとして、王は神殿の前の庭をきよめ、そこで焼き尽くすいけにえと、穀物の供え物、それに和解のいけにえの脂肪をささげました。青銅の祭壇は、おびただしいいけにえを載せるには小さすぎたからです。 65こうして、祝典は十四日間続き、イスラエル中から人々が集まりました。 66祭りのあと、王は人々を家に帰しました。民はみな、主がしもべダビデとその民イスラエルにお示しになった多くの恵みを喜び、王に祝福のことばを述べて、それぞれの天幕に帰って行きました。
