运约柜入圣殿
1所罗门把以色列的长老、各支派的首领和族长召集到他所在的耶路撒冷，准备把耶和华的约柜从大卫城锡安运上来。
2在以他念月，即七月住棚节的时候，以色列人都聚集到所罗门王那里。 3以色列的长老到齐后，祭司便抬起约柜， 4祭司和利未人将耶和华的约柜、会幕和会幕里的一切圣器运上来。 5所罗门王和聚集到他那里的以色列全体会众在约柜前献祭，献上的牛羊多得不可胜数。 6祭司把耶和华的约柜抬进内殿，即至圣所，放在两个基路伯天使的翅膀下面。 7基路伯天使展开翅膀，遮盖约柜和抬约柜的横杠。 8横杠很长，在至圣所前面的圣所中也看得见横杠的末端，但在圣所外面看不见。横杠至今仍在那里。 9约柜里除了两块石版，没有别的东西。石版是以色列人离开埃及后，耶和华在何烈山跟他们立约时，摩西放进去的。 10祭司从圣所出来的时候，就有云彩充满了耶和华的殿， 11以致祭司不能在殿里供职，因为殿里充满了耶和华的荣光。 12那时，所罗门说：
“耶和华啊，
你曾说你要住在密云中，
13现在，我为你建造了雄伟的殿宇，
作你永远的居所。”
14然后，王转身为站立在那里的以色列全体会众祝福。 15他说：“以色列的上帝耶和华当受称颂！祂亲口给我父大卫的应许，现在祂亲手成就了！ 16祂曾说，‘自从我带我的以色列子民出埃及以来，我并没有在以色列各支派中选出一座城来建造殿宇，作为我名所在之地。我只是拣选了大卫来治理我的以色列子民。’” 17所罗门又说：“我父大卫曾想为以色列的上帝耶和华的名建一座殿， 18但耶和华对我父大卫说，‘你想为我的名建造殿宇，这番心意是好的， 19但你不可建，要由你的亲生儿子为我的名建殿。’
20“现在耶和华已经成就祂的应许。我继承了我父大卫的王位统治以色列，又为以色列的上帝耶和华的名建了殿， 21并在殿里预备了放约柜的地方。约柜里有耶和华的约，是祂把我们的祖先带出埃及时跟他们立的。”
所罗门的祷告
22所罗门当着以色列会众的面，站在耶和华的坛前，向天伸出双手， 23祷告说：“以色列的上帝耶和华啊，天上地下没有神明可以与你相比！你向尽心遵行你旨意的仆人守约，施慈爱。 24你持守对你仆人——我父大卫的应许，你曾亲口应许，你今天亲手成就了。
25“以色列的上帝耶和华啊，你曾对你仆人——我父大卫说，‘若你的子孙像你一样谨慎行事、遵行我的旨意，你的王朝就不会中断。’求你信守这应许。 26以色列的上帝耶和华啊，求你实现你对你仆人——我父大卫的应许。
27“然而，上帝啊，你真会住在人间吗？看啊，至高的诸天尚且容不下你，更何况我建造的这殿呢？ 28可是，我的上帝耶和华啊，求你垂顾你仆人的祷告和祈求，垂听你仆人今天在你面前的呼求和祷告。 29愿你昼夜看顾这殿，就是你应许立你名的地方！你仆人向着这地方祷告的时候，求你垂听。 30你仆人和你的以色列子民向这地方祈祷的时候，求你从你天上的居所垂听，赦免我们的罪。
31“如果有人得罪邻舍，被叫到这殿中，在你的坛前起誓， 32求你从天上垂听，在你众仆人当中施行审判，按他们的行为罚恶赏善。
33“当你的以色列子民因得罪你而败在敌人手中时，如果他们回心转意归向你，承认你的名，在这殿里祈祷， 34求你从天上垂听，赦免他们的罪，带领他们回到你赐给他们祖先的土地上。
35“当你的子民得罪你，你惩罚他们，让天不降雨时，如果他们向着这地方祷告，承认你的名，并离开罪恶， 36求你在天上垂听，赦免你仆人以色列子民的罪，教导他们走正道，降下甘霖滋润你赐给你子民作产业的土地。
37“如果国中有饥荒、瘟疫、旱灾、霉病、蝗灾、虫灾，或是城邑被敌人围困，无论遭遇什么灾祸疾病， 38只要你的以色列子民，或个人或全体，自知心中痛苦并向着这殿伸手祷告，无论祈求什么， 39求你从天上的居所垂听，赦免他们。唯独你能洞察人心，求你按各人的行为施行赏罚， 40使你的子民在你赐给我们祖先的土地上终生敬畏你。
41-42“如果远方有不属于你以色列子民的外族人听说你的大能大力，慕名而来，向着这殿祷告， 43求你从天上的居所垂听，应允他们的祈求，好叫天下万民都像你的以色列子民一样认识你的名，敬畏你，并知道我建造的这殿属于你的名下。
44“你的子民奉你的命令上阵与敌人作战，无论他们在哪里，如果他们向着你选择的这城和我为你名建造的这殿祷告， 45求你从天上垂听他们的祈祷，为他们伸张正义。
46“世上没有不犯罪的人，如果你的子民得罪你，以致你向他们发怒，让敌人把他们掳走，不论远近， 47若他们在被掳之地回心转意，向你恳求，承认自己犯罪作恶了； 48若他们在掳走他们的仇敌那里全心全意地归向你，朝着你赐给他们祖先的这片土地、你选择的这城和我为你建的这殿向你祷告， 49求你从天上的居所垂听他们的祈祷，为他们伸张正义， 50赦免得罪你的子民，赦免他们的一切过犯，使掳掠他们的人善待他们。 51因为他们是你的子民、你的产业，是你从埃及那铁熔炉里拯救出来的。
52“愿你垂顾仆人和你的以色列子民的祈求。无论他们什么时候向你祈求，都求你垂听。 53主耶和华啊，因为你带我们祖先出埃及的时候，曾经借着你的仆人摩西应许将以色列人从世上万民中分别出来，作你自己的产业。”
所罗门为民祝福
54所罗门跪在耶和华的坛前，举手向耶和华祷告完毕， 55便站起来高声为以色列全体会众祝福： 56“耶和华当受称颂！祂照着应许赐平安给祂的以色列子民。祂从前借着仆人摩西赐下的美好应许一句也没有落空。 57愿我们的上帝耶和华与我们同在，就像与我们的祖先同在一样。愿祂永远都不撇下我们，不丢弃我们， 58使我们的心归向祂，遵行祂的旨意，谨守祂吩咐我们祖先的诫命、律例和典章。 59愿我们的上帝耶和华昼夜顾念我在祂面前的这些祈求，天天为祂的仆人和祂的以色列子民伸张正义， 60叫地上万民都知道，耶和华是独一无二的上帝。 61愿你们像今天一样专心事奉我们的上帝耶和华，遵行祂的律法，谨守祂的诫命。”
圣殿奉献礼
62王和以色列众民一同向耶和华献祭。 63所罗门向耶和华献上两万二千头牛和十二万只羊作平安祭，王和以色列众民为耶和华的殿举行奉献典礼。
64那天，因为耶和华殿前的铜坛太小，容不下燔祭、素祭和平安祭祭牲的脂肪，所罗门王就把殿前院子中间分别出来作圣洁之地，在那里献上燔祭、素祭和平安祭祭牲的脂肪。 65所罗门和从哈马口直至埃及小河而来的全体以色列人聚成一大群会众，在我们的上帝耶和华面前守节期两周，共十四天。 66节后第二天，所罗门王让民众各回本乡。他们看见耶和华向祂仆人大卫和以色列子民所施的一切恩惠，都为王祝福，并满心欢喜地回家去了。
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.
