The First Book of the Kings

⭑ Douay-Rheims :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 8 -

(2 Chronicles 5:1–14)

Then all the ancients of Israel with the princes of the tribes, and the heads of the families of the children of Israel were assembled to king Solomon in Jerusalem: that they might carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, that is, out of Sion.

And all Israel assembled themselves to king Solomon on the festival day in the month of Ethanim, the same is the seventh month.

And all the ancients of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark,

And carried the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the covenant, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, that were in the tabernacle: and the priests and the Levites carried them.

And king Solomon, and all the multitude of Israel, that were assembled unto him went with him before the ark, and they sacrificed sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered.

And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord into its place, into the oracle of the temple, into the holy of holies under the wings of the cherubims.

For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and covered the art, and the staves thereof above.

And whereas the staves stood out, the ends of them were seen without in the sanctuary before the oracle, but were not seen farther out, and there they have been unto this day.

Now in the ark there was nothing else but the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the sanctuary, that a cloud filled the house of the Lord,

And the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.

Solomon Blesses the LORD

(2 Chronicles 6:1–11)

Then Solomon said: The Lord said that he would dwell in a cloud.

Building I have built a house for thy dwelling, to be thy most firm throne for ever.

And the king turned his face, and blessed all the assembly of Israel: for all the assembly of Israel stood.

And Solomon said: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David my father, and with his own hands hath accomplished it, saying:

Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel, for a house to be built, that my name might be there: but I chose David to be over my people Israel.

And David my father would have built a house to the name of the Lord the God of Israel:

And the Lord said to David my father: Whereas thou hast thought in thy heart to build a house to my name, thou hast done well in having this same thing in thy mind.

Nevertheless thou shalt not build me a house, but thy son, that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build a house to my name.

The Lord hath performed his word which he spoke: and I stand in the room of David my father, and sit upon the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised: and have built a house to the name of the Lord the God of Israel.

And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with our fathers, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication

(2 Chronicles 6:12–42)

And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the sight of the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands towards heaven;

And said: Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven above, or on earth beneath: who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that have walked before thee with all their heart.

Who hast kept with thy servant David my father what thou hast promised him: with thy mouth thou didst speak, and with thy hands thou hast performed, as this day proveth.

Now therefore, O Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father what thou hast spoken to him, saying: There shall not be taken away of thee a man in my sight, to sit on the throne of Israel: yet so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked in my sight.

And now, Lord God of Israel, let thy words be established, which thou hast spoken to thy servant David my father.

Is it then to be thought that God should indeed dwell upon earth? for if heaven, and the heavens of heavens cannot contain thee, how much less this house which I have built?

But have regard to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplications, O Lord my God: hear the hymn and the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee this day:

That thy eyes may be open upon this house night and day: upon the house of which thou hast said: My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth in this place to thee.

That thou mayest hearken to the supplication of thy servant and of thy people Israel, whatsoever they shall pray for in this place, and hear them in the place of thy dwelling in heaven; and when thou hearest, shew them mercy.

If any man trespass against his neighbour, and have an oath upon him, wherewith he is bound: and come because of the oath before thy altar to thy house,

Then hear thou in heaven: and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, and bringing his way upon his own head, and justifying the just, and rewarding him according to his justice.

If thy people Israel shall fly before their enemies, (because they will sin against thee,) and doing penance, and confessing to thy name, shall come, and pray, and make supplications to thee in this house:

Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them back to the land which thou gavest to their fathers.

If heaven shall be shut up, and there shall be no rain, because of their sins, and they praying in this place, shall do penance to thy name, and shall be converted from their sins, by occasion of their afflictions:

Then hear thou them in heaven, and forgive the sins of thy servants, and of thy people Israel: and shew them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people in possession.

If a famine arise in the land, or a pestilence, or corrupt air, or blasting, or locust, or mildew, if their enemy afflict them besieging the gates, whatsoever plague, whatsoever infirmity,

Whatsoever curse or imprecation shall happen to any man of thy people Israel: when a man shall know the wound of his own heart, and shall spread forth his hands in this house,

Then hear thou in heaven, in the place of thy dwelling, and forgive, and do so as to give to every one according to his ways, as thou shalt see his heart (for thou only knowest the heart of all the children of men)

That they may fear thee all the days that they live upon the face of the land, which thou hast given to our fathers.

Moreover also the stranger, who is not of thy people Israel, when he shall come out of a far country for thy name’s sake, (for they shall hear everywhere of thy great name and thy mighty hand,

And thy stretched out arm,) so when he shall come, and shall pray in this place,

Then hear thou in heaven, in the firmament of thy dwelling place, and do all those things, for which that stranger shall call upon thee: that all the people of the earth may learn to fear thy name, as do thy people Israel, and may prove that thy name is called upon on this house, which I have built.

If thy people go out to war against their enemies, by what way soever thou shalt send them, they shall pray to thee towards the way of the city, which thou hast chosen, and towards the house, which I have built to thy name:

And then hear thou in heaven their prayers, and their supplications, and do judgment for them.

But if they sin against thee (for there is no man who sinneth not) and thou being angry deliver them up to their enemies, so that they be led away captives into the land of their enemies far or near;

Then if they do penance in their heart in the place of captivity, and being converted make supplication to thee in their captivity, saying: We have sinned, we have done unjustly, we have committed wickedness:

And return to thee with all their heart, and all their soul, in the land of their enemies, to which they had been led captives: and pray to thee towards the way of their land, which thou gavest to their fathers, and of the city which thou hast chosen, and of the temple which I have built to thy name:

Then hear thou in heaven, in the firmament of thy throne, their prayers, and their supplications, and do judgment for them:

And forgive thy people, that have sinned against thee, and all their iniquities, by which they have transgressed against thee: and give them mercy before them that have made them captives, that they may have compassion on them.

For they are thy people, and thy inheritance, whom thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron.

That thy eyes may be open to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, to hear them in all things for which they shall call upon thee.

For thou hast separated them to thyself for an inheritance from among all the people of the earth, as thou hast spoken by Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.

Solomon’s Benediction

And it came to pass, when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, that he rose from before the altar of the Lord: for he had fixed both knees on the ground, and had spread his hands towards heaven.

And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a, loud voice, saying:

Blessed be the Lord, who hath given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed so much as one word of all the good things that he promised by his servant Moses.

The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers, and not leave us, nor cast us off:

But may he incline our hearts to himself, that we may walk in all his ways, and keep his commandments, and his ceremonies, and all his judgments which he commanded our fathers.

And let these my words, wherewith I have prayed before the Lord, he nigh unto the Lord our God day and night, that he may do judgment for his servant, and for his people Israel day by day:

That all the people of the earth may know, that the Lord he is God, and there is no other besides him.

Let our hearts also be perfect with the Lord our God, that we may walk in his statutes, and keep his commandments, as at this day.

Sacrifices of Dedication

(2 Chronicles 7:4–10)

And the king, and all Israel him, offered victims before the Lord.

And Solomon slew victims of peace offerings, which he sacrificed to the Lord, two and twenty thousand oxen, and hundred and twenty thousand sheep: so the king, and the children of Israel dedicated the temple of the Lord.

In that day the king sanctified the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord: for there he offered the holocaust, and sacrifice, and fat of the peace offerings: because the brazen altar that was before the Lord, was too little to receive the holocaust, and sacrifice, and fat of the peace offerings.

And Solomon made at the same time a solemn feast, and all Israel with him, a great multitude from the entrance of Emath to the river of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days and seven days, that is, fourteen days.

And on the eighth day he sent away the people: and they blessed the king, and went to their dwellings rejoicing, and glad in heart for all the good things that the Lord had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people.

(2 Chronicles 5:1–14)

Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel with all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers’ households of the children of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the LORD’s covenant out of David’s city, which is Zion.

All the men of Israel assembled themselves to King Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.

All the elders of Israel came, and the priests picked up the ark.

They brought up the LORD’s ark, the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent. The priests and the Levites brought these up.

King Solomon and all the congregation 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 ark of the LORD’s covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place, even under the cherubim’s wings.

For the cherubim spread their wings out over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and its poles above.

The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy 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 Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

It came to pass, when the priests had come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the LORD’s house,

so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud; for the LORD’s glory filled the LORD’s house.

Solomon Blesses the LORD

(2 Chronicles 6:1–11)

Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

I have surely built you a house of habitation, a place for you to dwell in forever.”

The king turned his face around and blessed all the assembly of Israel; and all the assembly of Israel stood.

He said, “Blessed is the LORD, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David your father, and has with his hand fulfilled it, saying,

‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, that my name might be there; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.’

“Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

But 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.

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.’

The LORD has established his word that he spoke; for I have risen up in the place of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

There I have set a place for the ark, in which is the LORD’s covenant, which he made with our fathers when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication

(2 Chronicles 6:12–42)

Solomon stood before the LORD’s altar in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven;

and he said, “LORD, the God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above, or on earth beneath; who keeps covenant and loving kindness with your servants who walk before you with all their heart;

who has kept with your servant David my father that which you promised him. Yes, you spoke with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is today.

Now therefore, may LORD, the God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father that which you have promised him, saying, ‘There shall not fail from you a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children take heed to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’

“Now therefore, God of Israel, please let your word be verified, which you spoke to your servant David my father.

But will God in very deed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can’t contain you; how much less this house that I have built!

Yet have respect for the prayer of your servant and for his supplication, LORD my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which your servant 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 prayer which your servant prays toward this place.

Listen to the supplication of your servant, and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Yes, hear in heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive.

“If a man sins against his neighbor, and an oath is laid on him to cause him to swear, and he comes and swears before your altar in this house,

then hear in heaven, and act, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

“When your people Israel are struck down before the enemy because they have sinned against you, if they turn again to you and confess your name, and pray and make supplication to you in this house,

then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them again to the land which you gave to their fathers.

“When the sky is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and confess your name, and turn from their sin when you afflict them,

then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on your land which you have given to your people for an inheritance.

“If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight, mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is,

whatever prayer and supplication is made by any man, or by all your people Israel, who shall each know the plague of his own heart, and spread out his hands toward this house,

then hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to every man according to all his ways, whose heart you know (for you, even you only, know the hearts 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 foreigner, 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 heaven, your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner 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 pray to the LORD toward the city which you have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for your name,

then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

If they sin against you (for there is no man who doesn’t sin), and you are angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near;

yet if they repent in the land where they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication to you in the land of those who carried them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned and have done perversely; we have dealt wickedly,’

if they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who carried them captive, and pray 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 prayer and their supplication in heaven, your dwelling place, and maintain their cause;

and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions in which they have transgressed against you; and give them compassion before those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them

(for they are your people and your inheritance, which you brought out of Egypt, from the middle of the iron furnace);

that your eyes may be open to the supplication of your servant and to the supplication 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 inheritance, as you spoke by Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, Lord GOD.”

Solomon’s Benediction

It was so, that when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and supplication to the LORD, he arose from before the LORD’s altar, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread out toward heaven.

He stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying,

“Blessed be the LORD, 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 Moses his servant.

May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our fathers. Let him not leave us or forsake us,

that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances, which he commanded our fathers.

Let these my words, with which I have made supplication before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God 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 the LORD himself is God. There is no one else.

“Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as it is today.”

Sacrifices of Dedication

(2 Chronicles 7:4–10)

The king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD.

Solomon offered for the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to the LORD, twenty two thousand head of cattle and one hundred twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the LORD’s house.

The same day the king made the middle of the court holy that was before the LORD’s house; for there he offered the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before the LORD was too little to receive the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the fat of the peace offerings.

So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days and seven more days, even fourteen days.

On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad in their hearts for all the goodness that the LORD had shown to David his servant, and to Israel his people.