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1 KIN G S 8
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the ten water carts holding the ten basins;
the Sea and the twelve oxen under it;
the ash buckets, the shovels, and the bowls.
Huram made all these things of burnished
bronze for the Temple of the Lord, just as King
Solomon had directed. 46 The king had them cast
in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zarethan. 47 Solomon did not weigh all
these things because there were so many; the
weight of the bronze could not be measured.
48 Solomon also made all the furnishings of
the Temple of the Lord:
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the gold altar;
the gold table for the Bread of the Presence;
the lampstands of solid gold, five on the
south and five on the north, in front of
the Most Holy Place;
the flower decorations, lamps, and tongs—
all of gold;
the small bowls, lamp snuffers, bowls,
ladles, and incense burners—all of solid
gold;
the doors for the entrances to the Most Holy
Place and the main room of the Temple,
with their fronts overlaid with gold.
51 So King Solomon finished all his work on
the Temple of the Lord. Then he brought all
the gifts his father, David, had dedicated—the
silver, the gold, and the various articles—and
he stored them in the treasuries of the Lord’s
Temple.
The Ark Brought to the Temple
Solomon then summoned to Jerusalem
the elders of Israel and all the heads of the
tribes—the leaders of the ancestral families of
the Israelites. They were to bring the Ark of the
Lord’s Covenant to the Temple from its location in the City of David, also known as Zion.
2 So all the men of Israel assembled before King
Solomon at the annual Festival of Shelters,
which is held in early autumn in the month of
Ethanim.*
3 When all the elders of Israel arrived, the
priests picked up the Ark. 4 The priests and Levites brought up the Ark of the Lord along with
the special tent* and all the sacred items that
had been in it. 5 There, before the Ark, King Solomon and the entire community of Israel sacrificed so many sheep, goats, and cattle that no
one could keep count!
6 Then the priests carried the Ark of the
Lord’s Covenant into the inner sanctuary of
the Temple—the Most Holy Place—and placed it
beneath the wings of the cherubim. 7 The cherubim spread their wings over the Ark, forming
a canopy over the Ark and its carrying poles.
8 These poles were so long that their ends could
be seen from the Holy Place, which is in front
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of the Most Holy Place, but not from the outside. They are still there to this day. 9 Nothing
was in the Ark except the two stone tablets that
Moses had placed in it at Mount Sinai,* where
the Lord made a covenant with the people of
Israel when they left the land of Egypt.
10 When the priests came out of the Holy
Place, a thick cloud filled the Temple of the
Lord. 11 The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple of the Lord.
Solomon Praises the LORD
12 Then Solomon prayed, “O Lord, you have said
that you would live in a thick cloud of darkness.
13 Now I have built a glorious Temple for you,
a place where you can live forever!*”
14 Then the king turned around to the entire
community of Israel standing before him and
gave this blessing: 15 “Praise the Lord, the God
of Israel, who has kept the promise he made to
my father, David. For he told my father, 16 ‘From
the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt,
I have never chosen a city among any of the
tribes of Israel as the place where a Temple
should be built to honor my name. But I have
chosen David to be king over my people Israel.’”
17 Then Solomon said, “My father, David,
wanted to build this Temple to honor the name
of the Lord, the God of Israel. 18 But the Lord
told him, ‘You wanted to build the Temple to
honor my name. Your intention is good, 19 but
you are not the one to do it. One of your own
sons will build the Temple to honor me.’
20 “And now the Lord has fulfilled the promise he made, for I have become king in my
father’s place, and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised. I have built this
Temple to honor the name of the Lord, the God
of Israel. 21 And I have prepared a place there for
the Ark, which contains the covenant that the
Lord made with our ancestors when he brought
them out of Egypt.”
Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication
22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the
Lord in front of the entire community of Israel.
He lifted his hands toward heaven, 23 and he
prayed,
“O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like
you in all of heaven above or on the earth
below. You keep your covenant and show
unfailing love to all who walk before you
in wholehearted devotion. 24 You have kept
your promise to your servant David, my
8:2 Hebrew at the festival in the month Ethanim, which is the
seventh month. The Festival of Shelters began on the fifteenth
day of the seventh month of the ancient Hebrew lunar
calendar. This day occurred in late September, October, or
early November. 8:4 Hebrew the Tent of Meeting; i.e., the tent
mentioned in 2 Sam 6:17 and 1 Chr 16:1. 8:9 Hebrew at Horeb,
another name for Sinai. 8:13 Some Greek texts add the line
Is this not written in the Book of Jashar?