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The Blue Letter Bible

1 Kings 8 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

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The Ark Brought to the Temple
(2Ch 5:2—6:2 )

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:1

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:1 - 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:2

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:2 - 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.[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:3

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:3 - When all the elders of Israel arrived, the priests picked up the Ark.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:4

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:4 - The priests and Levites brought up the Ark of the LORD along with the special tent[fn] and all the sacred items that had been in it.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:5

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:5 - 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!

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:6

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:6 - 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:7

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:7 - The cherubim spread their wings over the Ark, forming a canopy over the Ark and its carrying poles.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:8

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:8 - These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Temple’s main room—the Holy Place—but not from the outside. They are still there to this day.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:9

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:9 - Nothing was in the Ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Mount Sinai,[fn] where the LORD made a covenant with the people of Israel when they left the land of Egypt.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:10

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:10 - When the priests came out of the Holy Place, a thick cloud filled the Temple of the LORD.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:11

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:11 - The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the LORD filled the Temple.
Solomon Praises the LORD

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:12

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:12 - Then Solomon prayed, “O LORD, you have said that you would live in a thick cloud of darkness.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:13

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:13 - Now I have built a glorious Temple for you, a place where you can live forever![fn]”
(2Ch 6:3–11 )

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:14

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:14 - Then the king turned around to the entire community of Israel standing before him and gave this blessing:

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:15

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:15 - “Praise the LORD, the God of Israel, who has kept the promise he made to my father, David. For he told my father,

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:16

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:16 - ‘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.’”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:17

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:17 - Then Solomon said, “My father, David, wanted to build this Temple to honor the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:18

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:18 - But the LORD told him, ‘You wanted to build the Temple to honor my name. Your intention is good,

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:19

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:19 - but you are not the one to do it. One of your own sons will build the Temple to honor me.’

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:20

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:20 - “And now the LORD has fulfilled the promise he made, for I have become king in my father’s place, and I now 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:21

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:21 - 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
(2Ch 6:12–39 )

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:22

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:22 - Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the entire community of Israel. He lifted his hands toward heaven,

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:23

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:23 - 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:24

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:24 - You have kept your promise to your servant David, my father. You made that promise with your own mouth, and with your own hands you have fulfilled it today.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:25

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:25 - “And now, O LORD, God of Israel, carry out the additional promise you made to your servant David, my father. For you said to him, ‘If your descendants guard their behavior and faithfully follow me as you have done, one of them will always sit on the throne of Israel.’

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:26

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:26 - Now, O God of Israel, fulfill this promise to your servant David, my father.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:27

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:27 - “But will God really live on earth? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this Temple I have built!

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:28

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:28 - Nevertheless, listen to my prayer and my plea, O LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is making to you today.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:29

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:29 - May you watch over this Temple night and day, this place where you have said, ‘My name will be there.’ May you always hear the prayers I make toward this place.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:30

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:30 - May you hear the humble and earnest requests from me and your people Israel when we pray toward this place. Yes, hear us from heaven where you live, and when you hear, forgive.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:31

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:31 - “If someone wrongs another person and is required to take an oath of innocence in front of your altar in this Temple,

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:32

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:32 - then hear from heaven and judge between your servants—the accuser and the accused. Punish the guilty as they deserve. Acquit the innocent because of their innocence.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:33

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:33 - “If your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you, and if they turn to you and acknowledge your name and pray to you here in this Temple,

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:34

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:34 - then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and return them to this land you gave their ancestors.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:35

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:35 - “If the skies are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and if they pray toward this Temple and acknowledge your name and turn from their sins because you have punished them,

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:36

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:36 - then hear from heaven and forgive the sins of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them to follow the right path, and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as their special possession.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:37

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:37 - “If there is a famine in the land or a plague or crop disease or attacks of locusts or caterpillars, or if your people’s enemies are in the land besieging their towns—whatever disaster or disease there is—

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:38

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:38 - and if your people Israel pray about their troubles, raising their hands toward this Temple,

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:39

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:39 - then hear from heaven where you live, and forgive. Give your people what their actions deserve, for you alone know each human heart.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:40

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:40 - Then they will fear you as long as they live in the land you gave to our ancestors.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:41

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:41 - “In the future, foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel will hear of you. They will come from distant lands because of your name,

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:42

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:42 - for they will hear of your great name and your strong hand and your powerful arm. And when they pray toward this Temple,

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:43

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:43 - then hear from heaven where you live, and grant what they ask of you. In this way, all the people of the earth will come to know and fear you, just as your own people Israel do. They, too, will know that this Temple I have built honors your name.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:44

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:44 - “If your people go out where you send them to fight their enemies, and if they pray to the LORD by turning toward this city you have chosen and toward this Temple I have built to honor your name,

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:45

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:45 - then hear their prayers from heaven and uphold their cause.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:46

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:46 - “If they sin against you—and who has never sinned?—you might become angry with them and let their enemies conquer them and take them captive to their land far away or near.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:47

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:47 - But in that land of exile, they might turn to you in repentance and pray, ‘We have sinned, done evil, and acted wickedly.’

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:48

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:48 - If they turn to you with their whole heart and soul in the land of their enemies and pray toward the land you gave to their ancestors—toward this city you have chosen, and toward this Temple I have built to honor your name—

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:49

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:49 - then hear their prayers and their petition from heaven where you live, and uphold their cause.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:50

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:50 - Forgive your people who have sinned against you. Forgive all the offenses they have committed against you. Make their captors merciful to them,

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:51

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:51 - for they are your people—your special possession—whom you brought out of the iron-smelting furnace of Egypt.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:52

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:52 - “May your eyes be open to my requests and to the requests of your people Israel. May you hear and answer them whenever they cry out to you.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:53

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:53 - For when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, O Sovereign LORD, you told your servant Moses that you had set Israel apart from all the nations of the earth to be your own special possession.”
The Dedication of the Temple
(2Ch 6:40–42 )

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:54

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:54 - When Solomon finished making these prayers and petitions to the LORD, he stood up in front of the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands raised toward heaven.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:55

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:55 - He stood and in a loud voice blessed the entire congregation of Israel:

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:56

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:56 - “Praise the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the wonderful promises he gave through his servant Moses.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:57

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:57 - May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us or abandon us.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:58

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:58 - May he give us the desire to do his will in everything and to obey all the commands, decrees, and regulations that he gave our ancestors.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:59

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:59 - And may these words that I have prayed in the presence of the LORD be before him constantly, day and night, so that the LORD our God may give justice to me and to his people Israel, according to each day’s needs.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:60

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:60 - Then people all over the earth will know that the LORD alone is God and there is no other.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:61

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:61 - And may you be completely faithful to the LORD our God. May you always obey his decrees and commands, just as you are doing today.”
(2Ch 7:4–11 )

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:62

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:62 - Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices to the LORD.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:63

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:63 - Solomon offered to the LORD a peace offering of 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats. And so the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the Temple of the LORD.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:64

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:64 - That same day the king consecrated the central area of the courtyard in front of the LORD’s Temple. He offered burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of peace offerings there, because the bronze altar in the LORD’s presence was too small to hold all the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:65

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:65 - Then Solomon and all Israel celebrated the Festival of Shelters[fn] in the presence of the LORD our God. A large congregation had gathered from as far away as Lebo-hamath in the north and the Brook of Egypt in the south. The celebration went on for fourteen days in all—seven days for the dedication of the altar and seven days for the Festival of Shelters.[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 8:66

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 8:66 - After the festival was over,[fn] Solomon sent the people home. They blessed the king and went to their homes joyful and glad because the LORD had been good to his servant David and to his people Israel.
See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NLT Footnotes
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.
Hebrew the Tent of Meeting; i.e., the tent mentioned in 2 Sam 6:17 and 1 Chr 16:1.
Hebrew at Horeb, another name for Sinai.
Some Greek texts add the line Is this not written in the Book of Jashar?
Hebrew the festival; see note on 8:2.
Hebrew seven days and seven days, fourteen days; compare parallel text at 2 Chr 7:8-10.
Hebrew On the eighth day, probably referring to the day following the seven-day Festival of Shelters; compare parallel text at 2 Chr 7:9-10.
NLT

Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Full copyright information is provided here. Visit the New Living Translation website.

For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.

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1 Kings Chapter 8 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New International Version English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras