1Ki 8:12-50 | ESV | STEP | Then Solomon said , The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness .

12 ^aThen Solomon said, “The Lord ^{▼▼Septuagint The Lord has set the sun in the heavens, but} has said that he would dwell ^cin thick darkness. 13 ^dI have indeed built you an exalted house, ^ea place for you to dwell in forever.” 14 Then the king turned around and ^fblessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. 15 And he said, ^g“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled ^hwhat he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, 16 ⁱ‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, ^jthat my name might be there. ^kBut I chose David to be over my people Israel.’ 17 ^lNow it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 18 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. 19 ^mNevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ 20 Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, ⁿas the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 21 And there I have provided a place for the ark, ^oin which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication

22 Then Solomon ^pstood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and ^qspread out his hands toward heaven, 23 and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, ^rthere is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, ^skeeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart; 24 you have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. ^tYou spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. 25 Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ^u‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’ 26 ^vNow therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David my father.

27 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, ^wheaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! 28 Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, 29 ^xthat your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, ^y‘My name shall be there,’ that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. 30 And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

31 “If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take ^zan oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, 32 then hear in heaven and act and judge your servants, ^aacondemning the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

33 ^ab“When your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and ^acif they turn again to you and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house, 34 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to their fathers.

35 ^ad“When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflict them, 36 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when ^aeyou teach them ^afthe good way in which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.

37 ^ag“If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemy besieges them in the land at their gates, ^{▼▼Septuagint, Syriac in any of their cities} whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, 38 whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart and stretching out his hands toward this house, 39 then hear in heaven your dwelling place and forgive and act and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways ( ^aifor you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind), 40 that they may fear you ^ajall the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers.

41 “Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name’s sake 42 (for they shall hear of your great name ^akand your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, 43 hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order ^althat all the peoples of the earth may know your name and ^amfear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.

44 “If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to the Lord ^antoward the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, 45 then hear in heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause.

46 “If they sin against you— ^aofor there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive ^apto the land of the enemy, far off or near, 47 yet ^aqif they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, ^ar‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ 48 ^asif they repent with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you ^attoward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name, 49 then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause 50 and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you, and ^augrant them compassion in the sight of those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them