Study Desk

Thus all the work that Solomon did for the house of the LORD was finished. He brought in the things that his father David had dedicated, and he put the silver and the gold and all the utensils in the treasuries of the house of God.

in unison when the trumpeters and singers were to make themselves heard with one voice praising and thanking the LORD, and when they raised their voices accompanied by the trumpets and cymbals and [other] instruments of music, and when they praised the LORD, saying, "For He is good, for His mercy and lovingkindness endure forever," then the house of the LORD was filled with a cloud,

And he said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David and has fulfilled with His hands what He promised, saying,

"Now the LORD has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for I have risen in place of my father David and I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

"There I have placed the ark [the symbol of His Presence] in which is the covenant of the LORD [the Ten Commandments], which He made with the people (descendants) of Israel."

Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of the entire assembly of Israel and spread out his hands.

For Solomon had made a bronze platform, five cubits square and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the courtyard; and he stood on it, and he knelt down on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven,

"Yet have regard for the prayer of Your servant and for his supplication, O LORD my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You,

"If a man sins against his neighbor, and he is required to take an oath, and he comes and takes the oath before Your altar in this house,

then hear from heaven and act and judge Your servants, punishing the wicked by bringing his conduct on his own head, and providing justice to the righteous by giving to him in accordance with his righteousness (innocence).

then whatever prayer or request is made by any man or all of Your people Israel, each knowing his own suffering and his own pain, and stretching out his hands toward this house,

then hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, and forgive, and render to each in accordance with all his ways, whose heart You know; for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men,

When all the people of Israel saw how the fire came down and saw the glory and brilliance of the LORD upon the house, they bowed down on the stone pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and praised the LORD, saying, "For He is good, for His mercy and lovingkindness endure forever."

The priests stood at their posts [ready for service], and the Levites also, with the musical instruments of the LORD which King David had made to praise the LORD, saying, "For His lovingkindness and mercy endure forever," whenever David offered praise through their ministry. The priests were opposite the Levites blowing the trumpets and all Israel was standing.

And on the twenty-third day of the seventh month Solomon sent the people to their tents, rejoicing and happy in heart because of the goodness that the LORD had shown to David, to Solomon, and to His people Israel.

And so Solomon finished the house (temple) of the LORD and the palace of the king. He successfully accomplished all that he had planned to do in the house of the LORD and in his palace.

Now it came about at the end of the twenty years, in which Solomon had built the house of the LORD and his own house (palace),

He built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all his storage cities in Hamath.

and Baalath and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for his chariots and the cities for his horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land under his rule.

But Solomon did not make slaves of the Israelites for his work; they were men of war, his chief captains, and commanders of his chariots and his horsemen.