I Kings 8

az yaqhel shelomoh et-ziqne yisra'el et-kol-rashe hammattot nesi'e ha'avot livne yisra'el el-hammelekh shelomoh yerushalai͏m leha'alot et-aron berit-Adonai me'ir david hi tsiyyon

Then Solomon convoked the elders of Israel—all the heads of the tribes and the ancestral chieftains of the Israelites—before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of GOD from the City of David, that is, Zion.

vayyiqqahalu el-hammelekh shelomoh kol-ish yisra'el beyerakh ha'etanim bekhag hu hakhodesh hashevi'i

The entire body of Israel gathered before King Solomon at the Feast [of Booths], in the month of Ethanim—that is, the seventh month.

vayyavo'u kol ziqne yisra'el vayyisu hakkohanim et-ha'aron

When all the elders of Israel had come, the priests lifted the Ark

vayya'alu et-aron Adonai ve'et-ohel mo'ed ve'et-kol-kele haqqodesh asher ba'ohel vayya'alu otam hakkohanim vehaleviyyim

and carried up the Ark of GOD. Then the priests and the Levites brought the Tent of Meeting and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent.

vehammelekh shelomoh vekhol-adat yisra'el hanno'adim alayw itto lifne ha'aron mezabbekhim tson uvaqar asher lo-yissaferu velo yimmanu merov

Meanwhile, King Solomon and the whole community of Israel, who were assembled with him before the Ark, were sacrificing sheep and oxen in such abundance that they could not be numbered or counted.

vayyavi'u hakkohanim et-aron berit-Adonai el-meqomo el-devir habbayit el-qodesh haqqodashim el-takhat kanfe hakkeruvim

The priests brought the Ark of GOD’s Covenant to its place underneath the wings of the cherubim, in the Shrine of the House, in the Holy of Holies;

ki hakkeruvim poresim kenafayim el-meqom ha'aron vayyasokku hakkeruvim al-ha'aron ve'al-baddayw milma'elah

for the cherubim had their wings spread out over the place of the Ark, so that the cherubim shielded the Ark and its poles from above.

vayya'arikhu habbaddim vayyera'u rashe habbaddim min-haqqodesh al-pene haddevir velo yera'u hakhutsah vayyihyu sham ad hayyom hazzeh

The poles projected so that the ends of the poles were visible in the sanctuary in front of the Shrine, but they could not be seen outside; and there they remain to this day.

en ba'aron raq shene lukhot ha'avanim asher hinniakh sham mosheh bekhorev asher karat Adonai im-bene yisra'el betsetam me'erets mitsrayim

There was nothing inside the Ark but the two tablets of stone that Moses placed there at Horeb, when GOD made [a covenant] with the Israelites after their departure from the land of Egypt.

vayehi betset hakkohanim min-haqqodesh vehe'anan male et-bet Adonai

When the priests came out of the sanctuary—for the cloud had filled the House of GOD

velo-yakhelu hakkohanim la'amod lesharet mippene he'anan ki-male khevod-Adonai et-bet Adonai

and the priests were not able to remain and perform the service because of the cloud, for the Presence of the ETERNAL filled the House of GOD—

az amar shelomoh Adonai amar lishkon ba'arafel

then Solomon declared: “ GOD has chosen To abide in a thick cloud:

banoh vaniti bet zevul lakh makhon leshivtekha olamim

I have now built for You A stately House, A place where You May dwell forever.”

vayyassev hammelekh et-panayw vayevarekh et kol-qehal yisra'el vekhol-qehal yisra'el omed

Then, with the whole congregation of Israel standing, the king faced about and blessed the whole congregation of Israel.

vayyomer barukh Adonai elohe yisra'el asher dibber befiv et david avi uveyado mille lemor

He said: “Praised be the ETERNAL, the God of Israel, who has fulfilled with deeds the promise made to my father David. For [God] said,

min-hayyom asher hotseti et-ammi et-yisra'el mimmitsrayim lo-vakharti ve'ir mikkol shivte yisra'el livnot bayit lihyot shemi sham va'evkhar bedavid lihyot al-ammi yisra'el

‘Ever since I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city among all the tribes of Israel for building a House where My name might abide; but I have chosen David to rule My people Israel.’

vayehi im-levav david avi livnot bayit leshem Adonai elohe yisra'el

“Now my father David had intended to build a House for the name of the ETERNAL One, the God of Israel.

vayyomer Adonai el-david avi ya'an asher hayah im-levavekha livnot bayit lishmi hetivota ki hayah im-levavekha

But GOD said to my father David, ‘As regards your intention to build a House for My name, you did right to have that intention.

raq attah lo tivneh habbayit ki im-binkha hayyotse mekhalatsekha hu-yivneh habbayit lishmi

However, you shall not build the House yourself; instead, your son, the issue of your loins, shall build the House for My name.’

vayyaqem Adonai et-devaro asher dibber va'aqum takhat david avi va'eshev al-kisse yisra'el ka'asher dibber Adonai va'evneh habbayit leshem Adonai elohe yisra'el

“And GOD has fulfilled the promise that was made: I have succeeded my father David and have ascended the throne of Israel, as GOD promised. I have built the House for the name of the ETERNAL One, the God of Israel;

va'asim sham maqom la'aron asher-sham berit Adonai asher karat im-avotenu behotsi'o otam me'erets mitsrayim

and I have set a place there for the Ark, containing the covenant that GOD made with our ancestors upon bringing them out from the land of Egypt.”

vayya'amod shelomoh lifne mizbakh Adonai neged kol-qehal yisra'el vayyifros kappayw hashamayim

Then Solomon stood before the altar of GOD in the presence of the whole community of Israel; he spread the palms of his hands toward heaven

vayyomar Adonai elohe yisra'el en-kamokha elohim bashamayim mimma'al ve'al-ha'arets mittakhat shomer habberit vehakhesed la'avadekha haholekhim lefanekha bekhol-libbam

and said, “O ETERNAL God of Israel, in the heavens above and on the earth below there is no god like You, who keep Your gracious covenant with Your servants when they walk before You in wholehearted devotion;

asher shamarta le'avdekha david avi et asher-dibbarta lo vattedabber befikha uveyadekha milleta kayyom hazzeh

You who have kept the promises You made to Your servant, my father David, fulfilling with deeds the promise You made—as is now the case.

ve'attah Adonai elohe yisra'el shemor le'avdekha david avi et asher dibbarta lo lemor lo-yikkaret lekha ish millefanay yoshev al-kisse yisra'el raq im-yishmeru vanekha et-darkam lalekhet lefanay ka'asher halakhta lefanay

And now, O ETERNAL God of Israel, keep the further promise that You made to Your servant, my father David: ‘Your line on the throne of Israel shall never end, if only your descendants will look to their way and walk before Me as you have walked before Me.’

ve'attah elohe yisra'el ye'amen na (dvrykh) [devarekha] asher dibbarta le'avdekha david avi

Now, therefore, O God of Israel, let the promise that You made to Your servant my father David be fulfilled.

ki ha'umnam yeshev elohim al-ha'arets hinneh hashamayim usheme hashamayim lo yekhalkelukha af ki-habbayit hazzeh asher baniti

“But will God really dwell on earth? Even the heavens to their uttermost reaches cannot contain You, how much less this House that I have built!

ufanita el-tefillat avdekha ve'el-tekhinnato Adonai elohay lishmoa el-harinnah ve'el-hattefillah asher avdekha mitpallel lefanekha hayyom

Yet turn, my ETERNAL God, to the prayer and supplication of Your servant, and hear the cry and prayer that Your servant offers before You this day.

lihyot enekha fetukhot el-habbayit hazzeh laylah vayom el-hammaqom asher amarta yihyeh shemi sham lishmoa el-hattefillah asher yitpallel avdekha el-hammaqom hazzeh

May Your eyes be open day and night toward this House, toward the place of which You have said, ‘My name shall abide there’; may You heed the prayers that Your servant will offer toward this place.

veshamata el-tekhinnat avdekha ve'ammekha yisra'el asher yitpallu el-hammaqom hazzeh ve'attah tishma el-meqom shivtekha el-hashamayim veshamata vesalakheta

And when You hear the supplications that Your servant and Your people Israel offer toward this place, give heed in Your heavenly abode—give heed and pardon.

et asher yekheta ish lere'ehu venasha-vo alah leha'aloto uva alah lifne mizbakhakha babbayit hazzeh

“Whenever one person commits an offense against another, and the latter utters an imprecation to bring a curse upon the former, and comes with that imprecation before Your altar in this House,

ve'attah tishma hashamayim ve'asita veshafatta et-avadekha leharshia rasha latet darko berosho ulehatsdiq tsaddiq latet lo ketsidqato

oh, hear in heaven and take action to judge Your servants, condemning the one who is in the wrong and bringing down the punishment of their conduct on their head—while vindicating the other, who is in the right, by rewarding them according to their righteousness.

behinnagef ammekha yisra'el lifne oyev asher yekhetu-lakh veshavu elekha vehodu et-shemekha vehitpallu vehitkhannenu elekha babbayit hazzeh

“Should Your people Israel be routed by an enemy because they have sinned against You, and then turn back to You and acknowledge Your name, and they offer prayer and supplication to You in this House,

ve'attah tishma hashamayim vesalakhta lekhattat ammekha yisra'el vahashevotam el-ha'adamah asher natatta la'avotam

oh, hear in heaven and pardon the sin of Your people Israel, and restore them to the land that You gave to their ancestors.

behe'atser shamayim velo-yihyeh matar ki yekhetu-lakh vehitpallu el-hammaqom hazzeh vehodu et-shemekha umekhattatam yeshuvun ki ta'anem

“Should the heavens be shut up and there be no rain, because they have sinned against You, and then they pray toward this place and acknowledge Your name and repent of their sins, when You answer them,

ve'attah tishma hashamayim vesalakhta lekhattat avadekha ve'ammekha yisra'el ki torem et-hadderekh hattovah asher yelekhu-vah venatattah matar al-artsekha asher-natattah le'ammekha lenakhalah

oh, hear in heaven and pardon the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, after You have shown them the proper way in which they are to walk; and send down rain upon the land that You gave to Your people as their heritage.

ra'av ki-yihyeh va'arets dever ki-yihyeh shiddafon yeraqon arbeh khasil ki yihyeh ki yatsar-lo oyevo be'erets she'arayw kol-nega kol-makhalah

So, too, if there is a famine in the land, if there is pestilence, blight, mildew, locusts or caterpillars, or if an enemy oppresses them in any of the settlements of the land. “In any plague and in any disease,

kol-tefillah khol-tekhinnah asher tihyeh lekhol-ha'adam lekhol ammekha yisra'el asher yede'un ish nega levavo ufaras kappayw el-habbayit hazzeh

in any prayer or supplication offered by any person among all Your people Israel—each of whom knows their own affliction—when they spread their palms toward this House,

ve'attah tishma hashamayim mekhon shivtekha vesalakhta ve'asita venatatta la'ish kekhol-derakhayw asher teda et-levavo ki-attah yadata levaddekha et-levav kol-bene ha'adam

oh, hear in Your heavenly abode, and pardon and take action! Render to that individual according to their ways as You know their heart to be—for You alone know every human heart.

lema'an yira'ukha kol-hayyamim asher-hem khayyim al-pene ha'adamah asher natattah la'avotenu

Thus may Your people revere You all the days that they live on the land that You gave to our ancestors.

vegam el-hannokhri asher lo-me'ammekha yisra'el hu uva me'erets rekhoqah lema'an shemekha

“Or if a foreigner who is not of Your people Israel comes from a distant land for the sake of Your name—

ki yishme'un et-shimkha haggadol ve'et-yadekha hakhazaqah uzero'akha hannetuyah uva vehitpallel el-habbayit hazzeh

for they shall hear about Your great name and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm—and thus comes to pray toward this House,

attah tishma hashamayim mekhon shivtekha ve'asita kekhol asher-yiqra elekha hannokhri lema'an yede'un kol-amme ha'arets et-shemekha leyirah otekha ke'ammekha yisra'el velada'at ki-shimkha niqra al-habbayit hazzeh asher baniti

oh, hear in Your heavenly abode and grant all that the foreigner asks You for. Thus all the peoples of the earth will know Your name and revere You, as does Your people Israel; and they will recognize that Your name is attached to this House that I have built.

ki-yetse ammekha lammilkhamah al-oyevo badderekh asher tishlakhem vehitpallu el-Adonai derekh ha'ir asher bakharta bah vehabbayit asher-baniti lishmekha

“When Your people take the field against their enemy by whatever way You send them, and they pray to GOD in the direction of the city that You have chosen, and of the House that I have built to Your name,

veshamata hashamayim et-tefillatam ve'et-tekhinnatam ve'asita mishpatam

oh, hear in heaven their prayer and supplication and uphold their cause.

ki yekhetu-lakh ki en adam asher lo-yekheta ve'anafta vam unetattam lifne oyev veshavum shovehem el-erets ha'oyev rekhoqah o qerovah

“When they sin against You—for there is no mortal who does not sin—and You are angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and their captors carry them off to an enemy land, near or far;

veheshivu el-libbam ba'arets asher nishbu-sham veshavu vehitkhannenu elekha be'erets shovehem lemor khatanu vehe'evinu rasha'enu

and then they take it to heart in the land to which they have been carried off, and they repent and make supplication to You in the land of their captors, saying: ‘We have sinned, we have acted perversely, we have acted wickedly,’

veshavu elekha bekhol-levavam uvekhol-nafsham be'erets oyevehem asher-shavu otam vehitpallu elekha derekh artsam asher natattah la'avotam ha'ir asher bakharta vehabbayit asher-[baniti] (vnyt) lishmekha

and they turn back to You with all their heart and soul, in the land of the enemies who have carried them off, and they pray to You in the direction of their land that You gave to their ancestors, of the city that You have chosen, and of the House that I have built to Your name—

veshamata hashamayim mekhon shivtekha et-tefillatam ve'et-tekhinnatam ve'asita mishpatam

oh, give heed in Your heavenly abode to their prayer and supplication, uphold their cause,

vesalakhta le'ammekha asher khate'u-lakh ulekhol-pishehem asher pashe'u-vakh unetattam lerakhamim lifne shovehem verikhamum

and pardon Your people who have sinned against You for all the transgressions that they have committed against You. Grant them mercy in the sight of their captors that they may be merciful to them.

ki-ammekha venakhalatekha hem asher hotseta mimmitsrayim mittokh kur habbarzel

For they are Your very own people that You freed from Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace.

lihyot enekha fetukhot el-tekhinnat avdekha ve'el-tekhinnat ammekha yisra'el lishmoa alehem bekhol qoram elekha

May Your eyes be open to the supplication of Your servant and the supplication of Your people Israel, and may You heed them whenever they call upon You.

ki-attah hivdaltam lekha lenakhalah mikkol amme ha'arets ka'asher dibbarta beyad mosheh avdekha behotsi'akha et-avotenu mimmitsrayim adonay Elohim

For You, O Sovereign GOD, have set them apart for Yourself from all the peoples of the earth as Your very own, as You promised through Moses Your servant when You freed our ancestors from Egypt.”

vayehi kekhallot shelomoh lehitpallel el-Adonai et kol-hattefillah vehattekhinnah hazzot qam millifne mizbakh Adonai mikkeroa al-birkayw vekhappayw perusot hashamayim

When Solomon finished offering to GOD all this prayer and supplication, he rose from where he had been kneeling, in front of the altar of GOD, his hands spread out toward heaven.

vayya'amod vayevarekh et kol-qehal yisra'el qol gadol lemor

He stood, and in a loud voice blessed the whole congregation of Israel:

barukh Adonai asher natan menukhah le'ammo yisra'el kekhol asher dibber lo-nafal davar ekhad mikkol devaro hattov asher dibber beyad mosheh avdo

“Praised be GOD who has granted a haven to Israel—God’s people—just as promised; not a single word has failed of all the gracious promises that were made through God’s servant Moses.

yehi Adonai elohenu immanu ka'asher hayah im-avotenu al-ya'azvenu ve'al-yitteshenu

May the ETERNAL our God be with us, as was the case with our ancestors. May we never be abandoned or forsaken.

lehattot levavenu elayw lalekhet bekhol-derakhayw velishmor mitsvotayw vekhuqqayw umishpatayw asher tsivvah et-avotenu

May our hearts be inclined to [God], that we may walk in all God’s ways and keep the commandments, the laws, and the rules that were enjoined upon our ancestors.

veyihyu devaray elleh asher hitkhannanti lifne Adonai qerovim el-Adonai elohenu yomam valayelah la'asot mishpat avdo umishpat ammo yisra'el devar-yom beyomo

And may these words of mine, which I have offered in supplication before GOD, be close to the ETERNAL our God day and night, that God’s servant and this covenanted people Israel may be provided for, according to each day’s needs—

lema'an da'at kol-amme ha'arets ki Adonai hu ha'elohim en od

to the end that all the peoples of the earth may know that the ETERNAL alone is God, there is no other.

vehayah levavkhem shalem im Adonai elohenu lalekhet bekhuqqayw velishmor mitsvotayw kayyom hazzeh

And may you be wholehearted with the ETERNAL our God, to walk in God’s ways and keep God’s commandments, even as now.”

vehammelekh vekhol-yisra'el immo zovekhim zevakh lifne Adonai

The king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before GOD.

vayyizbakh shelomoh et zevakh hashelamim asher zavakh la-Adonai baqar esrim ushenayim elef vetson me'ah ve'esrim alef vayyakhnekhu et-bet Adonai hammelekh vekhol-bene yisra'el

Solomon offered 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep as sacrifices of well-being to GOD. Thus the king and all the Israelites dedicated the House of GOD.

bayyom hahu qiddash hammelekh et-tokh hekhatser asher lifne vet-Adonai ki-asah sham et-ha'olah ve'et-hamminkhah ve'et khelve hashelamim ki-mizbakh hannekhoshet asher lifne Adonai qaton mehakhil et-ha'olah ve'et-hamminkhah ve'et khelve hashelamim

That day the king consecrated the center of the court that was in front of the House of GOD. For it was there that he presented the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat parts of the offerings of well-being, because the bronze altar that was before GOD was too small to hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat parts of the offerings of well-being.

vayya'as shelomoh va'et-hahi et-hekhag vekhol-yisra'el immo qahal gadol millevo khamat ad-nakhal mitsrayim lifne Adonai elohenu shivat yamim veshivat yamim arba'ah asar yom

So Solomon and all Israel with him—a great assemblage, [coming] from Lebo-hamath to the Wadi of Egypt—observed the Feast at that time before the ETERNAL our God, seven days and again seven days, fourteen days in all.

bayyom hashemini shillakh et-ha'am vayevarekhu et-hammelekh vayyelekhu le'oholehem semekhim vetove lev al kol-hattovah asher asah Adonai ledavid avdo uleyisra'el ammo

On the eighth day he let the people go. They bade the king good-bye and went to their homes, joyful and glad of heart over all the goodness that GOD had shown to God’s servant David and to Israel—God’s people.