1 Kings 8

²At that time Solomon assembled in Jerusalem the elders of Israel—all the tribal heads and family leaders of the Israelites—to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Zion, the City of David.

³So all the men of Israel came together to the king at the feast in the seventh month.

²⁵So David, the elders of Israel, and the commanders of thousands went with rejoicing to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-edom.

¹²Now it was reported to King David, “The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and had the ark of God brought up from the house of Obed-edom into the City of David with rejoicing.

¹³When those carrying the ark of the Lord had advanced six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf.

³And David assembled all Israel in Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the Lord to the place he had prepared for it.

⁷Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the City of David).

⁸On that day he said, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites must use the water shaft to reach the lame and blind who are despised by David.” That is why it is said, “The blind and the lame will never enter the palace.”

⁷So David took up residence in the fortress; that is why it was called the City of David.

³⁴“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Feast of Tabernacles to the Lord begins, and it continues for seven days.

⁸So at that time Solomon and all Israel with him—a very great assembly of people from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt—kept the feast for seven days.

⁹On the eighth day they held a solemn assembly, for the dedication of the altar had lasted seven days, and the feast seven days more.

⁴They also celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles in accordance with what is written, and they offered burnt offerings daily based on the number prescribed for each day.

¹⁴And they found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month,

¹⁵and that they should proclaim this message and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the hill country and bring back branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written.”

¹²On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, you are to hold a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular work, and you shall observe a feast to the Lord for seven days.

¹³As a pleasing aroma to the Lord, you are to present a food offering, a burnt offering of thirteen young bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, all unblemished,

¹⁶Then all the survivors from the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.

¹⁷And should any of the families of the earth not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, then the rain will not fall on them.

⁹So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel.

⁶And he said to the priests, “Take the ark of the covenant and go on ahead of the people.” So they carried the ark of the covenant and went ahead of them.

¹⁵When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all their equipment, as soon as the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites shall come and do the carrying. But they must not touch the holy objects, or they will die. These are the transportation duties of the Kohathites regarding the Tent of Meeting.

³and commanded the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, you are to set out from your positions and follow it.

⁹Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant stood. And the stones are there to this day.

¹⁴So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant ahead of them.

¹⁵Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season. But as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge,

³And Solomon and the whole assembly went to the high place at Gibeon because it was the location of God’s Tent of Meeting, which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness.

⁴Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for it was the great high place. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on the altar there.

²“On the first day of the first month you are to set up the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting.

³Put the ark of the Testimony in it and screen off the ark with the veil.

¹³When those carrying the ark of the Lord had advanced six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf.

¹So they brought the ark of God and placed it inside the tent that David had pitched for it. And they presented burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.

⁶²Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord.

⁶³And Solomon offered as peace offerings to the Lord 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the house of the Lord.

²⁷And he placed the cherubim inside the innermost room of the temple. Since their wings were spread out, the wing of the first cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the second cherub touched the other wall, and in the middle of the room their wingtips touched.

¹⁹Solomon also prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the Lord there.

¹⁷So they brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.

³³And hang the veil from the clasps and place the ark of the Testimony behind the veil. So the veil will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.

³⁴Put the mercy seat on the ark of the Testimony in the Most Holy Place.

⁴So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the Lord of Hosts, who sits enthroned between the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

¹The Lord reigns; let the nations tremble! He is enthroned above the cherubim; let the earth quake!

¹³And make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.

¹⁴Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, in order to carry it.

⁴Then he made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

⁵He inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark in order to carry it.

⁹Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant stood. And the stones are there to this day.

⁹The poles of the ark extended far enough that their ends were visible from in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are there to this day.

²⁰Moses took the Testimony and placed it in the ark, attaching the poles to the ark; and he set the mercy seat atop the ark.

¹⁵So the guards took the money and did as they were instructed. And this account has been circulated among the Jews to this very day.

²¹Set the mercy seat atop the ark and put the Testimony that I will give you into the ark.

⁴containing the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. Inside the ark were the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.

²⁰Moses took the Testimony and placed it in the ark, attaching the poles to the ark; and he set the mercy seat atop the ark.

²And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and you are to place them in the ark.”

³So I made an ark of acacia wood, chiseled out two stone tablets like the originals, and went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hands.

²⁷The Lord also said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”

²⁸So Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.

¹When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

²The priests were unable to enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled it.

¹When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

²The priests were unable to enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled it.

³⁴Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

³⁵Moses was unable to enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

⁴Then the man brought me to the front of the temple by way of the north gate. I looked and saw the glory of the Lord filling His temple, and I fell facedown.

⁴and the glory of the Lord entered the temple through the gate facing east.

⁵Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

²³Moses and Aaron then entered the Tent of Meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people.

⁶For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

¹⁸And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

²and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory.

²Clouds and darkness surround Him; righteousness and justice are His throne’s foundation.

¹Then Solomon declared: “The Lord has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud.

²But I have built You an exalted house, a place for You to dwell forever.”

²And the Lord said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron not to enter freely into the Most Holy Place behind the veil in front of the mercy seat on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.

¹⁵Truly You are a God who hides Himself, O God of Israel, the Savior.

²¹And the people stood at a distance as Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

⁸Smoke rose from His nostrils, and consuming fire came from His mouth; glowing coals blazed forth.

⁹He parted the heavens and came down with dark clouds beneath His feet.

¹³He will build a house for My Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

²⁴For Christ did not enter a man-made copy of the true sanctuary, but He entered heaven itself, now to appear on our behalf in the presence of God.

¹³For the Lord has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His home:

¹⁴“This is My resting place forever and ever; here I will dwell, for I have desired this home.

¹⁷You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of Your inheritance—the place, O Lord, You have prepared for Your dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, Your hands have established.

¹⁰He is the one who will build a house for My Name. He will be My son, and I will be his Father. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’

¹¹Now, my son, may the Lord be with you, and may you succeed in building the house of the Lord your God, as He said you would.

⁵The place where they serve is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”

⁶Now, however, Jesus has received a much more excellent ministry, just as the covenant He mediates is better and is founded on better promises.

¹⁸When David had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of Hosts.

⁵⁵And he stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying:

⁵⁶“Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel according to all that He promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises He made through His servant Moses.

²Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all the foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

¹⁸A large number of the people—many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun—had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah interceded for them, saying, “May the Lord, who is good, provide atonement for everyone

¹⁹who sets his heart on seeking God—the Lord, the God of his fathers—even if he is not cleansed according to the purification rules of the sanctuary.”

⁷The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law as they stood in their places.

⁶So Joshua blessed them and sent them on their way, and they went to their homes.

⁶⁸“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has visited and redeemed His people.

¹⁰Then David blessed the Lord in the sight of all the assembly and said: “May You be blessed, O Lord, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.

⁵Then the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah—said, “Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting: Blessed be Your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.

²⁰Then David said to the whole assembly, “Bless the Lord your God.” So the whole assembly blessed the Lord, the God of their fathers. They bowed down and paid homage to the Lord and to the king.

¹⁸But it is we who will bless the Lord, both now and forevermore. Hallelujah!

⁷⁰as He spoke through His holy prophets, those of ages past,

¹Now the Lord said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have selected from his sons a king for Myself.”

²⁹May Your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place.

⁴But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying,

⁵“Go and tell My servant David that this is what the Lord says: Are you the one to build for Me a house to dwell in?

⁴Yet the Lord, the God of Israel, chose me out of all my father’s house to be king over Israel forever. For He chose Judah as leader, and from the house of Judah He chose my father’s household, and from my father’s sons He was pleased to make me king over all Israel.

¹¹then the Lord your God will choose a dwelling for His Name. And there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice offerings you vow to the Lord.

⁵For I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought Israel up out of Egypt until this day, but I have moved from tent to tent and dwelling to dwelling.

⁶In all My journeys with all the Israelites, have I ever asked any of the leaders I appointed to shepherd My people, ‘Why haven’t you built Me a house of cedar?’

²he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.”

³And Nathan replied to the king, “Go and do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.”

²Then King David rose to his feet and said, “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. It was in my heart to build a house as a resting place for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and as a footstool for our God. I had made preparations to build it,

⁷“My son,” said David to Solomon, “it was in my heart to build a house for the Name of the Lord my God,

¹After David had settled into his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent.”

²And Nathan replied to David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.”

⁷Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

⁸But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Since it was in your heart to build a house for My Name, you have done well to have this in your heart.

¹²For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.

⁵“Go and tell My servant David that this is what the Lord says: Are you the one to build for Me a house to dwell in?

⁸but this word of the Lord came to me: ‘You have shed much blood and waged great wars. You are not to build a house for My Name because you have shed so much blood on the ground before Me.

⁹But a son will be born to you who will be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side; for his name will be Solomon, and I will grant to Israel peace and quiet during his reign.

⁶And He said to me, ‘Solomon your son is the one who will build My house and My courts, for I have chosen him as My son, and I will be his Father.

¹²And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.

¹³He will build a house for My Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

¹¹And when your days are fulfilled and you go to be with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom.

¹²He will build a house for Me, and I will establish his throne forever.

⁴“Go and tell My servant David that this is what the Lord says: You are not the one to build Me a house in which to dwell.

⁵And of all my sons—for the Lord has given me many sons—He has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel.

⁶And He said to me, ‘Solomon your son is the one who will build My house and My courts, for I have chosen him as My son, and I will be his Father.

¹⁰For this is what the Lord says: “When Babylon’s seventy years are complete, I will attend to you and confirm My promise to restore you to this place.

¹¹For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.

⁷Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.

²⁰You will show faithfulness to Jacob and loving devotion to Abraham, as You swore to our fathers from the days of old.

¹⁵and said: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has fulfilled with His own hand what He spoke with His mouth to my father David, saying,

⁸You found his heart faithful before You, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites and Hittites, of the Amorites and Perizzites, of the Jebusites and Girgashites—to give it to his descendants. You have kept Your promise, because You are righteous.

⁹There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the Lord had made a covenant with the Israelites after they had come out of the land of Egypt.

²⁶“Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, so that it may remain there as a witness against you.

⁵There, before the ark, King Solomon and the whole congregation of Israel who had assembled with him sacrificed so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.

⁶Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, beneath the wings of the cherubim.

⁹When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I ate no bread and drank no water.

¹¹And at the end of forty days and forty nights, the Lord gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant.

²⁸So Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.

⁵At the evening offering, I got up from my humiliation with my tunic and cloak torn, and I fell on my knees, spread out my hands to the Lord my God,

⁵⁴Now when Solomon had finished praying this entire prayer and petition to the Lord, he got up before the altar of the Lord, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven.

³³Then Moses departed from Pharaoh, went out of the city, and spread out his hands to the Lord. The thunder and hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured down on the land.

¹⁵When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.

²⁹Moses said to him, “When I have left the city, I will spread out my hands to the Lord. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the Lord’s.

⁸Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or dissension.

²²How great You are, O Lord God! For there is none like You, and there is no God but You, according to everything we have heard with our own ears.

⁹Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps His covenant of loving devotion for a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.

⁴And I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed, “O, Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of loving devotion to those who love Him and keep His commandments,

⁵Then I said: “O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps His covenant of loving devotion with those who love Him and keep His commandments,

²There is no one holy like the Lord. Indeed, there is no one besides You! And there is no Rock like our God.

³²So now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God who keeps His gracious covenant, do not view lightly all the hardship that has come upon us, and upon our kings and leaders, our priests and prophets, our ancestors and all Your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today.

¹⁶Your house and kingdom will endure forever before Me, and your throne will be established forever.”

¹²And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.

¹⁵and said: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has fulfilled with His own hand what He spoke with His mouth to my father David, saying,

¹⁴and said: “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven or on earth, keeping Your covenant of loving devotion with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts.

¹⁵You have kept Your promise to Your servant, my father David. What You spoke with Your mouth You have fulfilled with Your hand this day.

⁴and so that the Lord may fulfill His promise to me: ‘If your descendants take heed to walk faithfully before Me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’

¹⁶Therefore now, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for Your servant, my father David, what You promised when You said: ‘You will never fail to have a man to sit before Me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants guard their way to walk in My law as you have walked before Me.’

¹⁷And now, O Lord, God of Israel, please confirm what You promised to Your servant David.

⁴And as for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, with a heart of integrity and uprightness, doing all I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and ordinances,

⁵then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised your father David when I said, ‘You will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’

¹⁷For this is what the Lord says: David will never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel,

¹⁸nor will the priests who are Levites ever fail to have a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to present sacrifices.”

⁶⁸“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has visited and redeemed His people.

⁶⁹He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David,

²⁷For You, O Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, have revealed this to Your servant when You said, ‘I will build a house for you.’ Therefore Your servant has found the courage to offer this prayer to You.

²⁸And now, O Lord God, You are God! Your words are true, and You have promised this goodness to Your servant.

²⁵And now, O Lord God, confirm forever the word You have spoken concerning Your servant and his house. Do as You have promised,

²⁶so that Your name will be magnified forever when it is said, ‘The Lord of Hosts is God over Israel.’ And the house of Your servant David will be established before You.

¹³Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.

²³and said: “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth below, keeping Your covenant of loving devotion with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts.

⁴⁹Remember Your word to Your servant, upon which You have given me hope.

¹⁷The poor and needy seek water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the Lord, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

¹⁰and they saw the God of Israel. Under His feet was a work like a pavement made of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself.

¹This is what the Lord says: “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me? Or where will My place of repose be?

²⁴“Can a man hide in secret places where I cannot see him?” declares the Lord. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the Lord.

⁶But who is able to build a house for Him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain Him? Who then am I, that I should build a house for Him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before Him?

¹⁸But will God indeed dwell with man upon the earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.

⁴⁸However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:

⁴⁹‘Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me, says the Lord, or where will My place of repose be?

⁷Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?

⁸If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.

¹Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray at all times and not lose heart:

¹⁹Yet regard the prayer and plea of Your servant, O Lord my God, so that You may hear the cry and the prayer that Your servant is praying before You.

³Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I call to You all day long.

⁷Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He delay in helping them?

²May my prayer be set before You like incense; my uplifted hands, like the evening offering.

¹For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments. A Psalm of David. Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved my distress; show me grace and hear my prayer.

¹⁵Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.

¹⁶For I have now chosen and consecrated this temple so that My Name may be there forever. My eyes and My heart will be there for all time.

²⁰May Your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, toward the place where You said You would put Your Name, so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place.

¹¹then the Lord your God will choose a dwelling for His Name. And there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice offerings you vow to the Lord.

⁶let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to hear the prayer that I, Your servant, now pray before You day and night for Your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins that we Israelites have committed against You. Both I and my father’s house have sinned.

¹⁶‘Since the day I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house so that My Name would be there. But I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’

⁴Manasseh also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever.”

³⁴then may You hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel. May You restore them to the land You gave to their fathers.

³⁹be heard by You from heaven, Your dwelling place. And may You forgive and act, and repay each man according to all his ways, since You know his heart—for You alone know the hearts of all men—

³⁶then may You hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, so that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk. May You send rain on the land that You gave Your people as an inheritance.

¹⁹O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your name.”

¹⁵For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.

³If You, O Lord, kept track of iniquities, then who, O Lord, could stand?

⁴But with You there is forgiveness, so that You may be feared.

⁸If the thief is not found, the owner of the house must appear before the judges to determine whether he has taken his neighbor’s property.

⁹In all cases of illegal possession of an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any lost item that someone claims, ‘This is mine,’ both parties shall bring their cases before the judges. The one whom the judges find guilty must pay back double to his neighbor.

²²When a man sins against his neighbor and is required to take an oath, and he comes to take an oath before Your altar in this temple,

²³then may You hear from heaven and act. May You judge Your servants, condemning the wicked man by bringing down on his own head what he has done, and justifying the righteous man by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

⁹Otherwise, I may have too much and deny You, saying, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, profaning the name of my God.

¹⁶The priest is to bring the wife forward and have her stand before the Lord.

¹⁷Then he is to take some holy water in a clay jar and put some of the dust from the tabernacle floor into the water.

¹“If someone sins by failing to testify when he hears a public charge about something he has witnessed, whether he has seen it or learned of it, he shall bear the iniquity.

¹If there is a dispute between men, they are to go to court to be judged, so that the innocent may be acquitted and the guilty condemned.

⁶God “will repay each one according to his deeds.”

⁷To those who by perseverance in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life.

¹³He engages in usury and takes excess interest. Will this son live? He will not! Since he has committed all these abominations, he will surely die; his blood will be on his own head.

¹⁰Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their labor.

¹¹Woe to the wicked; disaster is upon them! For they will be repaid with what their hands have done.

²⁰The soul who sins is the one who will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of his father, and a father will not bear the iniquity of his son. The righteousness of the righteous man will fall upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked man will fall upon him.

⁷maintaining loving devotion to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers on their children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”

¹⁷And I will set My face against you, so that you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one pursues you.

²⁵The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them in one direction but flee from them in seven. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

¹⁰When God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—He relented from the disaster He had threatened to bring upon them.

²⁴When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and they return to You and confess Your name, praying and pleading before You in this temple,

²⁵then may You hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel. May You restore them to the land You gave to them and their fathers.

²⁵And I will bring a sword against you to execute the vengeance of the covenant. Though you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague among you, and you will be delivered into the hand of the enemy.

⁴⁸you will serve your enemies the Lord will send against you in famine, thirst, nakedness, and destitution. He will place an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.

¹⁹O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your name.”

²And when the locusts had eaten every green plant in the land, I said, “Lord God, please forgive! How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?”

³⁰Hear the plea of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. May You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place. May You hear and forgive.

³⁷I will surely gather My people from all the lands to which I have banished them in My furious anger and great wrath, and I will return them to this place and make them dwell in safety.

²⁷“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and of beast.

⁴⁷Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to Your holy name, that we may glory in Your praise.

¹⁷or the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you. He will shut the heavens so that there will be no rain, nor will the land yield its produce, and you will soon perish from the good land that the Lord is giving you.

¹⁹I will break down your stubborn pride and make your sky like iron and your land like bronze,

³³When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and they return to You and confess Your name, praying and pleading with You in this temple,

¹³So Gad went and said to David, “Do you choose to endure three years of famine in your land, three months of fleeing the pursuit of your enemies, or three days of plague upon your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.”

⁶These witnesses have power to shut the sky so that no rain will fall during the days of their prophecy, and power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.

²⁵But I tell you truthfully that there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and great famine swept over all the land.

¹¹Teach me Your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path, because of my oppressors.

²³As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. And I will continue to teach you the good and right way.

¹⁶This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths: ‘Where is the good way?’ Then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it!’

⁴Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths.

⁵Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; all day long I wait for You.

²²Can the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies alone send showers? Is this not by You, O Lord our God? So we put our hope in You, for You have done all these things.

⁴⁵Meanwhile, the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and a heavy rain began to fall. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel.

²¹The Lord will make the plague cling to you until He has exterminated you from the land that you are entering to possess.

²²The Lord will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, and with blight and mildew; these will pursue you until you perish.

¹⁶then this is what I will do to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting disease, and fever that will destroy your sight and drain your life. You will sow your seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.

³⁸You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because the locusts will consume it.

³⁹You will plant and cultivate vineyards, but will neither drink the wine nor gather the grapes, because worms will eat them.

⁹‘If disaster comes upon us—whether sword or judgment, plague or famine—we will stand before this temple and before You, for Your Name is in this temple. We will cry out to You in our distress, and You will hear us and save us.’

²At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard, which was in the palace of the king of Judah.

¹In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army and laid siege to the city.

²And on the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, the city was breached.

²²Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven,

⁶Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

¹This is what the Lord God showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts just after the king’s harvest, as the late spring crop was coming up.

²And when the locusts had eaten every green plant in the land, I said, “Lord God, please forgive! How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?”

²¹When my heart was grieved and I was pierced within,

²²I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before You.

¹⁵When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.

⁶O my God, my soul despairs within me. Therefore I remember You from the land of Jordan and the peaks of Hermon—even from Mount Mizar.

⁹As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands the intent of every thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.

¹⁰I, the Lord, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.

²⁴And they prayed, “Lord, You know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two You have chosen

⁷But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the Lord does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the Lord sees the heart.”

⁴The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord is on His heavenly throne. His eyes are watching closely; they examine the sons of men.

⁵The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked; His soul hates the lover of violence.

³²then may You hear from heaven and act. May You judge Your servants, condemning the wicked man by bringing down on his own head what he has done, and justifying the righteous man by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

⁴But with You there is forgiveness, so that You may be feared.

⁵Then a voice came from the throne, saying: “Praise our God, all you who serve Him, and those who fear Him, small and great alike!”

²⁰“Do not be afraid,” Moses replied. “For God has come to test you, so that the fear of Him may be before you, to keep you from sinning.”

²⁴Above all, fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you.

¹³Fear the Lord your God, serve Him only, and take your oaths in His name.

¹³He will bless those who fear the Lord—small and great alike.

¹Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with difficult questions.

²She arrived in Jerusalem with a very large caravan—with camels bearing spices, gold in great abundance, and precious stones. And she came to Solomon and spoke to him all that was on her mind.

³Let no foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, “The Lord will utterly exclude me from His people.” And let the eunuch not say, “I am but a dry tree.”

⁴For this is what the Lord says: “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, who choose what pleases Me and hold fast to My covenant—

²⁷So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official in charge of the entire treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He had gone to Jerusalem to worship,

²⁸and on his return was sitting in his chariot reading Isaiah the prophet.

⁸Then Moses recounted to his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardships they had encountered along the way, and how the Lord had delivered them.

⁹And Jethro rejoiced over all the good things the Lord had done for Israel, whom He had rescued from the hand of the Egyptians.

¹At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was called the Italian Regiment.

²He and all his household were devout and God-fearing. He gave generously to the people and prayed to God regularly.

²⁰Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the feast.

²⁴“O Lord God, You have begun to show Your greatness and power to Your servant. For what god in heaven or on earth can perform such works and mighty acts as Yours?

²Know this day that it is not your children who have known and seen the discipline of the Lord your God: His greatness, His mighty hand, and His outstretched arm;

³the signs and works He did in Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt and all his land;

²⁸Nebuchadnezzar declared, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him. They violated the king’s command and risked their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.

⁸O Lord, there is none like You among the gods, nor any works like Yours.

⁹All the nations You have made will come and bow before You, O Lord, and they will glorify Your name.

⁹When the Canaanites and all who live in the land hear about this, they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. Then what will You do for Your great name?”

³¹And so when ambassadors of the rulers of Babylon were sent to him to inquire about the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone to test him, that He might know all that was in Hezekiah’s heart.

⁴⁶This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand. This day I will strike you down, cut off your head, and give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the creatures of the earth. Then the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.

⁹All the nations You have made will come and bow before You, O Lord, and they will glorify Your name.

¹⁵So the nations will fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth will fear Your glory.

²⁷All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord. All the families of the nations will bow down before Him.

⁹They will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the sea is full of water.

¹⁹And now, O Lord our God, please save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O Lord, are God.”

³⁴When Your people go to war against their enemies, wherever You send them, and when they pray to You in the direction of this city You have chosen and the house I have built for Your Name,

⁶⁷He rejected the tent of Joseph and refused the tribe of Ephraim.

⁶⁸But He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loved.

¹³For the Lord has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His home:

¹⁴“This is My resting place forever and ever; here I will dwell, for I have desired this home.

¹⁷So now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of Your servant. For Your sake, O Lord, cause Your face to shine upon Your desolate sanctuary.

¹⁸Incline Your ear, O my God, and hear; open Your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears Your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before You because of our righteous acts, but because of Your great compassion.

¹⁶‘Since the day I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house so that My Name would be there. But I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’

¹When you go out to war against your enemies and see horses, chariots, and an army larger than yours, do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, is with you.

²When you are about to go into battle, the priest is to come forward and address the army,

⁴For You have upheld my just cause; You sit on Your throne judging righteously.

²⁵Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”

²⁰Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

⁹Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am cleansed from my sin”?

⁸If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

⁹If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

⁶Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.

²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

⁶We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.

⁶We have sinned like our fathers; we have done wrong and acted wickedly.

⁶let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to hear the prayer that I, Your servant, now pray before You day and night for Your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins that we Israelites have committed against You. Both I and my father’s house have sinned.

⁷We have behaved corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, statutes, and ordinances that You gave Your servant Moses.

⁶and said: “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, because our iniquities are higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached the heavens.

⁷From the days of our fathers to this day, our guilt has been great. Because of our iniquities, we and our kings and priests have been delivered into the hands of the kings of the earth and subjected to the sword and to captivity, to pillage and humiliation, as we are this day.

²⁶But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.

²⁷So You delivered them into the hands of enemies who oppressed them, and in their time of distress they cried out to You. From heaven You heard them, and in Your great compassion You gave them deliverers who saved them from the hands of their enemies.

¹“When all these things come upon you—the blessings and curses I have set before you—and you call them to mind in all the nations to which the Lord your God has banished you,

²and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey His voice with all your heart and all your soul according to everything I am giving you today,

²⁹But if from there you will seek the Lord your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

³⁰When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the Lord your God and listen to His voice.

¹⁰Now when Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house, where the windows of his upper room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

²⁹But if from there you will seek the Lord your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

¹²Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.

¹³You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

⁴At this, I said, ‘I have been banished from Your sight; yet I will look once more toward Your holy temple.’

⁹but if you return to Me and keep and practice My commandments, then even if your exiles have been banished to the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for My Name.’

³Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and Ashtoreths among you, prepare your hearts for the Lord, and serve Him only. And He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.”

⁴So the Israelites put away the Baals and Ashtoreths and served only the Lord.

⁴⁵then may You hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and may You uphold their cause.

¹⁹And now, O Lord our God, please save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O Lord, are God.”

¹⁵but I am fiercely angry with the nations that are at ease. For I was a little angry, but they have added to the calamity.’

¹⁶Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there My house will be rebuilt, declares the Lord of Hosts, and a measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.’

⁴⁶He made them objects of compassion to all who held them captive.

⁹For if you return to the Lord, your brothers and sons will receive mercy in the presence of their captors and will return to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful; He will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.”

¹⁰and rescued him from all his troubles. He granted Joseph favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and all his household.

⁷When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even the man’s enemies live at peace with him.

²⁷Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, who has put into the heart of the king to so honor the house of the Lord in Jerusalem,

²⁸and who has shown me favor before the king, his counselors, and all his powerful officials. And because the hand of the Lord my God was upon me, I took courage and gathered the leaders of Israel to return with me.

¹¹O Lord, may Your ear be attentive to my prayer and to the prayers of Your servants who delight to revere Your name. Give Your servant success this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” (At that time I was the cupbearer to the king.)

⁴which I commanded your forefathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace, saying, ‘Obey Me, and do everything I command you, and you will be My people, and I will be your God.’

²⁰Yet the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of His inheritance, as you are today.

¹⁰They are Your servants and Your people. You redeemed them by Your great power and mighty hand.

¹⁹The Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things, and of the tribe of His inheritance—the Lord of Hosts is His name.

¹¹But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God, saying, “O Lord, why does Your anger burn against Your people, whom You brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?

¹²Why should the Egyptians declare, ‘He brought them out with evil intent, to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce anger and relent from doing harm to Your people.

²⁶And I prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, do not destroy Your people, Your inheritance, whom You redeemed through Your greatness and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

²⁷Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness of this people and the wickedness of their sin.

¹⁸The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call out to Him in truth.

²⁹May Your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place.

⁵For You, O Lord, are kind and forgiving, rich in loving devotion to all who call on You.

⁴⁰Now, my God, may Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place.

⁵Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.

⁶And unto Me you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to speak to the Israelites.”

⁹But the Lord’s portion is His people, Jacob His allotted inheritance.

²for you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.

²⁶And I prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, do not destroy Your people, Your inheritance, whom You redeemed through Your greatness and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

²⁷Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness of this people and the wickedness of their sin.

¹This is the blessing that Moses the man of God pronounced upon the Israelites before his death.

²He said: “The Lord came from Sinai and dawned upon us from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran and came with myriads of holy ones, with flaming fire at His right hand.

³⁴Or has any god tried to take as his own a nation out of another nation—by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors—as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt, before your eyes?

⁴⁵When Jesus rose from prayer and returned to the disciples, He found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.

¹²Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands.

¹³Now Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high and had placed it in the middle of the courtyard. He stood on it, knelt down before the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven,

¹When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

⁶O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.

⁴¹And He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, where He knelt down and prayed,

³⁶When Paul had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed.

¹⁴And as the whole assembly of Israel stood there, the king turned around and blessed them all

¹⁸When David had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of Hosts.

²³“Tell Aaron and his sons: This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

²⁴‘May the Lord bless you and keep you;

²When David had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord.

¹⁴Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know with all your heart and soul that not one of the good promises the Lord your God made to you has failed. Everything was fulfilled for you; not one promise has failed.

¹⁵But just as every good thing the Lord your God promised you has come to pass, likewise the Lord will bring upon you the calamity He has threatened, until He has destroyed you from this good land He has given you.

⁴⁴And the Lord gave them rest on every side, just as He had sworn to their fathers. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand.

⁴⁵Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to the house of Israel had failed; everything was fulfilled.

¹⁹And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and He let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground.

³³Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

⁷²to show mercy to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant,

⁷³the oath He swore to our father Abraham, to grant us

¹⁰Know, then, that not a word the Lord has spoken against the house of Ahab will fail, for the Lord has done what He promised through His servant Elijah.”

⁵No one shall stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so will I be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

⁶Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or terrified of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”

⁸The Lord Himself goes before you; He will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”

⁵Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”

⁹Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

²²Indeed, for the sake of His great name, the Lord will not abandon His people, because He was pleased to make you His own.

³⁶Turn my heart to Your testimonies and not to covetous gain.

²⁶I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

²⁷And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.

³³“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.

¹³For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.

²¹equip you with every good thing to do His will. And may He accomplish in us what is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

⁴⁵These are the testimonies, statutes, and ordinances that Moses proclaimed to them after they had come out of Egypt,

²May my prayer be set before You like incense; my uplifted hands, like the evening offering.

⁹I ask on their behalf. I do not ask on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those You have given Me; for they are Yours.

³Give us each day our daily bread.

²⁵May the bolts of your gate be iron and bronze, and may your strength match your days.”

²He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

²⁰I am not asking on behalf of them alone, but also on behalf of those who will believe in Me through their message,

²¹that all of them may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I am in You. May they also be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

³⁵You were shown these things so that you would know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides Him.

³⁹When all the people saw this, they fell facedown and said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”

¹⁰But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and eternal King. The earth quakes at His wrath, and the nations cannot endure His indignation.

¹¹Thus you are to tell them: “These gods, who have made neither the heavens nor the earth, will perish from this earth and from under these heavens.”

¹⁹And now, O Lord our God, please save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O Lord, are God.”

⁴⁶This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand. This day I will strike you down, cut off your head, and give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the creatures of the earth. Then the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.

²²Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.

⁴For when Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his father David had been.

³“Please, O Lord, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

¹⁴The high places were not removed, but Asa’s heart was fully devoted to the Lord all his days.

³And Abijam walked in all the sins that his father before him had committed, and his heart was not as fully devoted to the Lord his God as the heart of David his forefather had been.

¹³You must be blameless before the Lord your God.

¹Therefore, beloved, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that defiles body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

¹⁷So they brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.

¹⁸When David had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of Hosts.

⁴Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord.

⁵And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.

¹⁶Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy.

¹⁷For the dedication of the house of God they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and a sin offering for all Israel of twelve male goats, one for each tribe of Israel.

¹⁶Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy.

¹⁷For the dedication of the house of God they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and a sin offering for all Israel of twelve male goats, one for each tribe of Israel.

¹¹At that time they sacrificed to the Lord seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep from all the plunder they had brought back.

²⁷At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from all their homes and brought to Jerusalem to celebrate the joyous dedication with thanksgiving and singing, accompanied by cymbals, harps, and lyres.

⁷Would the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

¹⁷And it shall be the prince’s part to provide the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings for the feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths—for all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel. He will provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings to make atonement for the house of Israel.

⁸⁴So these were the offerings from the leaders of Israel for the dedication of the altar when it was anointed: twelve silver platters, twelve silver bowls, and twelve gold dishes.

⁸⁵Each silver platter weighed a hundred and thirty shekels, and each silver bowl seventy shekels. The total weight of the silver articles was two thousand four hundred shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel.

¹He made a bronze altar twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits high.

⁷Then Solomon consecrated the middle of the courtyard in front of the house of the Lord, and there he offered the burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings, since the bronze altar he had made could not hold all these offerings.

⁵where it will turn from Azmon, join the Brook of Egypt, and end at the Sea.

⁸and from Mount Hor to Lebo-hamath, then extend to Zedad,

²And all the men of Israel came together to King Solomon at the feast in the seventh month, the month of Ethanim.

²⁵This Jeroboam restored the boundary of Israel from Lebo-hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word that the Lord, the God of Israel, had spoken through His servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath-hepher.

⁸So at that time Solomon and all Israel with him—a very great assembly of people from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt—kept the feast for seven days.

⁹On the eighth day they held a solemn assembly, for the dedication of the altar had lasted seven days, and the feast seven days more.

³the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived in the mountains of Lebanon from Mount Baal-hermon to Lebo-hamath.

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

¹²And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you.

¹⁷How lovely they will be, and how beautiful! Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine, the young women.

⁴⁶With one accord they continued to meet daily in the temple courts and to break bread from house to house, sharing their meals with gladness and sincerity of heart,

⁷There, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your households shall eat and rejoice in all you do, because the Lord your God has blessed you.

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,