2 Chronicles 6-7
Solomon Blesses the People
6 Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. 2 But I have built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.” 3 Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. 4 And he said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, 5 ‘Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there, and I chose no man as prince over my people Israel; 6 but I have chosen Jerusalem that my name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’ 7 Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 8 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. 9 Nevertheless, it is not you who shall build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ 10 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, as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 11 And there I have set the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with the people of Israel.”
Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication
12 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. 13 Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the court, and he stood on it. Then he knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven, 14 and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart, 15 who have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. 16 Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ‘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 in my law as you have walked before me.’ 17 Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David.
18 “But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built! 19 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, 20 that your eyes may be open day and night toward this house, the place where you have promised to set your name, that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. 21 And listen to the pleas of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen from heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.
22 “If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, 23 then hear from heaven and act and judge your servants, repaying the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.
24 “If your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and they turn again and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house, 25 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to them and to their fathers.
26 “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, 27 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.
28 “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemies besiege them in the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, 29 whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing his own affliction and his own sorrow and stretching out his hands toward this house, 30 then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways, for you, you only, know the hearts of the children of mankind, 31 that they may fear you and walk in your ways all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers.
32 “Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for the sake of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, when he comes and prays toward this house, 33 hear from heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.
34 “If your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to you toward this city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, 35 then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause.
36 “If they sin against you—for 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 to a land far or near, 37 yet if 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 captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ 38 if they repent with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity to which they were carried captive, and pray toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, 39 then hear from heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their pleas, and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you. 40 Now, O my God, let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayer of this place.
41    “And now arise, O Lord God, and go to your resting place,
you and the ark of your might.
       Let your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation,
and let your saints rejoice in your goodness.
42    O Lord God, do not turn away the face of your anointed one!
Remember your steadfast love for David your servant.”
Fire from Heaven
7 As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. 2 And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house. 3 When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
The Dedication of the Temple
4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the Lord. 5 King Solomon offered as a sacrifice 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. 6 The priests stood at their posts; the Levites also, with the instruments for music to the Lord that King David had made for giving thanks to the Lord—for his steadfast love endures forever—whenever David offered praises by their ministry; opposite them the priests sounded trumpets, and all Israel stood.
7 And Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord, for there he offered the burnt offering and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar Solomon had made could not hold the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat.
8 At that time Solomon held the feast for seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly, from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt. 9 And on the eighth day they held a solemn assembly, for they had kept the dedication of the altar seven days and the feast seven days. 10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their homes, joyful and glad of heart for the prosperity that the Lord had granted to David and to Solomon and to Israel his people.
If My People Pray
11 Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s house. All that Solomon had planned to do in the house of the Lord and in his own house he successfully accomplished. 12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. 13 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. 16 For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. 17 And as for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my rules, 18 then I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to rule Israel.’
19 “But if you turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will pluck you up from my land that I have given you, and this house that I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 21 And at this house, which was exalted, everyone passing by will be astonished and say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ 22 Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore he has brought all this disaster on them.’ ” [1]
Psalms 136, 134, 146-150
His Steadfast Love Endures Forever
136 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
2    Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
3    Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
4    to him who alone does great wonders,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
5    to him who by understanding made the heavens,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
6    to him who spread out the earth above the waters,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
7    to him who made the great lights,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
8    the sun to rule over the day,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
9    the moon and stars to rule over the night,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
10    to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
11    and brought Israel out from among them,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
12    with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
13    to him who divided the Red Sea in two,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
14    and made Israel pass through the midst of it,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
15    but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
16    to him who led his people through the wilderness,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
17    to him who struck down great kings,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
18    and killed mighty kings,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
19    Sihon, king of the Amorites,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
20    and Og, king of Bashan,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
21    and gave their land as a heritage,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
22    a heritage to Israel his servant,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
23    It is he who remembered us in our low estate,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
24    and rescued us from our foes,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
25    he who gives food to all flesh,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
26    Give thanks to the God of heaven,
for his steadfast love endures forever. [2]
Come, Bless the Lord
134 A Song of Ascents.
1    Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord,
who stand by night in the house of the Lord!
2    Lift up your hands to the holy place
and bless the Lord!
3    May the Lord bless you from Zion,
he who made heaven and earth! [3]
Put Not Your Trust in Princes
146 Praise the Lord!
       Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2    I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
3    Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
4    When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.
5    Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6    who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
       who keeps faith forever;
7        who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.
       The Lord sets the prisoners free;
8        the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
       The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
9    The Lord watches over the sojourners;
he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
10    The Lord will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, to all generations.
       Praise the Lord!
He Heals the Brokenhearted
147 Praise the Lord!
       For it is good to sing praises to our God;
for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.
2    The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
3    He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
4    He determines the number of the stars;
he gives to all of them their names.
5    Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is beyond measure.
6    The Lord lifts up the humble;
he casts the wicked to the ground.
7    Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
make melody to our God on the lyre!
8    He covers the heavens with clouds;
he prepares rain for the earth;
he makes grass grow on the hills.
9    He gives to the beasts their food,
and to the young ravens that cry.
10    His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
11    but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love.
12    Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
13    For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
he blesses your children within you.
14    He makes peace in your borders;
he fills you with the finest of the wheat.
15    He sends out his command to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
16    He gives snow like wool;
he scatters frost like ashes.
17    He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs;
who can stand before his cold?
18    He sends out his word, and melts them;
he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.
19    He declares his word to Jacob,
his statutes and rules to Israel.
20    He has not dealt thus with any other nation;
they do not know his rules.
       Praise the Lord!
Praise the Name of the Lord
148 Praise the Lord!
       Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights!
2    Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his hosts!
3    Praise him, sun and moon,
praise him, all you shining stars!
4    Praise him, you highest heavens,
and you waters above the heavens!
5    Let them praise the name of the Lord!
For he commanded and they were created.
6    And he established them forever and ever;
he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away.
7    Praise the Lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all deeps,
8    fire and hail, snow and mist,
stormy wind fulfilling his word!
9    Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars!
10    Beasts and all livestock,
creeping things and flying birds!
11    Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the earth!
12    Young men and maidens together,
old men and children!
13    Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his majesty is above earth and heaven.
14    He has raised up a horn for his people,
praise for all his saints,
for the people of Israel who are near to him.
       Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a New Song
149 Praise the Lord!
       Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the godly!
2    Let Israel be glad in his Maker;
let the children of Zion rejoice in their King!
3    Let them praise his name with dancing,
making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!
4    For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
he adorns the humble with salvation.
5    Let the godly exult in glory;
let them sing for joy on their beds.
6    Let the high praises of God be in their throats
and two-edged swords in their hands,
7    to execute vengeance on the nations
and punishments on the peoples,
8    to bind their kings with chains
and their nobles with fetters of iron,
9    to execute on them the judgment written!
This is honor for all his godly ones.
       Praise the Lord!
Let Everything Praise the Lord
150 Praise the Lord!
       Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
2    Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his excellent greatness!
3    Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
4    Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
5    Praise him with sounding cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
6    Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
       Praise the Lord! [4]
1 Kings 9
The Lord Appears to Solomon
9 As soon as Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord and the king’s house and all that Solomon desired to build, 2 the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 And the Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. 4 And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, 5 then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’ 6 But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, 7 then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 8 And this house will become a heap of ruins. Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ 9 Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore the Lord has brought all this disaster on them.’ ”
Solomon’s Other Acts
10 At the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the king’s house, 11 and Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress timber and gold, as much as he desired, King Solomon gave to Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. 12 But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him, they did not please him. 13 Therefore he said, “What kind of cities are these that you have given me, my brother?” So they are called the land of Cabul to this day. 14 Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents of gold.
15 And this is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon drafted to build the house of the Lord and his own house and the Millo and the wall of Jerusalem and Hazor and Megiddo and Gezer 16 (Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it with fire, and had killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and had given it as dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife; 17 so Solomon rebuilt Gezer) and Lower Beth-horon 18 and Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah, 19 and all the store cities that Solomon had, and the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. 20 All the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the people of Israel— 21 their descendants who were left after them in the land, whom the people of Israel were unable to devote to destruction—these Solomon drafted to be slaves, and so they are to this day. 22 But of the people of Israel Solomon made no slaves. They were the soldiers, they were his officials, his commanders, his captains, his chariot commanders and his horsemen.
23 These were the chief officers who were over Solomon’s work: 550 who had charge of the people who carried on the work.
24 But Pharaoh’s daughter went up from the city of David to her own house that Solomon had built for her. Then he built the Millo.
25 Three times a year Solomon used to offer up burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar that he built to the Lord, making offerings with it before the Lord. So he finished the house.
26 King Solomon built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. 27 And Hiram sent with the fleet his servants, seamen who were familiar with the sea, together with the servants of Solomon. 28 And they went to Ophir and brought from there gold, 420 talents, and they brought it to King Solomon. [5]

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 2 Ch 6:1–7:22.
[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ps 136:1–26.
[3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ps 134:title–3.
[4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ps 146:1–150:6.
[5] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Ki 9:1–28.

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