Thematic Bible: In his prayer of dedication


Thematic Bible



And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the sight of all the congregation of Israel and stretched out his hands to heaven, and said, "LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven above or in the earth beneath, that keepest appointment and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their hearts: which also hast kept with thy servants David my father, that thou promisedest him. Thou spakest with thy mouth and hast fulfilled with thine hand, as it is come to pass this day. read more.
And now LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father, that thou promisedest him, saying, 'Thou shalt not be without one or other before me, sitting on the seat of Israel: Howbeit, if thy children shall take heed to their ways that they walk before me, as thou hast walked before me.' Now then, O Lord God of Israel, let thy word be stable which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father. But indeed can God dwell on the earth? Behold: neither heaven, nor heaven above all heavens are able to contain thee - how much less then this house that I have built? But look to the prayer of thy servant and his supplication, O LORD my God, to give an ear unto the voice and prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee this day, that thine eyes may be open upon this house night and day; and upon the place, of which thou hast said, my name shall be there: that thou hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall pray in this place. And hearken unto the supplication of thy servant and of thy people Israel which they shall pray in this place. And hear thou, up unto heaven thy dwelling place, and when thou hearest have mercy. And if any man trespass against his neighbour, and his neighbour take an adjuration to adjure him withal, and the adjuration come before thine altar at this house, then hearken thou up to heaven, and work and judge thy servants, that thou condemn the wicked to bring his way upon his head, and justify the righteous to give him according to his righteousness. When thy people Israel be put to the worse before their enemies, because they have sinned against thee, and afterward turn again to thee and praise thy name, and pray and make supplication unto thee in this house: Then hear thou up to heaven and be merciful unto the sin of thy people Israel, and bring thee again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers. If heaven be shut up, that there be no rain, because they have sinned against thee: yet if they pray in this place and praise thy name and turn from their sins, through thy scourging of them: then hear thou up to heaven, and be merciful unto the sin of thy servants and of thy people Israel, that thou show them a good way to walk in, and give rain upon thy land that thou hast given unto thy people to inherit. If there chance dearth in the land, pestilence, blasting or withering of corn, or that the fruits be devoured of grasshoppers or caterpillars, or if their enemies besiege them in the land and in their own cities, or whatsoever plague or sickness chance: then hear thou up to heaven thy dwelling place, all the prayers and supplications that shall be made of all men throughout all thy people Israel, which shall knowledge every man the plague of his own heart, and stretch forth his hands unto this house. And be merciful, and work, and give every man according to his ways - even as thou only knowest every man's heart, for thou knowest the hearts of all the children of Adam - that they may fear thee as long as they live upon the earth which thou gavest unto their fathers. And likewise, if a stranger that is not of thy people Israel come out of a far country for thy name's sake - for they shall hear of thy great name and of thy mighty hand and stretched-out arm - and therefore if he come and pray at this place, hear thou up to heaven thy dwelling place and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all nations of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee as do thy people Israel, and that it may be known that this house which I have built is called after thy name. And when they go out to battle against their enemies whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the LORD toward the city which thou hast chosen and toward the house that I have built for thy name: hear thou their prayers and supplications, up to heaven, and judge their cause. And finally, when they shall have sinned against thee - for there is no man that sinneth not - and thou art angry with them and hast delivered them to their enemies, that they be carried away prisoners unto the land of their enemies, whether far or near; yet if they turn again unto their hearts in the land where they be in captivity, and return and pray unto thee in the land of them that hold them captive, saying, 'We have sinned and have done wickedly and have trespassed,' and so turn again unto thee with all their hearts and all their souls in the land of their enemies which hold them captive, and pray unto thee, toward the land which thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name: then hear thou their prayer and supplication up to heaven thy dwelling place, and judge their causes, and be merciful unto thy people that have sinned against thee, and unto all their trespass that they have trespassed against thee, and get them favour in the sight of them that hold them captive that they may have compassion on them. For they be thy people and thine inheritance which thou broughtest out of Egypt, from the furnace of iron. And let thine eyes be open unto the prayer of thy servant and unto the prayer of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them, in all that they call unto thee for. For thou didst separate them to be thine inheritance, above all the nations of the earth, as thou saidest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord Jehovah."