Solomon's Prayer of Dedication

1 Kings 8

22 Then Solomon m stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and n spread out his hands toward heaven, 23 and said, "O Lord, God of Israel, o there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, p keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart, 24 who have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. e You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. 25 Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, q '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 before me as you have walked before me.' 26 r Now therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David my father.

27 "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, s heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! 28 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 this day, 29 t that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, u 'My name shall be there,' that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. 30 And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

31 "If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take v an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, 32 then hear in heaven and act and judge your servants, w condemning the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

33 x "When your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and y if they turn again to you and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house, 34 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to their fathers.

35 z "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, 36 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when a you teach them b the good way in which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.

37 c "If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemy besieges them in the land at their gates, 1 whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, 38 whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart and stretching out his hands toward this house, 39 then hear in heaven your dwelling place and forgive and act and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways ( d for you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind), 40 that they may fear you e all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers.

41 "Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name's sake 42 (for they shall hear of your great name f and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, 43 hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order g that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and h fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.

44 "If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to the Lord i toward the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, 45 then hear in heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause.

46 "If they sin against you - j 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 k to the land of the enemy, far off or near, 47 yet l 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 captors, saying, m 'We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,' 48 n if they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you o 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, 49 then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause 50 and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you, and p grant them compassion in the sight of those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them 51 ( q for they are your people, and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, r from the midst of the iron furnace). 52 s Let your eyes be open to the plea of your servant and to the plea of your people Israel, giving ear to them whenever they call to you. 53 For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be your heritage, t as you declared through Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God."

  1. Cross References
    1 Kings 8:54
    Now as Solomon finished offering all this prayer and plea to the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had knelt with hands outstretched toward heaven.
    2 Chronicles 6:12 - 13
    Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands.
  2. Cross References
    Exodus 9:33
    So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and stretched out his hands to the Lord, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured upon the earth.
    Ezra 9:5
    And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God.
    Isaiah 1:15
    When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.
  3. Cross References
    Exodus 15:11
    Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
    2 Samuel 7:22
    Therefore you are great, O Lord God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
  4. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 7:9
    Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.
  5. Cross References
    1 Kings 8:15
    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.
  6. Cross References
    1 Kings 2:4
    That the Lord may establish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, 'If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.
  7. Cross References
    2 Samuel 7:25
    And now, O Lord God, confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, and do as you have spoken.
  8. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 2:6
    But who is able to build him a house, since heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain him? Who am I to build a house for him, except as a place to make offerings before him?
    Isaiah 66:1
    Thus says the Lord : "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest?
    Jeremiah 23:24
    Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.
    Acts 7:49
    'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest?
    Acts 17:24
    The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man.
  9. Cross References
    1 Kings 8:52
    Let your eyes be open to the plea of your servant and to the plea of your people Israel, giving ear to them whenever they call to you.
    2 Chronicles 7:15
    Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.
    Nehemiah 1:6
    Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father's house have sinned.
  10. Cross References
    1 Kings 8:16
    'Since the day that I brought my people Israel out 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. But I chose David to be over my people Israel.'
    1 Kings 9:3
    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.
    Deuteronomy 12:11
    Then to the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, and all your finest vow offerings that you vow to the Lord.
  11. Cross References
    Exodus 22:11
    An oath by the Lord shall be between them both to see whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbor's property. The owner shall accept the oath, and he shall not make restitution.
  12. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 25:1
    If there is a dispute between men and they come into court and the judges decide between them, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty.
  13. Cross References
    Leviticus 26:17
    I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you.
    Deuteronomy 28:45
    All these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you till you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you.
  14. Cross References
    Leviticus 26:40
    But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me.
    Nehemiah 1:9
    But if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.
  15. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 11:17
    Then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you.
    Luke 4:25
    But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land.
    Leviticus 26:17
    I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you.
    Deuteronomy 28:25
    The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
  16. Cross References
    Psalms 25:4
    Make me to know your ways, O Lord ; teach me your paths.
    Psalms 27:11
    Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.
    Psalms 86:11
    Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.
  17. Cross References
    1 Samuel 12:23
    Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way.
  18. Cross References
    Leviticus 26:16
    Then I will do this to you: I will visit you wi...
    Leviticus 26:25 - 26
    And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall e...
    Deuteronomy 28:21 - 22
    The Lord will make the pestilence stick to you ...
    Deuteronomy 28:37 - 38
    And you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a...
    Deuteronomy 28:42
    The cricket shall possess all your trees and th...
    Deuteronomy 28:52
    They shall besiege you in all your towns, until...
    2 Chronicles 20:9
    'If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment...
  19. Cross References
    1 Chronicles 28:9
    And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.
    Acts 1:24
    And they prayed and said, "You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen
    1 Samuel 16:7
    But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.
    Jeremiah 17:10
    "I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds."
  20. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 12:1
    These are the statutes and rules that you shall be careful to do in the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth.
  21. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 3:24
    O Lord God, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours?
    2 Chronicles 6:32
    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.
  22. Cross References
    1 Kings 8:60
    That all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other.
    Joshua 4:24
    So that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.
  23. Cross References
    Psalms 102:15
    Nations will fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
  24. Cross References
    1 Kings 8:48
    If they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you 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.
  25. Cross References
    Proverbs 20:9
    Who can say, "I have made my heart pure; I am c...
    Ecclesiastes 7:20
    Surely there is not a righteous man on earth wh...
    Romans 3:23
    For all have sinned and fall short of the glory...
    James 3:2
    For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone ...
    1 John 1:8
    If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,...
    1 John 1:10
    If we say we have not sinned, we make him a lia...
  26. Cross References
    Leviticus 26:34
    Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies' land; then the land shall rest, and enjoy its Sabbaths.
    Leviticus 26:44
    Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them, neither will I abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God.
    Deuteronomy 28:36
    The Lord will bring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known. And there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone.
    Deuteronomy 28:64
    And the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.
  27. Cross References
    Leviticus 26:40
    But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me.
  28. Cross References
    Nehemiah 1:6
    Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father's house have sinned.
    Psalms 106:6
    Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.
    Daniel 9:5
    We have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules.
  29. Cross References
    1 Samuel 7:3
    And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, "If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
    Jeremiah 29:12 - 14
    Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.
  30. Cross References
    Daniel 6:10
    When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.
    1 Kings 8:44
    If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to the Lord toward the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name.
    Psalms 5:7
    But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you.
    Jonah 2:4
    Then I said, 'I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.
  31. Cross References
    Psalms 106:46
    He caused them to be pitied by all those who held them captive.
  32. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 9:29
    For they are your people and your heritage, whom you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.
    Nehemiah 1:10
    They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand.
  33. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 4:20
    But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day.
    Jeremiah 11:4
    That I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. So shall you be my people, and I will be your God.
  34. Cross References
    1 Kings 8:29
    That your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, 'My name shall be there,' that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place.
  35. Cross References
    Exodus 19:5 - 6
    Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine.
    Deuteronomy 9:26
    And I prayed to the Lord, 'O Lord God, do not destroy your people and your heritage, whom you have redeemed through your greatness, whom you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
    Deuteronomy 9:29
    For they are your people and your heritage, whom you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.
    Deuteronomy 14:2
    For you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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