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Then Solomon said, "The Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud;
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I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever."
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While the whole assembly of Israel was standing there, the king turned around and blessed them.
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Then he said:
"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his own hand has fulfilled what he promised with his own mouth to my father David. For he said,
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'Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city in any tribe of Israel to have a temple built so that my Name might be there, but I have chosen David to rule my people Israel.'
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"My father David had it in his heart to build a temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
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But the Lord said to my father David, 'You did well to have it in your heart to build a temple for my Name.
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Nevertheless, you are not the one to build the temple, but your son, your own flesh and blood - he is the one who will build the temple for my Name.'
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"The Lord has kept the promise he made: I have succeeded David my father and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and I have built the temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
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I have provided a place there for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt."