BNP blending of 2 Chronicles 5:2-7:22 & 1 Kings 8-9:9

Bible Narrative Project Blending #12: 2 Chronicles 5:2-7:22 & 1 Kings 8-9:9

The Ark Brought into the Temple

1 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the city of David, which is Zion. 2 All the men of Israel assembled themselves to King Solomon at the feast, in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. 3 Then all the elders of Israel came, and the priests, Levites, took up the ark. 4 They brought up the ark of the LORD and the tent of meeting and all the holy utensils, which were in the tent, and the Levitical priests and the Levites brought them up. 5 And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who were assembled to him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen they could not be counted or numbered. 6 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place (the holy of holies), under the wings of the cherubim. 7 For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its poles from above. 8 But the poles were so long that the ends of the poles of the ark could be seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; they are there to this day. 9 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

The Glory of God Fills the Temple

11 It happened that when the priests came forth from the holy place for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without regard to divisions, 12 and all the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and kinsmen, clothed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps and lyres, standing east of the altar, and with them one hundred and twenty priests blowing trumpets 13 in unison when the trumpeters and the singers were to make themselves heard with one voice to praise and to glorify the LORD, and when they lifted up their voice accompanied by trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and when they praised the LORD saying, ” He indeed is good for His lovingkindness is everlasting, ” then the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with the cloud, 14 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD God.

Solomon Addresses the People

12 Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud. 13 “I have surely built You a lofty house, A place for Your dwelling forever.” 14 Then the king faced about and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing. 15 He said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David and has fulfilled it with His hands, saying, 16 ‘Since the day that I brought My people Israel from the land of Egypt, I did not choose a city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house that My name might be there, nor did I choose any man for a leader over My people Israel; 6 but I have chosen Jerusalem that My name might be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’ 17 “Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. 18 “But the LORD said to my father David, ‘Because it was in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it was in your heart. 19 ‘Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who will be born to you, he will build the house for My name.’ 20 “Now the LORD has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for I have risen in place of my father David and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. 21 “There I have set a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD, which He made with our fathers, the sons of Israel, when He brought them from the land of Egypt.”

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 toward heaven. 13 Now Solomon had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court; and he stood on it, knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.

14 He said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, there is no god like You in heaven or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart; 15 who has kept with Your servant David, my father David, that which You have promised him; indeed You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day.

16 “Now therefore, O LORD, the God of Israel, keep with Your servant David, my father, that which You have promised him, saying,’You shall not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons take heed to their way, to walk in My law as you have walked before Me.’

17 “Now therefore, O LORD, the God of Israel, let Your word, I pray, be confirmed which You have spoken to Your servant, my father David.

18 “But will God indeed dwell with mankind on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house which I have built!

19 “Yet have regard to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You today; 20 that Your eye(s) may be open toward this house day and night (night and day), toward the place of which You have said that You would put Your name there (‘My name shall be there,’), to listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place.

21 “Listen to the supplications of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place; hear from Your dwelling place, in heaven; hear and forgive.

22 “If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath, and he comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this house, 23 then hear from heaven and act and judge Your servants, punishing, condemning the wicked by bringing his way on his own head and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.

24 “When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and if they return to You and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication before You in this house, 25 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You have given to them and gave to their fathers.

26 “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin when You afflict them; 27 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and of Your people Israel, indeed, teach them the good way in which they should walk. And send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people for an inheritance.

28 “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight or mildew, if there is locust or grasshopper, if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities, whatever plague or whatever sickness there is, 29 whatever prayer or supplication is made by any man or by all Your people Israel, each knowing his own affliction of his own heart and his own pain, and spreading his hands toward this house, 30 then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and render to each according to all his ways, whose heart You know for You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men, 31 that they may fear You, to walk in Your ways as long as all the days that they live in the land which You have given to our fathers.

32 “Also concerning the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel, when he comes from a far country for Your great name’s sake (for they will hear of Your great name) and Your mighty hand and of Your outstretched arm, when he comes and prays toward this house, 33 then hear in heaven, from 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 to fear You as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Your name.

34 “When Your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way You shall send them, and they pray to You the LORD toward this city which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your name, 35 then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

36 “When they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin) and You are angry with them and deliver them to an enemy, so that they take them away captive to the land of the enemy far off or near, 37 if they take thought in the land where they are taken captive, and repent and make supplication to You in the land of those who have taken them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned, we have committed iniquity and have acted wickedly’; 38 if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been taken captive, and pray to You toward their land which You have given to their fathers and the city which You have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for Your name, 39 then hear in heaven, from Your dwelling place, their prayer and supplications, and maintain their cause and forgive Your people who have sinned against You and all their transgressions which they have transgressed against You, and make them objects of compassion before those who have taken them captive, that they may have compassion on them 51 for they are Your people and Your inheritance which You have brought forth from Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace, 52 that Your eyes may be open to the supplication of Your servant and to the supplication of Your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call to You.

53 “For You have separated them from all the peoples of the earth as Your inheritance, as You spoke through Moses Your servant, when You brought our fathers forth from Egypt, O Lord GOD.”

40 “Now, O my God, I pray, let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place.

41 “Now therefore arise, O LORD God, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your might; let Your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation and let Your godly ones rejoice in what is good.

42 “O LORD God, do not turn away the face of Your anointed; remember Your lovingkindness to Your servant David.”

Solomon’s Benediction

54 When Solomon had finished praying this entire prayer and supplication to the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread toward heaven. 55 And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with 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 His good promise, which He promised through Moses His servant. 57 “May the LORD our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; may He not leave us or forsake us, 58 that He may incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His ordinances, which He commanded our fathers. 59 “And may these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, that He may maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, as each day requires, 60 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God; there is no one else. 61 “Let your heart therefore be wholly devoted to the LORD our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as at this day.”

The Shekinah Glory

1 Now when 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 house. 2 The priests could not enter into the house of the LORD because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD’S house. 3 All the sons of Israel, seeing the fire come down and the glory of the LORD upon the house, bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave praise to the LORD, saying, “Truly He is good, truly His lovingkindness is everlasting.”

Dedicatory Sacrifices Offered

4 Then the king and all the people of Israel with him offered sacrifice before the LORD. 5 King Solomon offered for the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to the LORD, a sacrifice of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people, the sons of Israel, dedicated the house of the LORD God. 6 The priests stood at their posts, and the Levites also, with the instruments of music to the LORD, which King David had made for giving praise to the LORD -“for His lovingkindness is everlasting”-whenever he gave praise by their means, while the priests on the other side blew trumpets; and all Israel was standing. 7 Then Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD, for there he offered the burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings because the bronze altar which Solomon had made was not able to contain the burnt offering, the grain offering and the fat. 64 On the same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD, because there he offered the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat of the peace offerings; for the bronze altar that was before the LORD was too small to hold the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat of the peace offerings.

The Feast of Dedication

65 So Solomon observed the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly who came from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt, before the LORD our God, for seven days and seven more days, even fourteen days. 66 On the eighth day they held a solemn assembly, for the dedication of the altar they observed seven days and the feast seven days); on the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away and they blessed the king. They went to their tents joyful, rejoicing and glad happy of heart because of all the goodness that the LORD had shown to David His servant and to Solomon and to Israel His people.

God’s Promise and Warning

11 Now it came about when Solomon had finished building the house of the LORD and the king’s palace, and successfully completed all that Solomon had desired and planned on doing in the house of the LORD and in his palace, 12 that the LORD appeared to Solomon a second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon at night and the LORD said to him, “I have heard your prayer and supplication, which you have made before Me and have chosen this house which you have built for Myself as a house of sacrifice. 13 “If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, 14 and 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, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 “Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place. 16 “For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.

17 “As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and uprightness, even to do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep My statutes and My ordinances, 18 then I will establish your royal throne, the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I covenanted with (promised to) your father David, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to be ruler on the throne of Israel.’ 19 “But if you or your sons indeed turn away from following Me and forsake and do not keep My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will uproot you (cut off Israel) from My land which I have given them, and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight and I will make Israel become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And this house will become a heap of ruins. 21 “As for this house, which was exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss and say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?’ 22 “And they will say, ‘Because they forsook the LORD their God, the God of their fathers who brought their fathers out from the land of Egypt, and they adopted other gods and worshiped them and served them; therefore the LORD has brought all this adversity on them.'”