Study Desk

When they sin against You-for there is no one who does not sin-and You become angry with them and deliver them to an enemy who takes them as captives to a land far or near,

and when they return to You with all their heart and soul in the land of the enemies who took them captive, and when they pray in the direction of the land that You gave to their fathers, the city You have chosen, and the house I have built for Your Name,

When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the LORD above the temple, they bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD: "For He is good; His loving devotion endures forever."

The priests stood at their posts, as did the Levites with the musical instruments of the LORD, which King David had made for giving thanks to the LORD and with which David had offered praise, saying, "For His loving devotion endures forever." Across from the Levites, the priests sounded trumpets, and all the Israelites were standing.

So at that time Solomon and all Israel with him-a very great assembly of people from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt-observed the feast for seven days.

On the eighth day they held a solemn assembly, for the dedication of the altar had lasted seven days, and the feast seven days more.

On the twenty-third day of the seventh month, Solomon sent the people away to their homes, joyful and glad of heart for the good things that the LORD had done for David, for Solomon, and for His people Israel.

When Solomon had finished the house of the LORD and the royal palace, successfully carrying out all that was in his heart to do for the house of the LORD and for his own palace,

the LORD appeared to him at night and said to him: "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice.

For I have now chosen and consecrated this temple so that My Name may be there forever. My eyes and My heart will be there for all time.

And as for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, doing all I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and ordinances,

then I will uproot Israel from the soil I have given them, and this temple that I have sanctified for My Name I will banish from My presence. I will make it an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples.

as well as Baalath, all the store cities that belonged to Solomon, all the cities for his chariots and horses-whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and throughout the land of his dominion.

As for all the people who remained of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites (the people who were not Israelites)-

They were also the chief officers for King Solomon: 250 supervisors.

Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the City of David to the palace he had built for her. For he said, "My wife must not live in the house of David king of Israel, because the places the ark of the LORD has entered are holy."

He observed the daily requirement for offerings according to the commandment of Moses for Sabbaths, New Moons, and the three annual appointed feasts-the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles.

In keeping with the ordinances of his father David, he appointed the divisions of the priests over their service, and the Levites for their duties to offer praise and to minister before the priests according to the daily requirement. He also appointed gatekeepers by their divisions at each gate, for this had been the command of David, the man of God.

Thus all the work of Solomon was carried out, from the day the foundation was laid for the house of the LORD until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was completed.

And Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too difficult for him to explain.