Destroying the Duplicitous Life

Samuel’s Farewell Speech

1Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you. 2Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day. 3Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the

4“You have not cheated or oppressed us,” they replied. “You have not taken anything from anyone’s hand.”

5Samuel said to them, “The

“He is witness,” they said.

6Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the

8“After Jacob entered Egypt, they cried to the

9“But they forgot the

12“But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to rule over us’—even though the

16“Now then, stand still and see this great thing the

18Then Samuel called on the

19The people all said to Samuel, “Pray to the

20“Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the

The Ark Brought to the Temple

1Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the

3When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark, 4and they brought up the ark of the

6The priests then brought the ark of the

10When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the

12Then Solomon said, “The

14While the whole assembly of Israel was standing there, the king turned around and blessed them. 15Then he said:

“Praise be to the

17“My father David had it in his heart to build a temple for the Name of the

20“The

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication

22Then Solomon stood before the altar of the

“

25“Now

27“But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! 28Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy,

31“When anyone wrongs their neighbor and is required to take an oath and they come and swear the oath before your altar in this temple, 32then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing down on their heads what they have done, and vindicating the innocent by treating them in accordance with their innocence.

33“When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, and when they turn back to you and give praise to your name, praying and making supplication to you in this temple, 34then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to their ancestors.

35“When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, 36then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.

37“When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, 38and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel—being aware of the afflictions of their own hearts, and spreading out their hands toward this temple— 39then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know every human heart), 40so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors.

41“As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name— 42for they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple, 43then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.

44“When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to the

46“When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to their enemies, who take them captive to their own lands, far away or near; 47and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly’; 48and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to you toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name; 49then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. 50And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their captors to show them mercy; 51for they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace.

52“May your eyes be open to your servant’s plea and to the plea of your people Israel, and may you listen to them whenever they cry out to you. 53For you singled them out from all the nations of the world to be your own inheritance, just as you declared through your servant Moses when you, Sovereign

54When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the

56“Praise be to the

The Dedication of the Temple

62Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the

64On that same day the king consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the

65So Solomon observed the festival at that time, and all Israel with him—a vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt. They celebrated it before the