1 Kings 8:22-53
22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the
whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven 23 and
said:
"O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on
earth below =97 you who keep your covenant of love with your servants
who continue wholeheartedly in your way. 24 You have kept your promise
to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and
with your hand you have fulfilled it =97 as it is today. 25 "Now Lord,
God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you
made to him when you said, 'You shall never fail to have a man to sit
before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are careful in
all they do to walk before me as you have done.' 26 And now, O God of
Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David my father
come true. 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! 28 Yet give attention to your servant's prayer and his
plea for mercy, O Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your
servant is praying in your presence this day. 29 May your eyes be open
toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, 'My
Name shall be there,' so that you will hear the prayer your servant
prays toward this place. 30 Hear the supplication of your servant and
of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from
heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive. 31 "When a
man wrongs his neighbor and is required to take an oath and he comes
and swears the oath before your altar in this temple, 32 then hear
from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the
guilty and bringing down on his own head what he has done. Declare the
innocent not guilty, and so establish his 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 confess your name,
praying and making supplication to you in this temple, 34 then hear
from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them
back to the land you gave to their fathers. 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 confess your name and
turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, 36 then 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, 38 and when a prayer or plea is made by any of your people
Israel =97 each one aware of the afflictions of his own heart, and
spreading out his hands toward this temple=97 39 then hear from heaven,
your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with each man according to
all he does, since you know his heart (for you alone know the hearts
of all men), 40 so that they will fear you all the time they live in
the land you gave our fathers. 41 "As for the foreigner who does not
belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because
of your name=97 42 for men will hear of your great name and your mighty
hand and your outstretched arm =97 when he comes and prays toward this
temple, 43 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and 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 Lord toward the city you have chosen and the
temple I have built for your Name, 45 then hear from heaven their
prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. 46 "When they sin
against you =97 for there is no one who does not sin =97 and you become
angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them
captive to his own land, far away or near; 47 and 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 conquerors and say, 'We have
sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly'; 48 and 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 fathers, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I
have built for your Name; 49 then from heaven, your dwelling place,
hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. 50 And
forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the
offenses they have committed against you, and cause their conquerors
to show them mercy; 51 for 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. 53 For 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, O Sovereign Lord, brought our fathers out of Egypt."
May God bless,
Carl
my website -- http://www.nettally.com/saints/
my blog -- http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/
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