7When Solomon finished praying, a bolt of lightning out of heaven struck the Whole-Burnt-Offering and sacrifices and the Glory of GOD filled The Temple.H8010H3615H6419H784H3381H8064H398H5930H2077H3519H3068H4390H1004 2The Glory was so dense that the priests couldn't get in—GOD so filled The Temple that there was no room for the priests!H3548H3201H935H1004H3068H3519H3068H4390H3068H1004 3When all Israel saw the fire fall from heaven and the Glory of GOD fill The Temple, they fell on their knees, bowed their heads, and worshiped, thanking GOD: Yes! God is good! His love never quits!H1121H3478H7200H784H3381H3519H3068H1004H3766H639H776H7531H7812H3034H3068H2896H2617H5769 4Then the king and all Israel worshiped, offering sacrifices to GOD.H4428H5971H2076H2077H6440H3068 5King Solomon worshiped by sacrificing 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep at the dedication of The Temple.H4428H8010H2076H2077H6242H8147H505H1241H3967H6242H505H6629H4428H5971H2596H1004H430 6The priests were all on duty; the choir and orchestra of Levites that David had provided for singing and playing anthems to the praise and love of GOD were all there; across the courtyard the priests blew trumpets. All Israelites were on their feet.H3548H5975H4931H3881H3627H7892H3068H1732H4428H6213H3034H3068H2617H5769H1732H1984H3027H3548H2690H2690H3478H5975 7Solomon set apart the central area of the courtyard in front of GOD's Temple for sacred use and there sacrificed the Whole-Burnt-Offerings, Grain-Offerings, and fat from the Peace-Offerings—the Bronze Altar was too small to handle all these offerings.H8010H6942H8432H2691H6440H1004H3068H6213H5930H2459H8002H5178H4196H8010H6213H3201H3557H5930H4503H2459 8This is how Solomon kept the great autumn Feast of Booths. For seven days there were people there all the way from the far northeast (the Entrance to Hamath) to the far southwest (the Brook of Egypt)—a huge congregation.H6256H8010H6213H2282H7651H3117H3478H3966H1419H6951H935H2574H5158H4714 9They started out celebrating for seven days, and then did it for another seven days, a week for dedicating the Altar and another for the Feast itself—two solid weeks of celebration!H8066H3117H6213H6116H6213H2598H4196H7651H3117H2282H7651H3117 10On the twenty-third day of the seventh month Solomon dismissed his congregation. They left rejoicing, exuberant over all the good GOD had done for David and Solomon and his people Israel.H7969H6242H3117H7637H2320H7971H5971H7971H168H8056H2896H3820H2896H3068H6213H1732H8010H3478H5971 11Solomon completed building The Temple of GOD and the royal palace—the projects he had set his heart on doing. Everything was done—success! Satisfaction!H8010H3615H1004H3068H4428H1004H935H8010H3820H6213H1004H3068H1004H6743 12GOD appeared to Solomon that very night and said, "I accept your prayer; yes, I have chosen this place as a temple for sacrifice, a house of worship.H3068H7200H8010H3915H559H8085H8605H977H4725H1004H2077 13If I ever shut off the supply of rain from the skies or order the locusts to eat the crops or send a plague on my people,H2005H6113H8064H4306H6680H2284H398H776H7971H1698H5971 14and my people, my God-defined people, respond by humbling themselves, praying, seeking my presence, and turning their backs on their wicked lives, I'll be there ready for you: I'll listen from heaven, forgive their sins, and restore their land to health.H5971H7121H8034H3665H6419H1245H6440H7725H7451H1870H8085H8064H5545H2403H7495H776 15From now on I'm alert day and night to the prayers offered at this place.H5869H6605H241H7183H8605H4725 16Believe me, I've chosen and sanctified this Temple that you have built: My Name is stamped on it forever; my eyes are on it and my heart in it always.H977H6942H1004H8034H5704H5769H5869H3820H3117 17As for you, if you live in my presence as your father David lived, pure in heart and action, living the life I've set out for you, attentively obedient to my guidance and judgments,H3212H6440H1732H1H1980H6213H6680H8104H2706H4941 18then I'll back your kingly rule over Israel—make it a sure thing on a sure foundation. The same covenant guarantee I gave to David your father I'm giving to you, namely, 'You can count on always having a descendant on Israel's throne.'H6965H3678H4438H3772H1732H1H559H3772H376H4910H3478 19"But if you or your sons betray me, ignoring my guidance and judgments, taking up with alien gods by serving and worshiping them,H7725H5800H2708H4687H5414H6440H1980H5647H312H430H7812 20then the guarantee is off: I'll wipe Israel right off the map and repudiate this Temple I've just sanctified to honor my Name. And Israel will be nothing but a bad joke among the peoples of the world.H5428H127H5414H1004H6942H8034H7993H6440H5414H4912H8148H5971 21And this Temple, splendid as it now is, will become an object of contempt; tourists will shake their heads, saying, 'What happened here? What's the story behind these ruins?'H1004H5945H8074H5674H559H3068H6213H776H1004 22Then they'll be told, 'The people who used to live here betrayed their GOD, the very God who rescued their ancestors from Egypt; they took up with alien gods, worshiping and serving them. That's what's behind this God-visited devastation.'"H559H5800H3068H430H1H3318H776H4714H2388H312H430H7812H5647H935H7451
The Message (MSG). All Scripture quotations are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries.
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