Chapter 7 Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven
and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices.
And the glory of the Lord filled the house.
And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord because the glory of the
Lord had filled the Lord's house.
And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down and the glory of
the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground
upon the pavement and worshipped and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good,
for his mercy endureth forever.
Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord.
And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 20 and 2,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep.
So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.
And the priests waited on their offices, the Levites also with instruments of music
of the Lord, which David the king had made to praise the Lord, because his mercy
endureth forever.
When David praised by their ministry, and the priests sounded trumpets before
them, and all Israel stood.
Moreover Solomon hallowed the middle of the court that was before the house of the
Lord.
For there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings,
because the brassen altar, which Solomon had made, was not able to receive the
burnt offerings, and the meat offerings, and the fat.
Also at the same time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him,
a very great congregation, from the entering inn of Hamath unto the river of
Egypt.
And in the eighth day they made a solemn assembly, for they kept the dedication of
the altar seven days, and the feast seven days.
And on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month, he sent the people away
into their tents, glad and merry in heart, for the goodness that the Lord had showed
unto David, and to Solomon, and to Israel his people.
Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord, and the king's house.
And all that came into Solomon's heart to make in the house of the Lord,
and in his own house, he prosperously effected.
And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy
prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice.
If I shut up heaven, that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to
devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people, if my people,
which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face,
and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will
forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attend unto the prayer that is made in
this place.
For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there forever,
and mine eyes, and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked,
and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my
statutes and my judgments, then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom,
according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail
thee a man to be ruler in Israel.
But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have
set before you, and shall go and serve other gods and worship them, then will I
pluck them up by the roots out of my land, which I have given them.
And this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight,
and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.
And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that
passeth by it.
So that he shall say, Why hath the Lord done thus unto this land and unto this
house?
And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers,
which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods,
and worshipped them, and served them.
Therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them.