the heaven and the heaven of heaven will not suffice thee, far less indeed this house which I have built for thy name. 28 Yet thou, O Lord, the God of Israel wilt look down on this

supplication of mine to hearken to the prayer which thy servant this day in thy presence prayeth to thee, that thine eyes 29 may be open day and night on this house-on this place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there, that thou mayst hearken to the prayer which thy servant prayeth toward this place day and night.

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Thou indeed wilt hearken to the supplication of thy servant and of thy people Israel. Whatever they may address towards this place thou indeed wilt hearken to it in the place of thy habitation in heaven, and wilt do and be merciful.

Whatever trespass any one may commit against his neighbour, when he shall take upon him a curse to curse him, and 32 come and plead before this altar of thine in this house; thou indeed wilt hearken from heaven and act and judge thy people Israel, by condemning the transgressor, and retributing his way upon his head, and by justifying the righteous and giving him according to his righteousness.

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When thy people Israel fall before enemies, because they have sinned against thee, and shall return and confess thy 34 name, and pray and make supplication in this house; thou indeed wilt hear from heaven and pardon the sins of thy people Israel, and bring them back to the land which thou gavest to their fathers.

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When the heaven is shut up and there is no rain because of their sinning against thee; when they shall pray towards this place, and confess thy name and turn from their sins when 36 thou hast humbled them; thou indeed wilt hearken from heaven, and pardon the sins of thy servant and of thy people Israel; for thou wilt shew them the good way, and give rain for the land which thou gavest to thy people for an inheritance. If there be famine, if there be pestilence (for such things will be) if there be blasting, locust, mildew; or if their enemy afflict them in any of their cities, in every occurrence, in every 38 distress, whatever prayer, whatever supplication any man shall make, when they know every one the plague of his own heart, 39 and shall spread forth his hands toward this house; thou in

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deed wilt hearken from heaven-from thy settled habitation and be merciful, and do and give to every man as thou knowest his heart (for thou alone knowest the hearts of all the chil40 dren of men) that they may fear thee all the days they live in the land which thou gavest to their fathers.

41 And with regard to the stranger who is not of thy people 42 Israel, when they shall come and pray toward this place; thou 43 indeed wilt hearken from heaven-from thy settled habitation,

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and do according to all, for which the stranger may call upon thee, that all nations may know thy name and fear thee as thy people Israel do, and that they may know that this house which I have built, is called by thy name.

Because thy people are to go out to battle against their enemies whithersoever thou shalt send them, when they shall pray in the name of the Lord toward this city, which thou hast chosen, and this house which I have built for thy name; 45 thou indeed wilt hearken from heaven to their prayer and do them justice.

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Because they will sin against thee (for there is no man who will not sin ;) when thou shalt punish them, and deliver them up before their enemies; and they who have captivated them 47 shall carry them away captive to a land far off or near; and they bethink themselves in the land to which they have been carried captives, and in the land of their captivity repent and pray to thee, saying, We have sinned; we have transgressed; 48 we have committed iniquity; and turn to thee with their whole heart, and with their whole soul, in the land of their enemies, to which thou hast transported them; and direct their prayers to thee, toward this land which thou gavest to their fathers, and this city which thou hast chosen, and this house which 49 I have built for thy name; thou indeed wilt hearken from 50 heaven, from thy settled habitation, and pardon the iniquities which they have committed against thee, and all the acts of disobedience of which they have been guilty; and make them objects of compassion in the sight of those who have captivated them, that they may have compassion on them.

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Because we are thy people whom thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt-from the midst of the iron furnace, let thy eyes therefore be fixed on, and thy ears open to the thy servant, and to the supplication of thy people Israel, to

prayer

of

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hearken to them in all for which they invoke thee, since thou hast set them apart for thyself for an heritage from among all the people of the earth, as thou spakest by the ministry of thy servant Moses, when thou, O Lord, Lord, didst bring our fathers out of the land of Egypt.

Then Solomon spoke of the house as if he had just finished building it,

The Sun he pointed out in heaven—

The Lord said, he would dwell in darkness.

Build thou my house-a house becoming thyself to dwell in when new.

Behold this is written in the book of the Ode.

When Solomon had finished all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord (for he 55 had kneeled down on his knees and spread forth his hands towards heaven) and standing up he blessed all the congregation 56 of Israel with a loud voice saying, Blessed be the Lord this day

who hath given rest to his people Israel according to all that he hath spoken. Not one word hath failed of all the good words 57 which he spoke by the ministry of his servant Moses. The

Lord our God be with us as he was with our fathers! May he 58 never leave us nor forsake us! May he incline our hearts to him

to walk in, all his ways, and to keep all his commandments and 59 his statutes which he gave in charge to our fathers! And may

the words with which I have made supplication before the Lord our God, be nigh to the Lord our God day and night, that the determination of every day in the year may establish the rights of thy servant and the rights of thy people Israel; 60 that all the nations of the earth may know that the Lord our

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God is very God, and that there is none else! And may our hearts be perfect with the Lord our God, that we may walk piously in his statutes, and keep his commandments, as at this day.

Then the king and all the sons of Israel offered a sacrifice 63 before the Lord. And king Solomon offered for the sacrifices of thanksgiving which he offered to the Lord, twenty two thousand beeves, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. 64 And when the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the house, the king on the same day consecrated the middle of the

court in front of the house of the Lord, for he offered there the whole burnt offerings with the sacrifices and the suet of the thank offerings, because the brazen altar which was before the Lord was too small for the whole burnt offerings and the sacri65 fices of the thank offerings to be offered thereon. And on that day Solomon and all Israel with him-a great congregation from the bay of Emath to the river of Egypt, celebrated the festival before the Lord our God at the house which he had built; eating and drinking and rejoicing before the Lord seven 66 days. And on the eighth day he dismissed the people and they blessed the king and went away every man to his house rejoicing and with a glad heart, for all the goodness which the Lord had shewn to his servant David and to his people Israel.

IX.

And when king Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and every design which it was 2 his pleasure to execute, the Lord appeared to Solomon a se3 cond time as he appeared at Gabaon and said to him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication which thou hast made before me, and have done for thee according to all thy prayer. I have hallowed this house which thou hast built to put my name there for ever, and my eyes and my heart shall be there 4 continually. And if thou wilt walk before me, as thy father David did, with integrity of heart and with uprightness, and do according to all that I commanded him, and keep my statutes 5 and my commandments, I will establish the throne of thy kingdom in Israel for this age, as I promised thy father David, say6 ing, There shall not fail thee a man ruling in Israel. But if you and your children turn aside from me, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes, which Moses hath laid before you, 7 but go and serve strange gods and worship them; I will assuredly remove Israel from the land which I gave them, and cast out of my sight this house which I have hallowed for my name; and Israel shall be a desolation and a bye word among all peo8 ples; and this stately house shall be reduced to such a condition that every one who passeth by it will be astonished and will, with expressions of pity, say, Why hath the Lord dealt thus 9 with this land and with this house? To which answer will be made, Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of Egypt-out of the house of bondage; and

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in his stead chose strange gods, and worshipped and served them, therefore the Lord hath brought upon them this calamity.

Then Solomon brought Pharao's daughter up out of the city of David to the house which he had built for himself. In those days, during the twenty years in which Solomon was building the two houses, the house of the Lord and the king's 11 house, Chiram king of Tyre supplied Solomon with cedar timber and pine trees, and with gold and whatever he desired, therefore the king then gave Chiram twenty cities in the land 12 of Galilee. But when Chiram came from Tyre and went to Galilee to see the cities which Solomon gave him, they did not please 13 him; therefore he said, What are these cities, my brother, which

thou hast given me? And he called them Little mount, which 14 is now their name. Nevertheless Chiram brought Solomon a 26 hundred and twenty talents of gold. For on board the fleet which

king Solomon built at Esion-gaber, and which was then at Ai27 lath, on the border of the farther sea in the land of Edom-in this fleet Chiram sent some of his servants who were seamen and skilled in the navigation of that sea, along with the servants of Solomon, and they went to Sophira and took thence a hundred and twenty talents of gold and brought it to king Solo

mon.

X. When the queen of Saba heard of the fame of Solomon and 2 the name of the Lord, she came to try him with questions hard to be solved, and came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, and with camels carrying spices, and gold in great abundance, and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon and had propounded to him all that was in her mind, Solomon answered 3 all her questions. There was not a question overlooked by the 4 king which he did not explain to her. And when the queen of Saba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house which 5 he had built, and his provisions, and the order in which his servants sat at table, and in which the attendants stood; and his dress, and his cup bearers, and his whole burnt offerings which he offered in the house of the Lord, she was struck with 6 surprise, and said to the king, It was a true report which I heard in my own country concerning thy knowledge and thy under7 standing; but I did not believe them who told me till I came