2 Chronicles 7

Solomon Dedicates the Temple

1 When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heavent and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the Lord’s splendor filled the temple.2 The priests were unable to enter the Lord’s temple because the Lord’s splendor filled the Lord’s temple.

3 When all the Israelites saw the fire come down and the Lord’s splendor over the temple, they got on their knees with their faces downward toward the pavement. They worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying,t “Certainly he is good; certainly his loyal love endures!”
4 The king and all the people were presenting sacrifices to the Lord.5 King Solomon sacrificed 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. Then the king and all the people dedicated God’s temple.6 The priests stood in their assigned spots, along with the Levites who had the musical instruments used for praising the Lord.t (These were the ones King David made for giving thanks to the Lord and which were used by David when he offered praise, saying, “Certainly his loyal love endures.”)t Opposite the Levites,t the priests were blowing the trumpets, while all Israel stood there.7 Solomon consecrated the middle of the courtyard that is in front of the Lord’s temple. He offered burnt sacrifices, grain offerings,s and the fat from the peace offerings there, because the bronze altar that Solomon had made was too small to hold all these offerings.t8 At that time Solomon and all Israel with him celebrated a festival for seven days. This great assembly included people from Lebo Hamath in the north to the Brook of Egypt in the south.t9 On the eighth day they held an assembly, for they had dedicated the altar for seven days and celebrated the festival for seven more days.

10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month, Solomont sent the people home. They leftt happy and contentedt because of the good the Lord had done for David, Solomon, and his people Israel.

The Lord Gives Solomon a Promise and a Warning

11 After Solomon finished building the Lord’s temple and the royal palace, and accomplished all his plans for the Lord’s temple and his royal palace,t12 the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him: “I have answeredt your prayer and chosen this place to be my temple where sacrifices are to be made.t13 Whent I close up the skyt so that it doesn’t rain, or command locusts to devour the land’s vegetation,t or send a plague among my people,14 if my people, who belong to me,t humble themselves, pray, seek to please me,t and repudiate their sinful practices,t then I will respondt from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.s15 Now I will be attentive and responsive to the prayers offered in this place.t16 Now I have chosen and consecrated this temple by making it my permanent home;t I will be constantly present there.t17 You must serve me as your father David did. Do everything I commanded and obey my rules and regulations.ts

18 Then I will establish your dynasty,t just as I promised your father David, ‘You will not fail to have a successor ruling over Israel.’t
19 “But if you peoplet ever turn away from me, fail to obey the regulations and rules I instructed you to keep,t and decide to serve and worship other gods,t20 then I will remove yout from my land I have given you,t I will abandon this temple I have consecrated with my presence,st and I will make yout an object of mockery and ridiculet among all the nations.21 As for this temple, which was once majestic,t everyone who passes by it will be shocked and say, ‘Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?’

22 Others will then answer,t ‘Because they abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors,t who led them out of Egypt. They embraced other gods whom they worshiped and served.t That is why he brought all this disaster down on them.’”

2 Chronicles 7

The Dedication of the Temple

1 When King Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and burned up the sacrifices that had been offered, and the dazzling light of the LORD's presence filled the Temple. 2 Because the Temple was full of the dazzling light, the priests could not enter it. 3 When the people of Israel saw the fire fall from heaven and the light fill the Temple, they fell face downward on the pavement, worshiping God and praising him for his goodness and his eternal love. 4 Then Solomon and all the people offered sacrifices to the LORD. 5 He sacrificed 22,000 head of cattle and 120,000 sheep as fellowship offerings. And so he and all the people dedicated the Temple.

6 The priests stood in the places that were assigned to them, and facing them stood the Levites, praising the LORD with the musical instruments that King David had provided and singing the hymn, “His Love Is Eternal!” as they had been commissioned by David. The priests blew trumpets while all the people stood.

7 Solomon consecrated the central part of the courtyard, the area in front of the Temple, and then offered there the sacrifices burned whole, the grain offerings, and the fat from the fellowship offerings. He did this because the bronze altar which he had made was too small for all these offerings.
8 Solomon and all the people of Israel celebrated the Festival of Shelters for seven days. There was a huge crowd of people from as far away as Hamath Pass in the north and the Egyptian border in the south. 9 They had spent seven days for the dedication of the altar and then seven more days for the festival. On the last day they had a closing celebration,

10 and on the following day, the twenty-third day of the seventh month, Solomon sent the people home. They were happy about all the blessings that the LORD had given to his people Israel, to David, and to Solomon.

God Appears to Solomon Again

11 After King Solomon had finished the Temple and the palace, successfully completing all his plans for them, 12 the LORD appeared to him at night. He said to him, “I have heard your prayer, and I accept this Temple as the place where sacrifices are to be offered to me. 13 Whenever I hold back the rain or send locusts to eat up the crops or send an epidemic on my people, 14 if they pray to me and repent and turn away from the evil they have been doing, then I will hear them in heaven, forgive their sins, and make their land prosperous again. 15 I will watch over this Temple and be ready to hear all the prayers that are offered here, 16 because I have chosen it and consecrated it as the place where I will be worshiped forever. I will watch over it and protect it for all time. 17 If you serve me faithfully as your father David did, obeying my laws and doing everything I have commanded you, 18 I will keep the promise I made to your father David when I told him that Israel would always be ruled by his descendants. 19 But if you and your people ever disobey the laws and commands I have given you and worship other gods,

20 then I will remove you from the land that I gave you, and I will abandon this Temple that I have consecrated as the place where I am to be worshiped. People everywhere will ridicule it and treat it with contempt.
21 “The Temple is now greatly honored, but then everyone who passes by it will be amazed and will ask, ‘Why did the LORD do this to this land and this Temple?’

22 People will answer, ‘It is because they abandoned the LORD their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt. They gave their allegiance to other gods and worshiped them. That is why the LORD has brought this disaster on them.’”