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Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. King Solomon offered as a sacrifice twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. Thus the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.

The Dedication. The priests stood at their appointed posts, as did the Levites, with the musical instruments for the Lord that King David had made for giving thanks to the Lord—for his love endures forever—whenever David used them to offer praise to their accompaniment. Opposite them the priests sounded their trumpets while all the Israelites stood.[a]

Then Solomon consecrated the middle part of the court that lay in front of the house of the Lord. There he presented the burnt offerings and the fatty portions of the shared offerings because the bronze altar which he had made could not hold the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fatty parts.

After that Solomon, and all Israel with him, a massive congregation, from Lebo-hamath to the Wadi of Egypt, celebrated the festival for seven days. On the eighth day they held a solemn assembly, inasmuch as they had celebrated the dedication of the altar for seven days.

10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month, Solomon sent the people back to their homes rejoicing and happy in heart because of all the wonderful things that the Lord had granted to David, to Solomon, and to his people Israel. 11 Solomon had completed the house of the Lord and the royal palace. Everything that he had been determined to accomplish in the house of the Lord and in his own house had been successfully completed.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 7:6 The reference to the Psalms is clear. But on this point see the introduction to the Book of Psalms.