The Daily Audio Bible

8 Then doth Solomon assemble the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, princes of the fathers of the sons of Israel, unto king Solomon, to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah from the city of David -- it [is] Zion;

² and all the men of Israel are assembled unto king Solomon, in the month of Ethanim, in the festival -- [is] the seventh month.

³ And all the elders of Israel come in, and the priests lift up the ark,

⁴ and bring up the ark of Jehovah, and the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that [are] in the tent, yea, the priests and the Levites bring them up.

⁵ And king Solomon and all the company of Israel who are met unto him [are] with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that are not counted nor numbered for multitude.

⁶ And the priests bring in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah unto its place, unto the oracle of the house, unto the holy of holies, unto the place of the wings of the cherubs;

⁷ for the cherubs are spreading forth two wings unto the place of the ark, and the cherubs cover over the ark, and over its staves from above;

⁸ and they lengthen the staves, and the heads of the staves are seen from the holy [place] on the front of the oracle, and are not seen without, and they are there unto this day.

⁹ There is nothing in the ark, only the two tables of stone which Moses put there in Horeb, when Jehovah covenanted with the sons of Israel in their going out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁰ And it cometh to pass, in the going out of the priests from the holy [place], that the cloud hath filled the house of Jehovah,

¹¹ and the priests have not been able to stand to minister because of the cloud, for the honour of Jehovah hath filled the house of Jehovah.

¹² Then said Solomon, `Jehovah hath said to dwell in thick darkness;

¹³ I have surely built a house of habitation for Thee; a fixed place for Thine abiding to the ages.'

¹⁴ And the king turneth round his face, and blesseth the whole assembly of Israel; and all the assembly of Israel is standing.

¹⁵ And he saith, `Blessed [is] Jehovah, God of Israel, who spake by His mouth with David my father, and by His hand hath fulfilled [it], saying,

¹⁶ From the day that I brought out My people, even Israel, from Egypt, I have not fixed on a city out of all the tribes of Israel, to build a house for My name being there; and I fix on David to be over My people Israel.

¹⁷ `And it is with the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of Jehovah, God of Israel,

¹⁸ and Jehovah saith unto David my father, Because that it hath been with thy heart to build a house for My name, thou hast done well that it hath been with thy heart;

¹⁹ only, thou dost not build the house, but thy son who is coming out from thy loins, he doth build the house for My name.

²⁰ `And Jehovah doth establish His word which He spake, and I am risen up instead of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as Jehovah spake, and build the house for the name of Jehovah, God of Israel,

²¹ and set there a place for the ark, where [is] the covenant of Jehovah which He made with our fathers in His bringing them out from the land of Egypt.'

²² And Solomon standeth before the altar of Jehovah, over-against all the assembly of Israel, and spreadeth his hands towards the heavens,

²³ and saith, `Jehovah, God of Israel, there is not a God like Thee, in the heavens above, and on the earth beneath, keeping the covenant and the kindness for Thy servants, those walking before Thee with all their heart,

²⁴ who hast kept for Thy servant David my father that which Thou spakest to him; yea, Thou speakest with Thy mouth, and with Thy hand hast fulfilled [it], as [at] this day.

²⁵ `And now, Jehovah, God of Israel, keep for Thy servant David my father that which Thou spakest to him, saying, There is not cut off to thee a man from before Me, sitting on the throne of Israel -- only, if thy sons watch their way, to walk before Me as thou hast walked before Me.

²⁶ `And now, O God of Israel, let it be established, I pray Thee, Thy word which Thou hast spoken to Thy servant, David my father.

²⁷ But, is it true? -- God dwelleth on the earth! lo, the heavens, and the heavens of the heavens do not contain Thee, how much less this house which I have builded!

²⁸ `Then thou hast turned unto the prayer of Thy servant, and unto his supplication, O Jehovah my God, to hearken unto the cry and unto the prayer which Thy servant is praying before Thee to-day,

²⁹ for Thine eyes being open towards this house night and day, towards the place of which Thou hast said, My Name is there; to hearken unto the prayer which Thy servant prayeth towards this place.

³⁰ `Then Thou hast hearkened unto the supplication of Thy servant, and of Thy people Israel, which they pray towards this place; yea, Thou dost hearken in the place of Thy dwelling, in the heavens -- and Thou hast hearkened, and hast forgiven,

³¹ that which a man sinneth against his neighbour, and he hath lifted up upon him an oath to cause him to swear, and the oath hath come in before Thine altar in this house,

³² then Thou dost hear in the heavens, and hast done, and hast judged Thy servants, to declare wicked the wicked, to put his way on his head, and to declare righteous the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

³³ `In Thy people Israel being smitten before an enemy, because they sin against Thee, and they have turned back unto Thee, and have confessed Thy name, and prayed, and made supplication unto Thee in this house,

³⁴ then thou dost hear in the heavens, and hast forgiven the sin of Thy people Israel, and brought them back unto the ground that Thou gavest to their fathers.

³⁵ `In the heavens being restrained, and there is no rain, because they sin against Thee, and they have prayed towards this place, and confessed Thy name, and from their sin turn back, for Thou dost afflict them,

³⁶ then Thou dost hear in the heavens, and hast forgiven the sin of Thy servants, and of Thy people Israel, for Thou directest them the good way in which they go, and hast given rain on Thy land which Thou hast given to Thy people for inheritance.

³⁷ `Famine -- when it is in the land; pestilence -- when it is; blasting, mildew, locust; caterpillar -- when it is; when its enemy hath distressed it in the land [in] its gates, any plague, any sickness, --

³⁸ any prayer, any supplication that [is] of any man of all Thy people Israel, who know each the plague of his own heart, and hath spread his hands towards this house,

³⁹ then Thou dost hear in the heavens, the settled place of Thy dwelling, and hast forgiven, and hast done, and hast given to each according to all his ways, whose heart Thou knowest, (for Thou hast known -- Thyself alone -- the heart of all the sons of man),

⁴⁰ so that they fear Thee all the days that they are living on the face of the ground that Thou hast given to our fathers.

⁴¹ `And also, unto the stranger who is not of Thy people Israel, and hath come from a land afar off for Thy name's sake --

⁴² (for they hear of Thy great name, and of Thy strong hand, and of Thy stretched-out arm) -- and he hath come in and prayed towards this house,

⁴³ Thou dost hear in the heavens, the settled place of Thy dwelling, and hast done according to all that the stranger calleth unto Thee for, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Thy name, to fear Thee like Thy people Israel, and to know that Thy name hath been called on this house which I have builded.

⁴⁴ `When Thy people doth go out to battle against its enemy, in the way that Thou dost send them, and they have prayed unto Jehovah the way of the city which thou hast fixed on, and of the house which I have builded for Thy name;

⁴⁵ then Thou hast heard in the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and hast maintained their cause.

⁴⁶ `When they sin against Thee (for there is not a man who sinneth not), and Thou hast been angry with them, and hast given them up before an enemy, and they have taken captive their captivity unto the land of the enemy far off or near;

⁴⁷ and they have turned [it] back unto their heart in the land whither they have been taken captive, and have turned back, and made supplication unto Thee, in the land of their captors, saying, We have sinned and done perversely -- we have done wickedly;

⁴⁸ yea, they have turned back unto Thee, with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, and have prayed unto Thee the way of their land, which Thou gavest to their fathers, the city which Thou hast chosen, and the house which I have builded for Thy name:

⁴⁹ `Then Thou hast heard in the heavens, the settled place of Thy dwelling, their prayer and their supplication, and hast maintained their cause,

⁵⁰ and hast forgiven Thy people who have sinned against Thee, even all their transgressions which they have transgressed against Thee, and hast given them mercies before their captors, and they have had mercy [on] them --

⁵¹ (for Thy people and Thy inheritance [are] they, whom Thou didst bring out of Egypt, out of the midst of the furnace of iron) --

⁵² for Thine eyes being open unto the supplication of Thy servant, and unto the supplication of Thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all they call unto Thee for;

⁵³ for Thou hast separated them to Thyself for an inheritance, out of all the peoples of the earth, as Thou didst speak by the hand of Moses Thy servant, in Thy bringing out our fathers from Egypt, O Lord Jehovah.'

⁵⁴ And it cometh to pass, at Solomon's finishing to pray unto Jehovah all this prayer and supplication, he hath risen from before the altar of Jehovah, from bending on his knees, and his hands spread out to the heavens,

⁵⁵ and he standeth and blesseth all the assembly of Israel [with] a loud voice, saying,

⁵⁶ `Blessed [is] Jehovah who hath given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He hath spoken; there hath not fallen one word of all His good word, which He spake by the hand of Moses his servant.

⁵⁷ `Jehovah our God is with us as He hath been with our fathers; He doth not forsake us nor leave us;

⁵⁸ to incline our heart unto Himself, to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commands, and His statutes, and His judgments, which He commanded our fathers;

⁵⁹ and these my words with which I have made supplication before Jehovah, are near unto Jehovah our God by day and by night, to maintain the cause of His servant, and the cause of His people Israel, the matter of a day in its day;

⁶⁰ for all the peoples of the earth knowing that Jehovah, He [is] God; there is none else;

⁶¹ and your heart hath been perfect with Jehovah our God, to walk in His statutes, and to keep His commands, as [at] this day.'

⁶² And the king and all Israel with him are sacrificing a sacrifice before Jehovah;

⁶³ and Solomon sacrificeth the sacrifice of peace-offerings, which he hath sacrificed to Jehovah, oxen, twenty and two thousand, and sheep, a hundred and twenty thousand; and the king and all the sons of Israel dedicate the house of Jehovah.

⁶⁴ On that day hath the king sanctified the middle of the court that [is] before the house of Jehovah, for he hath made there the burnt-offering, and the present, and the fat of the peace-offerings; for the altar of brass that [is] before Jehovah [is] too little to contain the burnt-offering, and the present, and the fat of the peace-offerings.

⁶⁵ And Solomon maketh, at that time, the festival -- and all Israel with him, a great assembly from the entering in of Hamath unto the brook of Egypt -- before Jehovah our God, seven days and seven days; fourteen days.

⁶⁶ On the eighth day he hath sent the people away, and they bless the king, and go to their tents, rejoicing and glad of heart for all the good that Jehovah hath done to David His servant, and to Israel His people.

⁵¹ `Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and in ears! ye do always the Holy Spirit resist; as your fathers -- also ye;

⁵² which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? and they killed those who declared before about the coming of the Righteous One, of whom now ye betrayers and murderers have become,

⁵³ who received the law by arrangement of messengers, and did not keep [it].'

⁵⁴ And hearing these things, they were cut to the hearts, and did gnash the teeth at him;

⁵⁵ and being full of the Holy Spirit, having looked stedfastly to the heaven, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,

⁵⁶ and he said, `Lo, I see the heavens having been opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.'

⁵⁷ And they, having cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and did rush with one accord upon him,

⁵⁸ and having cast him forth outside of the city, they were stoning [him] -- and the witnesses did put down their garments at the feet of a young man called Saul --

⁵⁹ and they were stoning Stephen, calling and saying, `Lord Jesus, receive my spirit;'

⁶⁰ and having bowed the knees, he cried with a loud voice, `Lord, mayest thou not lay to them this sin;' and this having said, he fell asleep.

8 And Saul was assenting to his death, and there came in that day a great persecution upon the assembly in Jerusalem, all also were scattered abroad in the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles;

² and devout men carried away Stephen, and made great lamentation over him;

³ and Saul was making havoc of the assembly, into every house entering, and haling men and women, was giving them up to prison;

⁴ they then indeed, having been scattered, went abroad proclaiming good news -- the word.

⁵ And Philip having gone down to a city of Samaria, was preaching to them the Christ,

⁶ the multitudes also were giving heed to the things spoken by Philip, with one accord, in their hearing and seeing the signs that he was doing,

⁷ for unclean spirits came forth from many who were possessed, crying with a loud voice, and many who have been paralytic and lame were healed,

⁸ and there was great joy in that city.

⁹ And a certain man, by name Simon, was before in the city using magic, and amazing the nation of Samaria, saying himself to be a certain great one,

¹⁰ to whom they were all giving heed, from small unto great, saying, `This one is the great power of God;'

¹¹ and they were giving heed to him, because of his having for a long time amazed them with deeds of magic.

¹² And when they believed Philip, proclaiming good news, the things concerning the reign of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized both men and women;

¹³ and Simon also himself did believe, and, having been baptized, he was continuing with Philip, beholding also signs and mighty acts being done, he was amazed.

129 A Song of the Ascents. Often they distressed me from my youth, Pray, let Israel say:

² Often they distressed me from my youth, Yet they have not prevailed over me.

³ Over my back have ploughers ploughed, They have made long their furrows.

⁴ Jehovah [is] righteous, He hath cut asunder cords of the wicked.

⁵ Confounded and turn backward do all hating Zion.

⁶ They are as grass of the roofs, That before it was drawn out withereth,

⁷ That hath not filled the hand of a reaper, And the bosom of a binder of sheaves.

⁸ And the passers by have not said, `The blessing of Jehovah [is] on you, We blessed you in the Name of Jehovah!'

17 Better [is] a dry morsel, and rest with it, Than a house full of the sacrifices of strife.