Bible Reading for April 15

1 Kings Chapter 8

1 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the
tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king
Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant
of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.

2 And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at
the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.

3 And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.

4 And they brought up the ark of the LORD, and the tabernacle of the
congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even
those did the priests and the Levites bring up.

5 And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were
assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and
oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude.

6 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto
his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even
under the wings of the cherubims.

7 For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the
ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.

8 And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen
out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without:
and there they are unto this day.

9 There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses
put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of
Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

10 And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy
place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD,

11 So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud:
for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.

12 Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick
darkness.

13 I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for
thee to abide in for ever.

14 And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation
of Israel: (and all the congregation of Israel stood;)

15 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which spake with his
mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it, saying,

16 Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I
chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that my
name might be therein; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.

17 And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the
name of the LORD God of Israel.

18 And the LORD said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart
to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart.

19 Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall
come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name.

20 And the LORD hath performed his word that he spake, and I am risen up
in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the
LORD promised, and have built an house for the name of the LORD God of
Israel.

21 And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of
the LORD, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of
the land of Egypt.

22 And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all
the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven:

23 And he said, LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven
above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy
servants that walk before thee with all their heart:

24 Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst
him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine
hand, as it is this day.

25 Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my
father that thou promisedst him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man
in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take
heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me.

26 And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified,
which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father.

27 But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven
of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have
builded?

28 Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his
supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer,
which thy servant prayeth before thee to day:

29 That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even
toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that
thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward
this place.

30 And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy
people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in
heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive.

31 If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon
him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this
house:

32 Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning
the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the
righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

33 When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they
have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy
name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house:

34 Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel,
and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers.

35 When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have
sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy
name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them:

36 Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of
thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should
walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people
for an inheritance.

37 If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting,
mildew, locust, or if there be caterpiller; if their enemy besiege them
in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness
there be;

38 What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy
people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart,
and spread forth his hands toward this house:

39 Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and
give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for
thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;)

40 That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which
thou gavest unto our fathers.

41 Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but
cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake;

42 (For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and
of thy stretched out arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house;

43 Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that
the stranger calleth to thee for: that all people of the earth may know
thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that they may know
that this house, which I have builded, is called by thy name.

44 If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever
thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the LORD toward the city which
thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name:

45 Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and
maintain their cause.

46 If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and
thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they
carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;

47 Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were
carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the
land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and
have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;

48 And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their
soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and
pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers,
the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for
thy name:

49 Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy
dwelling place, and maintain their cause,

50 And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their
transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give
them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have
compassion on them:

51 For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest
forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron:

52 That thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy servant, and
unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all
that they call for unto thee.

53 For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth,
to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy
servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.