1 Kings 8:54-66

54So Solomon finished all his prayers and everything that he wanted to ask the Lord for. He had been down on his knees with his hands lifted up towards the sky in front of the Lord's altar. Now he stood up.

55When he stood up, he asked God to bless all the people in Israel. He said with a loud voice,

56‘Praise the Lord as he deserves! He has given his people, the Israelites, a safe place to live, as he has promised to do. Every great promise that the Lord gave to his servant Moses has now happened!

57I pray that the Lord our God will be with us, as he was with our ancestors. I pray that he will never leave us or turn away from us.

58I pray that the Lord will cause us to respect his authority. Then we will do what he wants us to do. We will obey all his commands, rules and laws that he gave to our ancestors.

59I pray that the Lord our God will continue to remember these words that I have prayed. May he keep them in his thoughts. I pray that he will do what is right to help me and his people, the Israelites. May he give us the help that we need each day.

60Then all the nations of the earth will understand that the Lord is the only true God. There is no other God.

61I pray that you will continue to serve the Lord our God faithfully. You must continue to obey his rules and his commands, as you do now.’

62Then the king and all the Israelite people who were with him offered sacrifices to the Lord.

63These are the friendship offerings that Solomon offered to the Lord: 22,000 cows. 120,000 sheep and goats. In this way, King Solomon and all the Israelite people offered the temple as a gift to the Lord.

64On the same day, the king gave to the Lord the yard that was in front of the temple. King Solomon offered burnt offerings and grain offerings to the Lord. He also offered the fat from the friendship offerings. The bronze altar in front of the temple was too small to contain all these offerings. So Solomon made these sacrifices in the middle of the yard instead.

65At that time, Solomon and the big crowd of Israelites who were with him had a festival for seven days. They gave honour to the Lord our God. There were people from everywhere in Israel, from Hamath in the north to the Stream of Egypt in the south.

66The day after the festival, Solomon sent the people away to their homes. They thanked God for the king and were very happy. They were full of joy because the Lord had done many good things for his servant David and for his people, the Israelites.