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Then hear thou from heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, by requiting the wicked, by recompensing his way upon his own head, and by justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.

And if thy people Israel be put to the worst before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee; and shall return and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication before thee in this house; then hear thou from the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers.

When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; yet if they pray toward this place and confess thy name, and turn from their sin when thou dost afflict them, then hear thou from heaven and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them the good way wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance.

If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillars, if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land, whatsoever sore, or whatsoever sickness there be:

Then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of any man, or of all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house :

Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling-place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all

his

ways, whose heart thou knowest (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men).

That they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

Moreover

Moreover concerning the stranger, which is not of thy people Israel, but is come from a far country for thy great name's sake, and thy mighty hand, and thy stretched-out arm; if they come and pray in this house:

Then hear thou from the heavens, even from 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, and fear thee, as doth thy people Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.

the

way

If thy people go out to war against their enemies by that thou shalt send them, and they pray unto thee towards this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name; then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

If they sin against thee, (for there is no man which sinneth not), and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives into a land far off or near;

Yet if they bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly.

If they return to thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray towards their land which thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name:

Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling-place, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have trans

gressed

against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compas

sion on them:

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

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.

Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling-place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee.

Now my GoD, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.

Now therefore arise, O LORD GOD, into thy restingplace, thou, and the ark of thy strength; let thy priests, O LORD GOD, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness.

O LORD GOD, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant.

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.

And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees, with his hands spread up

to heaven.

And he stood and blessed all the congregation of Israel, with a loud voice, saying,

Blessed

Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.

The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us nor forsake us: That he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers.

And let these my words wherewith I have made supplication before the LORD, be nigh unto the LORD our GOD day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel at all times. as the matter shall require: that all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is Gon, and that there is none else.

Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our Gon, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.

And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD.

Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven and consumed the burntoffering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house.

And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD'S house.

And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Then

Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the LORD.

And the priests waited on their offices: the Levites also with instruments of music of the LORD, which David the king had made to praise the LORD, because his mercy endureth for ever, when David praised by their ministry: and the priests sounded trumpets before them, and all Israel stood.

Moreover Solomon hallowed the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt-offerings, and the fat of the peace offer. ings, because the brazen altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt-offerings, and the meat-offerings, and the fat.

ANNOTATIONS AND REFLECTIONS.

The king had caused a place to be erected near the altar, raised above the people, that he might be heard and seen by all of them, whilst he was paying adoration to the KING of Kings and LORD of Lords.

The prayer which Solomon offered up on this ocea sion is so clear and comprehensive, that there is no need of an explanation. It was perfectly consistent with that true wisdom which has piety for its foundation; and served to teach the people for what they should pray, and how they ought to address the SUPREME BEING, and from the humility with which the king entreated the LORD to shew forth his GLORY in the house which he had built, they were instructed, that as no fabric however magnificent, can be in reality fit for the habi tation of the ALMIGHTY, they should receive the manifestation of his glorious PRESENCE as an instance of infinite goodness and condescension.

Solomon's

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