9. but you are not the one to do it. One of your own sons will build the Temple to honor me.’
10. “And now the lord has fulfilled the promise he made, for I have become king in my father’s place, and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the lord promised. I have built this Temple to honor the name of the lord, the God of Israel.
11. There I have placed the Ark, which contains the covenant that the lord made with the people of Israel.”
12. Then Solomon stood before the altar of the lord in front of the entire community of Israel, and he lifted his hands in prayer.
13. Now Solomon had made a bronze platform 71/2 feet long, 71/2 feet wide, and 41/2 feet high and had placed it at the center of the Temple’s outer courtyard. He stood on the platform, and then he knelt in front of the entire community of Israel and lifted his hands toward heaven.
14. He prayed,“O lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in all of heaven and earth. You keep your covenant and show unfailing love to all who walk before you in wholehearted devotion.
15. You have kept your promise to your servant David, my father. You made that promise with your own mouth, and with your own hands you have fulfilled it today.
16. “And now, O lord, God of Israel, carry out the additional promise you made to your servant David, my father. For you said to him, ‘If your descendants guard their behavior and faithfully follow my Law as you have done, one of them will always sit on the throne of Israel.’
17. Now, O lord, God of Israel, fulfill this promise to your servant David.
18. “But will God really live on earth among people? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this Temple I have built!
19. Nevertheless, listen to my prayer and my plea, O lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is making to you.
20. May you watch over this Temple day and night, this place where you have said you would put your name. May you always hear the prayers I make toward this place.
21. May you hear the humble and earnest requests from me and your people Israel when we pray toward this place. Yes, hear us from heaven where you live, and when you hear, forgive.
22. “If someone wrongs another person and is required to take an oath of innocence in front of your altar at this Temple,
23. then hear from heaven and judge between your servants—the accuser and the accused. Pay back the guilty as they deserve. Acquit the innocent because of their innocence.
24. “If your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you, and if they turn back and acknowledge your name and pray to you here in this Temple,
25. then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and return them to this land you gave to them and to their ancestors.
26. “If the skies are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and if they pray toward this Temple and acknowledge your name and turn from their sins because you have punished them,