Verse 1

Then Solomon said, 'The LORD has said that He would dwell in thick darkness.'

Other Translations

Referenced Verses

  • Exod 20:21 : 21 The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.
  • 1 Kgs 8:12-50 : 12 Then Solomon said, 'The LORD has said that He would dwell in thick darkness.' 13 I have indeed built a high and exalted house for You, a place where You may dwell forever. 14 Then the king turned around and gave a blessing to the entire assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. 15 He said, 'Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David and with His hand has fulfilled it, saying:' 16 'Since the day I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a house where My name might be, but I chose David to rule My people Israel.' 17 Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. 18 But the LORD said to my father David, ‘Because it was in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well to have this desire in your heart.' 19 Nevertheless, you will not build the house yourself; rather, your son, your own descendant, will build the house for My name. 20 The LORD has fulfilled His word that He spoke: I have arisen in place of my father David, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised. I have also built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. 21 And there I have placed a place for the Ark, which contains the covenant of the LORD that He made with our ancestors when He brought them out of Egypt. 22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven. 23 He said: 'LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth below—keeping Your covenant and showing steadfast love to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart.' 24 'You have kept Your word to Your servant, my father David. What You spoke with Your mouth You fulfilled with Your hand, as it is today.' 25 'Now, LORD, God of Israel, keep for Your servant David, my father, what You promised him: “You shall never fail to have a descendant to sit on the throne of Israel before Me, if only your descendants are careful to walk before Me as you have walked before Me.”' 26 'Now therefore, God of Israel, confirm the word that You have spoken to Your servant, my father David.' 27 'But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even the heavens, the highest heavens, cannot contain You. How much less this house that I have built!' 28 'Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, LORD my God. Listen to the cry and the prayer that Your servant prays before You today.' 29 'May Your eyes be open toward this house day and night, toward the place of which You said, “My name shall be there,” to hear the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place.' 30 'Hear the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, and when You hear, forgive.' 31 If someone sins against a neighbor and is asked to swear an oath, and they come and take the oath before Your altar in this house, 32 then hear from heaven and act. Judge Your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing their conduct down on their own heads and vindicating the innocent by rewarding them according to their righteousness. 33 When Your people Israel are defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against You, and if they turn back to You, confess Your name, pray, and plead with You in this house, 34 then hear from heaven, forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land You gave to their ancestors. 35 When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, if they pray toward this place, confess Your name, and turn from their sin because You have afflicted them, 36 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land You gave Your people as an inheritance. 37 When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight, mildew, locusts, or grasshoppers, or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, or whatever disaster or disease may come, 38 and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among all Your people Israel—being aware of the afflictions in their own hearts and spreading out their hands toward this house— 39 then hear from heaven, Your dwelling place. Forgive and act, and give to each one according to all they do, since You know their hearts (for You alone know every human heart), 40 so that they may fear You all the days they live in the land You gave to our ancestors. 41 As for the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel but comes from a distant land because of Your name— 42 for they will hear of Your great name, Your mighty hand, and Your outstretched arm. When they come and pray toward this house, 43 then hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, and do according to all the foreigner asks You for, so that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and may know that this house I have built is called by Your name. 44 When Your people go out to fight against their enemies, wherever You send them, and when they pray to the LORD in the direction of the city You have chosen and the temple I have built for Your name, 45 then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. 46 When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and give them over to their enemies, who take them captive to a land far away or near, 47 and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with You in the land of their captors, saying, 'We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly'; 48 and if they turn back to You with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to You in the direction of the land You gave to their ancestors, the city You have chosen, and the temple I have built for Your name, 49 then hear their prayer and their plea from heaven, Your dwelling place, and uphold their cause. 50 Forgive Your people who have sinned against You; forgive all the offenses they have committed against You, and cause their captors to show them mercy,
  • Heb 12:18 : 18 For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched, that is burning with fire, to darkness, gloom, and a storm,
  • Ps 18:8-9 : 8 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of the mountains quaked and were shaken, because He was angry. 9 Smoke rose from His nostrils, and consuming fire came from His mouth; burning coals blazed forth from Him. 10 He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under His feet. 11 He mounted a cherub and flew; He soared on the wings of the wind.
  • Ps 97:2 : 2 Clouds and thick darkness surround Him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
  • Nah 1:3 : 3 The Lord is slow to anger but great in power; he will not leave the guilty unpunished. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet.
  • Exod 24:15-18 : 15 Then Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day, the LORD called to Moses from within the cloud. 17 The appearance of the LORD's glory was like a consuming fire on the mountaintop in the sight of the Israelites. 18 Moses entered the cloud as he went up the mountain, and he stayed on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.
  • Lev 16:2 : 2 The LORD said to Moses, "Tell your brother Aaron that he must not come at any time into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain, in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or he will die, because I appear in the cloud above the atonement cover.
  • Deut 4:11 : 11 You approached and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire up to the very heavens, with darkness, cloud, and thick gloom.