What does Solomon ask for when Israel is carried away captive after sinning?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

He asks the Lord to hear them in heaven when they repent, confess their sins and return with all their heart and soul, praying toward their land, chosen city and temple. He asks for judgment, forgiveness of all their sins and mercy from their captors.

Chapter breakdown

Israel’s elders, tribal princes and family heads assemble with Solomon in Jerusalem to carry the Lord’s covenant ark from David’s city, Sion. All Israel gathers on the festival day in Ethanim, the seventh month. The elders come, and the priests take up the ark. Priests and Levites carry the ark, covenant tabernacle and all its sanctuary vessels. Solomon and the assembled multitude go before the ark and sacrifice more sheep and oxen than can be counted. The priests bring the ark into the temple oracle, the holy of holies, beneath the cherubims’ wings, which cover the ark and its staves above. The projecting stave ends can be seen in the sanctuary before the oracle, but no farther out; the account says they remain there unto this day. The ark contains only the two stone tables Moses placed there at Horeb when the Lord made the covenant with Israel after their departure from Egypt.

Challoner’s separate note says that only the law’s tables were inside the ark, while Aaron’s rod and a golden urn with manna were outside or near it. It refers to Hebrews 9:4.

When the priests leave the sanctuary, a cloud fills the Lord’s house. They cannot stand to minister because the Lord’s glory has filled it. Solomon says the Lord said he would dwell in a cloud, and that he has built a house for the Lord’s dwelling, a firm throne forever.

Solomon turns and blesses Israel’s standing assembly. He blesses the Lord God of Israel, who spoke to David his father with his mouth and fulfilled the word with his own hands. He recounts the Lord’s words: since bringing Israel from Egypt he had chosen no city among its tribes for a house bearing his name, but had chosen David to rule Israel. David wished to build a house to the Lord’s name; the Lord said he had done well to think of it, but that his son born from him would build it. Solomon says the Lord has fulfilled his word: he has taken David’s place on Israel’s throne as promised and built the house. He has provided a place for the ark containing the Lord’s covenant with their fathers when they left Egypt.

Before the altar, in Israel’s sight, Solomon spreads his hands toward heaven. He says no God in heaven above or earth beneath is like the Lord, who keeps covenant and mercy with servants walking before him with their whole heart. The promise spoken to David has been fulfilled by the Lord’s hands, as this day shows. Solomon asks him to keep the word that David would not lack a man on Israel’s throne, with the condition that David’s children heed their ways and walk before the Lord as David did. He asks that the words be established. Heaven and the heavens of heavens cannot contain God, much less this house. Yet Solomon asks regard for his prayer and pleas, and a hearing for this day’s hymn and prayer. He asks that the Lord’s eyes be open night and day on the house where he said his name would be, and that he hear Solomon and Israel’s prayers there from his dwelling in heaven and show mercy.

If a man offends his neighbor, is bound by an oath and comes because of it before the altar in the house, Solomon asks the Lord to hear in heaven and judge his servants: condemn the wicked, bring his way upon his own head, justify the just and reward him according to his justice. If Israel flees its enemies because of sin, then does penance, confesses the Lord’s name and comes to pray and plead in this house, Solomon asks the Lord to hear, forgive the people’s sin and bring them back to the land given to their fathers.

If heaven is shut and rain withheld because of sins, and the people pray here, do penance to the Lord’s name and turn from sins through their afflictions, Solomon asks him to hear in heaven, forgive his servants and Israel, show the good way they should walk and give rain on the land given them to possess. He names famine, pestilence, corrupt air, blasting, locust, mildew, enemies besieging the gates, any plague or infirmity, and any curse or imprecation affecting an Israelite. When a man knows his own heart’s wound and spreads his hands in this house, Solomon asks the Lord to hear from heaven, forgive and give each according to his ways as he sees his heart. Only the Lord knows every human heart. The purpose is that they fear him throughout their days on the land given to their fathers.

Solomon also prays for the stranger who is not an Israelite and comes from a far country for the Lord’s name, having heard of his great name, mighty hand and outstretched arm. When that stranger prays here, Solomon asks the Lord to hear in heaven, in the firmament of his dwelling, and do all the stranger asks, so all earth’s peoples learn to fear his name as Israel does and recognize that his name is called upon this house. If Israel goes to war against its enemies by whatever way the Lord sends them and prays toward the chosen city and the house built to his name, Solomon asks him to hear their prayers and pleas in heaven and do judgment for them.

If the people sin—for no one is without sin—and the angry Lord delivers them to enemies who carry them captive to a far or near land, Solomon asks for a hearing if they repent in their hearts there and turn back, pleading and confessing that they have sinned, acted unjustly and committed wickedness. If they return to him with all their heart and soul in that enemy land and pray toward the land given their fathers, the chosen city and the temple built to his name, he asks the Lord to hear their prayers and pleas in heaven, in the firmament of his throne, and do judgment for them. He asks forgiveness of their sin and all their transgressions, and mercy before their captors so those captors have compassion on them.

Solomon gives the reason: they are the Lord’s people and inheritance, brought from Egypt and the iron furnace. He asks that the Lord’s eyes be open to his servant’s and Israel’s pleas, hearing all they call for. The Lord separated them for his inheritance from all earth’s peoples, as he spoke by Moses his servant when he brought their fathers out of Egypt.

After completing the prayer, Solomon rises from before the altar, where both knees had been on the ground and his hands stretched toward heaven. Standing, he blesses all Israel aloud. He blesses the Lord who gave Israel rest as promised: not one word of the good things promised through Moses has failed. He asks that their God be with them as with their fathers, neither leaving nor casting them off, and incline their hearts to him so they walk in all his ways and keep the commandments, ceremonies and judgments given their fathers. He asks that his prayer remain near the Lord day and night, for judgment for his servant and Israel day by day, so all earth’s peoples know that the Lord is God and there is no other. He calls for their hearts to be perfect with the Lord, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments as that day.

The king and all Israel offer victims before the Lord. Solomon sacrifices twenty-two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep as peace offerings, and he and Israel dedicate the temple. He sanctifies the middle of the court before the house, offering the holocaust, sacrifice and peace-offering fat there because the brass altar is too small to receive them. He holds a solemn feast with a great multitude of Israel, from Emath’s entrance to Egypt’s river, before the Lord: seven days and seven days, fourteen in all. The next verse says he dismisses the people on the eighth day. They bless him and return home rejoicing for the good the Lord has done for David his servant and Israel his people.

The story inside

The ark is carried from Sion and placed beneath the cherubims, after which the cloud fills the house and the priests cannot minister. Solomon blesses the assembly and explains the building through the Lord’s words to David. His prayer asks for hearings in heaven across distinct situations: an oath, defeat, drought, plagues, a stranger’s visit, war and captivity after sin. Each request keeps its stated circumstances and response. He closes by recalling Israel’s departure from Egypt, then rises from his knees to bless the people and ask for hearts turned toward the Lord. Offerings exceed the brass altar’s capacity, so the court’s middle is sanctified for them. The feast and joyful dismissal finish the chapter.

Lessons worth keeping

1
The ark account distinguishes its contents from the nearby objects in Challoner’s note. Scripture names only the two stone tables placed by Moses at Horeb. The note places Aaron’s rod and manna urn outside or near the ark, preserving that alternative rather than claiming they were inside.
2
Solomon’s prayer connects particular troubles to particular pleas. After defeat he asks forgiveness and return to the fathers’ land; after drought he asks forgiveness, teaching of the good way and rain. Captivity includes repentance, confession and return with all heart and soul, followed by requests for judgment, forgiveness and captors’ compassion.
3
The dedication includes stated reasons and limits. Heaven cannot contain God, yet Solomon asks for attention to prayers at the house. The court’s middle is used because the brass altar cannot receive the offerings. The feast’s fourteen days and the next verse’s eighth-day dismissal should both remain, without an added calendar explanation.

Test your recall

How does the prayer connect captivity caused by sin, the captives’ repentance and confession, and Solomon’s request that their captors show compassion?

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 35633–35669
3 Kings Chapter 8 The dedication of the temple: Solomon’s prayer and sacrifices. 8:1. Then all the ancients of Israel, with the princes of the tribes, and the heads of the families of the children of Israel, were assembled to king Solomon, in Jerusalem: that they might carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, out of the city of David, that is, out of Sion. 8:2. And all Israel assembled themselves to king Solomon, on the festival day, in the month of Ethanim, the same is the seventh month. 8:3. And all the ancients of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark, 8:4. And carried the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the covenant, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, that were in the tabernacle: and the priests and the Levites carried them. 8:5. And king Solomon, and all the multitude of Israel, that were assembled unto him, went with him before the ark, and they sacrificed sheep and oxen, that could not be counted or numbered. 8:6. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord into its place, into the oracle of the temple, into the holy of holies, under the wings of the cherubims. 8:7. For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and covered the ark, and the staves thereof above. 8:8. And whereas the staves stood out, the ends of them were seen without, in the sanctuary before the oracle, but were not seen farther out, and there they have been unto this day. 8:9. Now in the ark there was nothing else but 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.
Lines 35671–35673
Nothing else, etc.... There was nothing else but the tables of the law within the ark: but on the outside of the ark, or near the ark were also the rod of Aaron, and a golden urn with manna, Heb. 9.4.
Lines 35675–35684
8:10. And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the sanctuary, that a cloud filled the house of the Lord, 8:11. And the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord. 8:12. Then Solomon said: The Lord said that he would dwell in a cloud. 8:13. Building, I have built a house for thy dwelling, to be thy most firm throne for ever.
Lines 35686–35715
8:14. And the king turned his face, and blessed all the assembly of Israel: for all the assembly of Israel stood. 8:15. And Solomon said: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David, my father, and with his own hands hath accomplished it, saying: 8:16. Since the day that I brought my people Israel, out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel, for a house to be built, that my name might be there: but I chose David to be over my people Israel. 8:17. And David, my father, would have built a house to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel: 8:18. And the Lord said to David, my father: Whereas, thou hast thought in thy heart to build a house to my name, thou hast done well in having this same thing in thy mind. 8:19. Nevertheless, thou shalt not build me a house, but thy son, that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build a house to my name. 8:20. The Lord hath performed his word which he spoke. And I stand in the room of David, my father, and sit upon the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised: and have built a house to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 8:21. And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with our fathers, when they came out of the land of Egypt.
Lines 35717–35753
8:22. And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord, in the sight of the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands towards heaven, 8:23. And said: Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on the earth beneath: who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants, that have walked before thee with all their heart: 8:24. Who hast kept with thy servant David, my father, what thou hast promised him: with thy mouth thou didst speak, and with thy hands thou hast performed, as this day proveth. 8:25. Now, therefore, O Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David, my father, what thou hast spoken to him, saying: There shall not be taken away of thee a man in my sight, to sit on the throne of Israel: yet so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked in my sight. 8:26. And now, Lord God of Israel, let thy words be established, which thou hast spoken to thy servant David, my father. 8:27. Is it then to be thought that God should indeed dwell upon earth? for if heaven, and the heavens of heavens, cannot contain thee, how much less this house which I have built? 8:28. But have regard to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplications, O Lord, my God: hear the hymn and the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee this day: 8:29. That thy eyes may be open upon this house, night and day: upon the house of which thou hast said: My name shall be there: that thou mayst hearken to the prayer which thy servant prayeth, in this place to thee: 8:30. That thou mayst hearken to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, whatsoever they shall pray for in this place, and hear them in the place of thy dwelling in heaven; and when thou hearest, shew them mercy.
Lines 35755–35769
8:31. If any man trespass against his neighbour, and have an oath upon him, wherewith he is bound, and come, because of the oath, before thy altar, to thy house, 8:32. Then hear thou in heaven: and do and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, and bringing his way upon his own head, and justifying the just, and rewarding him according to his justice. 8:33. If thy people Israel shall fly before their enemies (because they will sin against thee) and doing penance, and confessing to thy name, shall come and pray, and make supplications to thee in this house: 8:34. Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them back to the land which thou gavest to their fathers.
Lines 35771–35795
8:35. If heaven shall be shut up, and there shall be no rain, because of their sins, and they, praying in this place, shall do penance to thy name, and shall be converted from their sins, by occasion of their afflictions: 8:36. Then hear thou them in heaven, and forgive the sins of thy servants, and of thy people Israel: and shew them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people in possession. 8:37. If a famine arise in the land, or a pestilence, or corrupt air, or blasting, or locust, or mildew; if their enemy afflict them, besieging the gates, whatsoever plague, whatsoever infirmity, 8:38. Whatsoever curse or imprecation shall happen to any man of thy people Israel: when a man shall know the wound of his own heart, and shall spread forth his hands in this house; 8:39. Then hear thou in heaven, in the place of thy dwelling, and forgive, and do so as to give to every one according to his ways, as thou shalt see his heart (for thou only knowest the heart of all the children of men) 8:40. That they may fear thee all the days that they live upon the face of the land, which thou hast given to our fathers.
Lines 35797–35816
8:41. Moreover also the stranger, who is not of thy people Israel, when he shall come out of a far country for thy name’s sake, (for they shall hear every where of thy great name, and thy mighty hand, 8:42. And thy stretched out arm) so when he shall come, and shall pray in this place, 8:43. Then hear thou in heaven, in the firmament of thy dwelling place, and do all those things, for which that stranger shall call upon thee: that all the people of the earth may learn to fear thy name, as do thy people Israel, and may prove that thy name is called upon on this house, which I have built. 8:44. If thy people go out to war against their enemies, by what way soever thou shalt send them, they shall pray to thee towards the way of the city, which thou hast chosen, and towards the house, which I have built to thy name: 8:45. And then hear thou in heaven their prayers, and their supplications, and do judgment for them.
Lines 35818–35839
8:46. But if they sin against thee, (for there is no man who sinneth not) and thou being angry, deliver them up to their enemies, so that they be led away captives into the land of their enemies, far or near; 8:47. Then if they do penance in their heart, in the place of captivity, and being converted, make supplication to thee in their captivity, saying: We have sinned, we have done unjustly, we have committed wickedness: 8:48. And return to thee with all their heart, and all their soul, in the land of their enemies, to which they have been led captives: and pray to thee towards the way of their land, which thou gavest to their fathers, and of the city which thou hast chosen, and of the temple which I have built to thy name: 8:49. Then hear thou in heaven, in the firmament of thy throne, their prayers, and their supplications, and do judgment for them: 8:50. And forgive thy people, that have sinned against thee, and all their iniquities, by which they have transgressed against thee: and give them mercy before them that have made them captives, that they may have compassion on them.
Lines 35841–35851
8:51. For they are thy people, and thy inheritance, whom thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron. 8:52. That thy eyes may be open to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, to hear them in all things for which they shall call upon thee. 8:53. For thou hast separated them to thyself for an inheritance, from amongst all the people of the earth, as thou hast spoken by Moses, thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.
Lines 35853–35880
8:54. And it came to pass, when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, that he rose from before the altar of the Lord: for he had fixed both knees on the ground, and had spread his hands towards heaven. 8:55. And he stood, and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying: 8:56. Blessed be the Lord, who hath given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed so much as one word of all the good things that he promised by his servant Moses. 8:57. The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers, and not leave us, nor cast us off: 8:58. But may he incline our hearts to himself, that we may walk in all his ways, and keep his commandments, and his ceremonies, and all his judgments, which he commanded our fathers. 8:59. And let these my words, wherewith I have prayed before the Lord, be nigh unto the Lord our God day and night, that he may do judgment for his servant, and for his people Israel, day by day: 8:60. That all the people of the earth may know, that the Lord he is God, and there is no other besides him. 8:61. Let our hearts also be perfect with the Lord our God, that we may walk in his statutes, and keep his commandments, as at this day.
Lines 35882–35904
8:62. And the king, and all Israel with him, offered victims before the Lord. 8:63. And Solomon slew victims of peace offerings, which he sacrificed to the Lord, two and twenty thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep so the king, and all the children of Israel, dedicated the temple of the Lord. 8:64. In that day the king sanctified the middle of the court, that was before the house of the Lord for there he offered the holocaust, and sacrifice, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brazen altar that was before the Lord, was too little to receive the holocaust, and sacrifice, and the fat of the peace offerings. 8:65. And Solomon made at the same time a solemn feast, and all Israel with him, a great multitude, from the entrance of Emath to the river of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days and seven days, that is, fourteen days. 8:66. And on the eighth day, he sent away the people: and they blessed the king, and went to their dwellings, rejoicing, and glad in heart, for all the good things that the Lord had done for David, his servant, and for Israel, his people.