Prayer of King Shlomo (Solomon) to the Most High God of Israel, the day upon which the Ark of the Covenant around was placed into the completed Temple. (around 950 B.C.E.)
1 KINGS 8:22-62
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22 And Shlomo stood before the Mizbayach (altar) of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Yisrael, and spread forth his hands toward heaven;
23 and he said: “O LORD, the God of Yisrael, there is no God like Thee, in Heaven above, or on earth beneath; who keepest covenant and mercy with Thy servants, that walk before Thee with all their heart;
24 who hast kept with Thy servant David my father that which Thou first promise him; yea, Thou spokest with Thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with Thy hand, as it is this day.
25 Now therefore, O LORD, the God of Yisrael, keep with Thy servant David my father that which Thou hast promised him saying: There shall not fail thee a man in My sight to sit on the throne of Yisrael, if only thy children take heed to their way, to walk before Me as thou hast walked before Me.
26 Now therefore, O God of Yisrael, let Thy word, I pray Thee, be verified, which Thou didst speak unto Thy servant David my father.
27 But will God in very truth dwell on their way earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee, how much less this house that I have builded!
28 Yet have Thou respect unto the prayer of Thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer which Thy servant prayeth before Thee this day;
29 that Thine eyes be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place whereof Thou hast said: My name shall be there; to hearken unto the prayer which Thy servant shall pray towards this place.
30 And hearken Thou to the supplication of Thy servant, and of Thy people Yisrael, when they shall pray toward this place; yea, hear Thou in heaven Thy dwelling-place; and when Thou hearest, forgive.
31 If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be exacted of him to cause him to swear, and he come and swear before Thine Mizbayach in this house;
32 then hear Thou in heaven,and do, and judge Thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his own head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.
33 When Thy people Yisrael are smitten down before the enemy, when they do sin against Thee, if they turn again to Thee, and confess Thy name, and pray and make supplication unto Thee in this house;
34 then hear Thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of Thy people Yisrael, and bring them back unto the land which Thou gavest unto their fathers.
35 When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, when they do sin against Thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess Thy name, and turn from their sin, when Thou dost afflict them;
36 then hear Thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of Thy servants, and Thy people Yisrael, when Thou teaches them the good way wherein they should walk; and send rain upon their land, which Thou hast given to Thy people for an inheritance.
37 If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting or mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be;
38 what prayer and supplication solver be made by any man of all Thy people Yisrael, who shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house;
39 then hear Thou in heaven Thy dwelling-place, and forgive, and do, and render unto every man according to all his ways, whose heart Thou knowest — for Thou, even Thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men —
40 that they may fear Thee all the days that they live in the land which Thou gavest unto our fathers.
41 Moreover concerning the stranger that is not of Thy people Yisrael, when he shall come out of a far country for Thy name’s sake —
42 for they shall hear of Thy great name, and of Thy mighty hand, and of Thine outstretched arm — when he shall come and pray toward this house;
43 hear Thou in heaven Thy dwelling-place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to Thee for; that all the peoples of the earth may know Thy name, to fear Thee, as doth Thy people Yisrael, and that they may know that Thy name is called upon this house which I have built.
44 If Thy people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatsoever way Thou shalt send them, and they pray unto the LORD toward the city which Thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for Thy name;
45 then hear Thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
46 If they sin against Thee — for there is no man that sinneth not — and Thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive unto the land of the enemy, far off or near;
47 yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn back, and make supplication unto Thee in the land of them that carried them captive, saying: We have sinned, and have done iniquitously, we have dealt wickedly;
48 if they return unto Thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray unto Thee toward their land, which Thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which Thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for Thy name;
49 then hear Thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven Thy dwelling-place, and maintain their cause;
50 and forgive Thy people who have sinned against Thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against Thee; and give them compassion before those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them;
51 for they are Thy people, and Thine inheritance, which Thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron;
52 that Thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of Thy servant, and unto the supplication of Thy people Yisrael, to hearken unto them whensoever they cry unto Thee.
53 For Thou didst set them apart from among all their fathers peoples of the earth, to be Thine inheritance, as Thou didst speak by the hand of Moses Thy servant, when Thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.”
54 And it was so, that when Shlomo had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the LORD, he arose from before the Mizbayach of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread forth toward heaven,
55 And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Yisrael with a loud voice, saying:
56 “Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto His people Yisrael, according to all that He promised; there hath not failed on word of all His good promise, which He promised by the hand of Moses His servant.
57 The LORD our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; let Him not leave us, nor forsake us;
58 that He may incline our hearts unto Him, to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments, and His statutes, and His ordinances, which He commanded our fathers.
59 And let these my words, wherewithal I have made supplication before the LORD, be nigh unto the LORD our God day and night, that He maintain the cause of His people Yisrael, as every day shall require;
60 that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD, He is God, there is none else.
61 Let your heart therefore be whole with the LORD our God, to walk in Hid statutes, and to keep His commandments, as at this day.”
62 And the king, and all Yisrael with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD.
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As much as He appreciates sacrifice to Him, He is not bloodthirsty. Isaiah 1:16-20
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16 Wash and cleanse yourselves.
Remove your evil deeds from My sight.
Stop doing evil!
17 Learn to do right;
seek justice and correct the oppressor.
Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.”
18 Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD..
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they will be as white as snow;
though they are as red as crimson,
they will become like wool.
19 you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the best of the land.
20 if you resist and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword.”
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
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