erversely, we have dealt wickedly'; if they return unto
thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their
enemies, which carried them captive, and pray unto thee toward their
land, which thou {477} gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou
hast chosen, and 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 which 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: 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 to the supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication
of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them whensoever they cry unto
thee. For thou didst separate them from among all the peoples of the
earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou hast spoken by 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 forth
toward heaven. And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of
Israel with a loud voice, saying, "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 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 keep his
{478} 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, as every day shall require: that all the peoples of the
earth may know that the Lord, he is God; there is none else. Let your
heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God, 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. And Solomon offere