50. Forgive your people no matter how much they have sinned against you. Make the enemies who defeated them be kind to them.
51. Remember, they are the people you chose and rescued from Egypt that was like a blazing fire to them.
52. I am your servant, and the people of Israel belong to you. So listen when any of us pray and cry out for your help.
53. When you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, you told your servant Moses to say to them, “From all people on earth, the Lord God has chosen you to be his very own.”
54. When Solomon finished his prayer at the altar, he was kneeling with his arms lifted towards heaven. He stood up,
55. turned towards the people, blessed them, and said loudly:
56. Praise the Lord! He has kept his promise and given us peace. Every good thing he promised to his servant Moses has happened.
57. The Lord our God was with our ancestors to help them, and I pray that he will be with us and never abandon us.
58. May the Lord help us obey him and follow all the laws and teachings he gave our ancestors.
59. I pray that the Lord our God will remember my prayer day and night. May he help everyone in Israel each day, in whatever way we need it.
60. Then every nation will know that the Lord is the only true God.
61. Obey the Lord our God and follow his commands with all your heart, just as you are doing today.
62-63. Solomon and the people dedicated the temple to the Lord by offering twenty-two thousand cattle and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep as sacrifices to ask the Lord's blessing.
64. On that day, Solomon dedicated the courtyard in front of the temple and made it acceptable for worship. He offered the sacrifices there because the bronze altar in front of the temple was too small.
65. Solomon and the huge crowd celebrated the Festival of Shelters at the temple for seven days. There were people from as far away as the Egyptian Gorge in the south and Lebo-Hamath in the north.