1 Then all those greater by birth of Israel, with the leaders of the tribes and the rulers of the families of the sons of Israel, gathered together before king Solomon at Jerusalem, so that they might carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, from the city of David, that is, from Zion.
2 And all of Israel assembled before king Solomon, on the solemn day in the month of Ethanim, which is the seventh month.
3 And all the elders of Israel arrived, and the priests took up the ark.
4 And they carried the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the covenant, and all the vessels of the Sanctuary, which were in the tabernacle; and the priests and the Levites carried these.
5 Then king Solomon, and the entire multitude of Israel, who had assembled before him, advanced with him before the ark. And they immolated sheep and oxen, which could not be numbered or estimated.
6 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the oracle of the temple, in the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim.
7 For indeed, the cherubim extended their wings over the place of the ark, and they protected the ark and its bars from above.
8 And since the bars projected outward, their ends were visible from without, in the Sanctuary before the oracle; but they were not visible farther outward. And they have been in that place even to the present day.
9 Now inside the ark, there was nothing other than the two tablets of stone, which Moses had placed in it at Horeb, when the Lord formed a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they departed from the land of Egypt.
10 Then it happened that, when the priests had exited from the Sanctuary, a cloud filled the house of the Lord.
11 And the priests were unable to stand and minister, because of the cloud. For the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.
12 Then Solomon said: “The Lord has said that he would dwell in a cloud.
13 Building, I have built a house as your dwelling place, your most firm throne forever.”
14 And the king turned his face, and he blessed the entire assembly of Israel. For the entire assembly of Israel was standing.
15 And Solomon said: “Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to my father David, and who, with his own hands, has perfected it, saying:
16 ‘From the day when I led my people Israel away from Egypt, I did not choose any city out of all the tribes of Israel, so that a house would be built, and so that my name might be there. Instead, I chose David to be over my people Israel.’
17 And my father David wanted to build a house to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
18 But the Lord said to my father David: ‘Since you have planned in your heart to build a house to my name, you have done well by considering this plan in your mind.
19 Yet truly, you shall not build a house for me. Instead, your son, who shall go forth from your loins, he himself shall build a house to my name.’
20 The Lord has confirmed his word which he spoke. And so I stand in place of my father David, and I sit upon the throne of Israel, just as the Lord said. And I have built a house to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
21 And there I have appointed a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he struck with our fathers, when they went forth from the land of Egypt.”
22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord, in the sight of the assembly of Israel, and he extended his hands toward heaven.
23 And he said: “Lord God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above, nor on the earth below. You preserve covenant and mercy with your servants, who walk before you with all their heart.
24 You have fulfilled, for your servant David, my father, that which you said to him. With your mouth, you spoke; and with your hands, you completed; just this day proves.
25 Now therefore, O Lord God of Israel, fulfill, for your servant David, my father, that which you spoke to him, saying, ‘There shall not be taken away from you a man before me, who may sit upon the throne of Israel, if only your sons will guard their way, so that they walk before me, just as you have walked in my sight.’
26 And now, O Lord God of Israel, establish your words, which you spoke to your servant David, my father.
27 Is it, then, to be understood that truly God would dwell upon the earth? For if heaven, and the heavens of heavens, are not able to contain you, how much less this house, which I have built?
28 Yet look with favor upon the prayer of your servant and upon his petitions, O Lord, my God. Listen to the hymn and the prayer, which your servant prays before you this day,
29 so that your eyes may be open over this house, night and day, over the house about which you said, ‘My name shall be there,’ so that you may heed the prayer that your servant is praying in this place to you.
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14 You were a cherub, stretched out and protecting, and I stationed you on the holy mountain of God. You have walked in the midst of stones containing fire.
15 You were perfect in your ways, from the day of your formation, until iniquity was found in you.
16 By the multitude of your business dealings, your interior was filled with iniquity, and you sinned. And I cast you away from the mountain of God, and I perished you, O protecting cherub, from the midst of the stones containing fire.
17 And your heart was exalted by your beauty; you have destroyed your own wisdom by your beauty. I have cast you to the ground. I have presented you before the face of kings, so that they may examine you.
18 You have defiled your sanctuaries, by the multitude of your iniquities and by the iniquity of your business dealings. Therefore, I will produce a fire from your midst, which will consume you, and I will make you into ashes upon the earth, in the sight of all who are watching you.
19 All who gaze upon you among the Gentiles will be stupefied over you. You were made out of nothing, and you shall not be, forever.”
20 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
21 Son of man, set your face against Sidon, and you shall prophesy about it.
22 And you shall say: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, Sidon, and I will be glorified in your midst. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I will have executed judgments in her, and when I will have been sanctified in her.
23 And I will send a pestilence upon her, and there will be blood in her streets. And they will fall, slain by the sword, on every side in her midst. And they shall know that I am the Lord.
24 And the house of Israel will no longer be a stumbling block of bitterness, nor a thorn bringing pain everywhere around them, to those who turn against them. And they shall know that I am the Lord God.”
25 Thus says the Lord God: “When I will have gathered together the house of Israel, from the peoples among whom they have been dispersed, I shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the Gentiles. And they shall live in their own land, which I gave to my servant Jacob.
26 And they shall live within it securely. And they shall build houses and plant vineyards. And they shall live in confidence, when I will have executed judgments upon all those who turn against them on every side. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God.”
61 And he delivered their strength into captivity: and their beauty into the hands of the enemy.
62 And he shut up his people under the sword: and he despised his inheritance.
63 Fire consumed their young men: and their maidens were not lamented.
64 Their priests fell by the sword: and their widows did not mourn.
65 And the Lord was awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that hath been surfeited with wine.
66 And he smote his enemies on the hinder parts: he put them to an everlasting reproach.
67 And he rejected the tabernacle of Joseph: and chose not the tribe of Ephraim:
1 Now in those days, there occurred a great persecution against the Church at Jerusalem. And they were all dispersed throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the Apostles.
2 But God-fearing men arranged for Stephen’s funeral, and they made a great mourning over him.
3 Then Saul was laying waste to the Church by entering throughout the houses, and dragging away men and women, and committing them to prison.
4 Therefore, those who had been dispersed were traveling around, evangelizing the Word of God.
5 Now Philip, descending to a city of Samaria, was preaching Christ to them.
6 And the crowd was listening intently and with one accord to those things which were being said by Philip, and they were watching the signs which he was accomplishing.
7 For many of them had unclean spirits, and, crying out with a loud voice, these departed from them.
8 And many of the paralytics and the lame were cured.
9 Therefore, there was great gladness in that city. Now there was a certain man named Simon, who formerly had been a magician in that city, seducing the people of Samaria, claiming himself to be someone great.
10 And to all those who would listen, from the least even to the greatest, he was saying: “Here is the power of God, which is called great.”
11 And they were attentive to him because, for a long time, he had deluded them with his magic.
12 Yet truly, once they had believed Philip, who was evangelizing the kingdom of God, both men and women were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
13 Then Simon himself also believed and, when he had been baptized, he adhered to Philip. And now, seeing also the greatest signs and miracles being wrought, he was amazed and stupefied.
14 Now when the Apostles who were in Jerusalem had heard that Samaria had received the Word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.
15 And when they had arrived, they prayed for them, so that they might receive the Holy Spirit.
16 For he had not yet come to any among them, since they were only baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
17 Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 But when Simon had seen that, by the imposition of the hands of the Apostles, the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money,
19 saying, “Give this power to me also, so that on whomever I will lay my hands, he may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him:
20 Let your money be with you in perdition, for you have supposed that a gift of God might be possessed by money.
21 There is no part or place for you in this matter. For your heart is not upright in the sight of God.
22 And so, repent from this, your wickedness, and beg God, so that perhaps this plan of your heart might be forgiven you.
23 For I perceive you to be in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.”
