1 Kings 8:59

8:59 May the Lord our God be constantly aware of these requests of mine I have presented to him, ¹  so that he might vindicate ²  his servant and his people Israel as the need arises.

1 Kings 8:65-66

8:65 At that time Solomon and all Israel with him celebrated a festival before the Lord our God for two entire weeks. This great assembly included people from all over the land, from Lebo Hamath in the north to the Brook of Egypt ³  in the south. ⁴  8:66 On the fifteenth day after the festival started, ⁵  he dismissed the people. They asked God to empower the king ⁶  and then went to their homes, happy and content ⁷  because of all the good the Lord had done for his servant David and his people Israel.

¹ tn Heb “May these words of mine, which I have requested before the Lord, be near the Lord our God day and night.”

² tn Heb “accomplish the justice of.”

³ tn Or “the Wadi of Egypt” (NAB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “the Egyptian Gorge.”

⁴ tn Heb “Solomon held at that time the festival, and all Israel was with him, a great assembly from Lebo Hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God for seven days and seven days, fourteen days.”

⁵ tn Heb “on the eighth day” (that is, the day after the second seven-day sequence).

⁶ tn Heb “they blessed the king.”

⁷ tn Heb “good of heart.”