¹²Then Solomon declared: ¹³I have indeed built You an exalted house, ¹⁴And as the whole assembly of Israel stood there, the king turned around and blessed them all ¹⁵and said: ¹⁶“Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who has fulfilled with His own hand what He spoke with His mouth to my father David, saying, ‘Since the day I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house so that My Name would be there. But I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’ ¹⁷Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel. ¹⁸But the LORD said to my father David, ‘Since it was in your heart to build a house for My Name, you have done well to have this in your heart. ¹⁹Nevertheless, you are not the one to build it; but your son, your own offspring, will build the house for My Name.’ ²⁰Now the LORD has fulfilled the word that He spoke. I have succeeded my father David, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised. I have built the house for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel. ²¹And there I have provided a place for the ark, which contains the covenant of the LORD that He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”