⁷ On the same day, Solomon gave to the Lord the yard that was in front of the temple. He offered burnt offerings and grain offerings to the Lord. He also offered the fat from the friendship offerings there. The bronze altar that Solomon had made was too small to contain all these offerings, so he made these sacrifices in the middle of the yard instead.

⁸ At that time, Solomon and the big crowd of Israelites who were with him had a festival for seven days. There were people from everywhere in Israel, from Hamath in the north to the Stream of Egypt in the south.^{[a] 9} On the day after the festival, they all met together. For seven days, they had given offerings to make the altar holy for God. For another seven days, they had enjoyed the festival.