²¹ the messenger of the Lord stretched out the tip of the staff he held. When he touched the meat and unleavened cakes, a fire came up from the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened cakes. Then the messenger of the Lord disappeared from sight.

⁵⁴ After Solomon finished offering this entire prayer and petition to the Lord, he rose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had been kneeling, hands outstretched toward heaven. ⁵⁵ He stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel, saying in a loud voice: ⁵⁶ “Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not a single word has gone unfulfilled of the entire gracious promise he made through Moses his servant. ⁵⁷ May the Lord, our God, be with us as he was with our ancestors and may he not forsake us nor cast us off. ⁵⁸ May he draw our hearts to himself, that we may walk in his ways and keep the commands, statutes, and ordinances that he enjoined on our ancestors. ⁵⁹ May these words of mine, the petition I have offered before the Lord, our God, be present to the Lord our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel as each day requires, ⁶⁰ so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God and there is no other. ^61 [a]Your heart must be wholly devoted to the Lord, our God, observing his statutes and keeping his commandments, as on this day.”

⁶² The king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord. ^63 [b]Solomon offered as communion offerings to the Lord twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred twenty thousand sheep. Thus the king and all the Israelites dedicated the house of the Lord. ⁶⁴ On that day the king consecrated the middle of the court facing the house of the Lord; he offered there the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the communion offerings, because the bronze altar before the Lord was too small to hold the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat of the communion offering. ⁶⁵ On this occasion Solomon and all Israel with him, a great assembly from Lebo-hamath to the Wadi of Egypt, celebrated the festival before the Lord, our God, for seven days. ⁶⁶ On the eighth day he dismissed the people, who blessed the king and went to their tents, rejoicing and glad of heart because of all the blessings the Lord had given to David his servant and to his people Israel.

Altar for Burnt Offerings. ²⁶ David then built an altar there to the Lord, and sacrificed burnt offerings and communion offerings. He called upon the Lord, who answered him by sending down fire from heaven upon the altar for burnt offerings.^(A)

¹⁰ Just as Moses prayed to the Lord and fire descended from the sky and consumed the sacrifices, so also Solomon prayed and fire came down and consumed the burnt offerings.^(A)