3 When the crowd of people saw the fire and the Lord's glory, they knelt down and worshipped the Lord. They prayed:“The Lord is good,and his love never ends.”
4-5 Solomon and the people dedicated the temple to the Lord by sacrificing twenty-two thousand cattle and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep.
6 Everybody stood up during the ceremony. The priests were in their assigned places, blowing their trumpets. And the Levites faced them, playing the musical instruments that David had made for them to use when they praised the Lord for his never-ending love.
7 On that same day, Solomon dedicated the courtyard in front of the temple and got it ready to be used for worship. The bronze altar he had made was too small, so he used the courtyard to offer sacrifices to please the Lord and grain sacrifices, and also to send up in smoke the fat from the other offerings.
8 For seven days, Solomon and the crowd celebrated the Festival of Shelters, and people came from as far away as the Egyptian Gorge in the south and Lebo-Hamath in the north.
9 Then on the next day, everyone came together for worship. They had celebrated a total of fourteen days, seven days for the dedication of the altar and seven more days for the festival.
10 Then on the twenty-third day of the seventh month, Solomon sent everyone home. They left very happy because of all the good things the Lord had done for David and Solomon, and for his people Israel.