4Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices to the Lord.

5King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats. And so the king and all the people dedicated the Temple of God.

6The priests took their assigned positions, and so did the Levites who were singing, “His faithful love endures forever!” They accompanied the singing with music from the instruments King David had made for praising the Lord. Across from the Levites, the priests blew the trumpets, while all Israel stood.

7Solomon then consecrated the central area of the courtyard in front of the Lord’s Temple. He offered burnt offerings and the fat of peace offerings there, because the bronze altar he had built could not hold all the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and sacrificial fat.

8For the next seven days Solomon and all Israel celebrated the Festival of Shelters.7:8 Hebrew the festival (also in 7:9); see note on 5:3. A large congregation had gathered from as far away as Lebo-hamath in the north and the Brook of Egypt in the south.

9On the eighth day they had a closing ceremony, for they had celebrated the dedication of the altar for seven days and the Festival of Shelters for seven days.

10Then at the end of the celebration,7:10 Hebrew Then on the twenty-third day of the seventh month. This day of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred in October or early November. Solomon sent the people home. They were all joyful and glad because the Lord had been so good to David and to Solomon and to his people Israel.