2 Chronicles 5:1-6:11

New King James Version

The Ark Brought into the Temple

5 So ^(A)all the work that Solomon had done for the house of the Lord was finished; and Solomon brought in the things which his father David had dedicated: the silver and the gold and all the furnishings. And he put them in the treasuries of the house of God.

The Ark Brought into the Temple^(B)

^2 (C)Now Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel, in Jerusalem, that they might bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord up ^(D)from the City of David, which is Zion. ^3 (E)Therefore all the men of Israel assembled with the king ^(F)at the feast, which was in the seventh month. ⁴ So all the elders of Israel came, and the ^(G)Levites took up the ark. ⁵ Then they brought up the ark, the tabernacle of meeting, and all the holy furnishings that were in the tabernacle. The priests and the Levites brought them up. ⁶ Also King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled with him before the ark, were sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered for multitude. ⁷ Then the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the ^(H)inner sanctuary of the ^[a]temple, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim. ⁸ For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles. ⁹ The poles extended so that the ends of the ^(I)poles of the ark could be seen from the holy place, in front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And ^[b]they are there to this day. ¹⁰ Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets which Moses ^(J)put there at Horeb, ^[c]when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they had come out of Egypt.

¹¹ And it came to pass when the priests came out of the Most Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had ^[d]sanctified themselves, without keeping to their ^(K)divisions), ^12 (L)and the Levites who were the singers, all those of Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, stood at the east end of the altar, clothed in white linen, having cymbals, stringed instruments and harps, ^(M)and with them one hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets— ¹³ indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying:

that the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, ¹⁴ so that the priests could not ^[e]continue ministering because of the cloud; ^(O)for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication

6 Then ^(P)Solomon spoke:

Solomon’s Speech upon Completion of the Work^(S)

³ Then the king turned around and ^(T)blessed the whole assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing. ⁴ And he said: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who has fulfilled with His hands what He spoke with His mouth to my father David, ^(U)saying, ⁵ ‘Since the day that I brought My people out of the land of Egypt, I have chosen no city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house, that My name might be there, nor did I choose any man to be a ruler over My people Israel. ^6 (V)Yet I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name may be there, and I ^(W)have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’ ⁷ Now ^(X)it was in the heart of my father David to build a ^[f]temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel. ⁸ But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a temple for My name, you did well in that it was in your heart. ⁹ Nevertheless you shall not build the temple, but your son who will come from your body, he shall build the temple for My ^(Y)name.’ ¹⁰ So the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke, and I have filled the position of my father David, and ^(Z)sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised; and I have built the temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel. ¹¹ And there I have put the ark, ^(AA)in which is the covenant of the Lord which He made with the children of Israel.”