The Ark Is Brought into the Temple

5 Thus all the work that Solomon did for the house of the Lord was finished. He brought in the things that his father David had dedicated, and he put the silver and the gold and all the utensils in the treasuries of the house of God.

² Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the Israelites, in Jerusalem to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord up from the City of David, which is Zion. ³ All the men of Israel gathered before the king at the feast in the seventh month. ⁴ And all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark. ⁵ The Levitical priests brought up the ark, the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy utensils that were in the Tent. ⁶ And King Solomon and all the assembly of Israel who gathered together with him before the ark were sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. ⁷ Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, to the inner sanctuary of the house, into the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim; ⁸ for the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, making a covering above the ark and its carrying poles. ⁹ The poles were so long that the ends of the poles of the ark were visible from the front of the Holy of Holies (inner sanctuary), but were not visible from the outside. They are there to this day. ¹⁰ There was nothing in the ark except ^[a]the two tablets [of the Ten Commandments] which Moses put there at Mount Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites, when they came out of Egypt.^(A)

The Glory of God Fills the Temple

¹¹ When the priests came out of the Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves [separating themselves from everything unclean], without regard to their ^[b]assigned divisions), ¹² and all of the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, with their sons and relatives, clothed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres were standing at the east end of the altar, and with them a hundred and twenty priests blowing trumpets ¹³ in unison when the trumpeters and singers were to make themselves heard with one voice praising and thanking the Lord, and when they raised their voices accompanied by the trumpets and cymbals and [other] instruments of music, and when they praised the Lord, saying, “For He is good, for His mercy and lovingkindness endure forever,” then the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud, ¹⁴ so that the priests could not remain standing to minister because of the cloud; for the glory and brilliance of the Lord filled the house of God.

Solomon’s Dedication

6 Then Solomon said,

³ Then the king turned around and blessed the entire assembly of Israel, while they were all standing. ⁴ And he said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David and has fulfilled with His hands what He promised, saying, ⁵ ‘Since the day that I brought My people out of the land of Egypt, I did not choose a city among all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house so that My Name (Presence) might be there, nor did I choose any man to be a leader over My people Israel; ⁶ but I have chosen Jerusalem that My Name might be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’ ⁷ Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁸ But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Because it was ^[c]in your heart to build a house for My Name, you did well that it was in your heart. ⁹ Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who will be born to you, he shall build the house for My Name.’ ¹⁰ Now the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for I have risen in place of my father David and I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and have built the house for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹¹ There I have placed the ark [the symbol of His Presence] in which is the covenant of the Lord [the Ten Commandments], which He made with the people (descendants) of Israel.”