1
When all the work Solomon had done for the temple of the LORD
was finished, he brought in the things his father David had dedicated -
the silver and gold and all the furnishings - and he placed them
in the treasuries of God's temple.
The Ark Brought to the Temple
2
Then Solomon summoned to Jerusalem the elders of Israel,
all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families,
to bring up the ark of the LORD's covenant from Zion, the City of David.
3
All the men of Israel came together to the king at the time of the festival
in the seventh month.
4
When all the elders had arrived, the Levites took up the ark,
5
and they brought up the ark and the Tent of Meeting and all the sacred furnishings
in it. The priests, who were Levites, carried them up;
6
and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered around him
were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that could not be recorded
or counted.
7
The priestd then brought the ark of the LORD's covenant to its place
in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place,
and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim.
8
The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark
and covered the ark and its carrying poles.
9
These poles were so long that their ends, extending from the ark,
could be seen from in front of the inner sanctuary,
but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today.
10
There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses had placed
in it at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites
after they came out of Egypt.
11
The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place.
All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves,
regardless of their divisions.
12
All the Levites who were musucians - Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons
and relatives - stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and
playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests
sounding trumpets.
13
The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise
and thanks to the LORD. Accompanied bt trumpets, cymbals and other instruments,
they raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang:
"He is good; his love endures forever."
Then the temple of the LORD was filled with a cloud.
14
and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud,
for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God.
