5 ^(A)Thus all the work that Solomon did for the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, and stored the silver, the gold, and all the vessels in the treasuries of the house of God.

The Ark Brought to the Temple

² Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel, in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of ^(B)the city of David, which is Zion. ³ And all the men of Israel assembled before the king at the feast that is in the seventh month. ⁴ And all the elders of Israel came, ^(C)and the Levites took up the ark. ⁵ And they brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; ^(D)the Levitical priests brought them up. ⁶ And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were before the ark, 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, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. ⁸ The cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering above the ark and its poles. ⁹ And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen ^(E)from the Holy Place before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside. And they are^[a] there to this day. ¹⁰ There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets ^(F)that Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of Egypt. ¹¹ And when the priests came out of the Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had consecrated themselves, without regard to ^(G)their divisions, ¹² and all the Levitical ^(H)singers, ^(I)Asaph, ^(J)Heman, and Jeduthun, their sons and kinsmen, arrayed in fine linen, with ^(K)cymbals, harps, and lyres, stood east of the altar with 120 ^(L)priests who were trumpeters; ¹³ and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord), and when the song was raised, ^(M)with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the Lord,

the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, ¹⁴ so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, ^(O)for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.

Solomon Blesses the People

6 ^(P)Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. ² But I have built you ^(Q)an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.” ³ Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. ⁴ And he said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, ⁵ ‘Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there, and I chose no man as prince over my people Israel; ^6 (R)but I have chosen Jerusalem that my name may be there, ^(S)and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’ ^7 (T)Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁸ But the Lord said to David my father, ‘Whereas ^(U)it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. ⁹ Nevertheless, it is not you who shall build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ ¹⁰ Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹¹ And there I have set the ark, ^(V)in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with the people of Israel.”