2 Chronicles 5
The Message
5 That completed the work King Solomon did on The Temple of God. He then brought in the holy offerings of his father David, the silver and the gold and the artifacts. He placed them all in the treasury of God’s Temple.
Installing the Chest
2-3 Bringing all this to a climax, Solomon got all the leaders together in Jerusalem—all the chiefs of tribes and the family patriarchs—to move the Chest of the Covenant of God from Zion and install it in The Temple. All the men of Israel assembled before the king on the feast day of the seventh month, the Feast of Booths.
4-6 When all the leaders of Israel were ready, the Levites took up the Chest. They carried the Chest, the Tent of Meeting, and all the sacred things in the Tent used in worship. The priests, all Levites, carried them. King Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel were there before the Chest, worshiping and sacrificing huge numbers of sheep and cattle—so many that no one could keep track.
7-10 The priests brought the Chest of the Covenant of God to its place in the Inner Sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim. The outspread wings of the cherubim formed a canopy over the Chest and its poles. The ends of the poles were so long that they stuck out from the entrance of the Inner Sanctuary, but were not noticeable further out—they’re still there today. There was nothing in the Chest itself but the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb where God made a covenant with Israel after bringing them up from Egypt.
11-13 The priests then left the Holy Place. All the priests there were consecrated, regardless of rank or assignment; and all the Levites who were musicians were there—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their families, dressed in their worship robes; the choir and orchestra assembled on the east side of the Altar and were joined by 120 priests blowing trumpets. The choir and trumpets made one voice of praise and thanks to God—orchestra and choir in perfect harmony singing and playing praise to God:
Yes! God is good!
His loyal love goes on forever!
13-14 Then a billowing cloud filled The Temple of God. The priests couldn’t even carry out their duties because of the cloud—the glory of God!—that filled The Temple of God.
2 Chronicles 5
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:
(N)“For He is good,
For His mercy endures forever,”
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.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 5:7 Lit. house
- 2 Chronicles 5:9 Lit. it is
- 2 Chronicles 5:10 Or where
- 2 Chronicles 5:11 consecrated
- 2 Chronicles 5:14 Lit. stand to minister
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
