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
2 Chronicles 5
New English Translation
5 1 When Solomon had finished constructing the Lord’s temple, he put the holy items that belonged to his father David (the silver, gold, and all the other articles) in the treasuries of God’s temple.
Solomon Moves the Ark into the Temple
2 Then Solomon convened Israel’s elders—all the leaders of the Israelite tribes and families—in Jerusalem, so they could witness the transferal of the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the City of David[a] (that is, Zion).[b] 3 All the men of Israel assembled before the king during the festival[c] in the seventh month.[d] 4 When all Israel’s elders had arrived, the Levites lifted the ark. 5 The priests and Levites carried the ark, the tent where God appeared to his people,[e] and all the holy items in the tent.[f] 6 Now King Solomon and all the Israelites who had assembled with him went on ahead of the ark and sacrificed more sheep and cattle than could be counted or numbered.[g]
7 The priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its assigned[h] place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, in the Most Holy Place under the wings of the cherubim. 8 The cherubim’s wings extended over the place where the ark sat; the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles.[i] 9 The poles were so long their ends extending out from the ark were visible from in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from beyond that point.[j] They have remained there to this very day. 10 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets Moses had placed there in Horeb.[k] (It was there that[l] the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after he brought them out of the land of Egypt.)
11 The priests left the Holy Place.[m] All the priests who participated had consecrated themselves, no matter which division they represented.[n] 12 All the Levites who were musicians, including Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and relatives, wore linen. They played cymbals and stringed instruments as they stood east of the altar. They were accompanied by 120 priests who blew trumpets. 13 The trumpeters and musicians played together, praising and giving thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, they loudly praised the Lord, singing:[o] “Certainly he is good; certainly his loyal love endures!” Then a cloud filled the Lord’s temple.[p] 14 The priests could not carry out their duties[q] because of the cloud; the Lord’s splendor filled God’s temple.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 5:2 sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
- 2 Chronicles 5:2 tn Heb “Then Solomon convened the elders of Israel, the heads of the tribes, the chiefs of the fathers belonging to the sons of Israel to Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the City of David (it is Zion).”
- 2 Chronicles 5:3 sn This festival in the seventh month was the Feast of Tabernacles, see Lev 23:34.
- 2 Chronicles 5:3 sn The seventh month would be September-October in modern reckoning.
- 2 Chronicles 5:5 tn Heb “the tent of assembly.”sn See Exod 33:7-11.
- 2 Chronicles 5:5 tn Heb “and they carried the ark of the Lord…. The priests and the Levites carried them.”
- 2 Chronicles 5:6 tn Heb “And King Solomon and all the assembly of Israel, those who had been gathered to him, [were] before the ark, sacrificing sheep and cattle which could not be counted or numbered because of the abundance.”
- 2 Chronicles 5:7 tn The word “assigned” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
- 2 Chronicles 5:8 sn These poles were used to carry the ark. The Levites were to carry it with the poles on their shoulders. See Exod 25:13-15; 1 Chr 15:15.
- 2 Chronicles 5:9 tn Heb “they could not be seen outside.”
- 2 Chronicles 5:10 sn Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai (cf. Exod 3:1).
- 2 Chronicles 5:10 tn Heb “in Horeb where.”
- 2 Chronicles 5:11 tn Heb “and when the priests went from the holy place.” The syntactical relationship of this temporal clause to the following context is unclear. Perhaps the thought is completed in v. 14 after a lengthy digression.
- 2 Chronicles 5:11 tn Heb “Indeed [or “for”] all the priests who were found consecrated themselves without guarding divisions.”
- 2 Chronicles 5:13 tn Heb “like one were the trumpeters and the musicians, causing one voice to be heard, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, and while raising a voice with trumpets and with cymbals and with instruments of music, and while praising the Lord.”
- 2 Chronicles 5:13 tn Heb “and the house was filled with a cloud, the house of the Lord.”
- 2 Chronicles 5:14 tn Heb “were not able to stand to serve.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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