⁶ The priests then brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant^(A) to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place,^(B) and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim.^{(C) 7} The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed^(D) the ark and its carrying poles. ⁸ These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today.^{(E) 9} There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets^(F) that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.

The Ark Brought to the Temple^(A)

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^(B) of the Lord’s covenant from Zion, the City of David. ³ And all the Israelites^(C) came together to the king at the time of the festival in the seventh month.

⁴ When all the elders of Israel 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 Levitical priests^(D) carried them up; ⁶ and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted.

⁷ The priests then brought the ark^(E) 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^(F) 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.

³ He said to the Levites, who instructed^(A) all Israel and who had been consecrated to the Lord: “Put the sacred ark in the temple that Solomon son of David king of Israel built. It is not to be carried about on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and his people Israel.