Wood and stone for the temple

5 ^[a] Because King Hiram^[b] of Tyre was loyal to David throughout his rule, Hiram sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that Solomon had become king after his father. ² Solomon sent the following message to Hiram: ³ “You know that my father David wasn’t able to build a temple for the name of the Lord my God. This was because of the enemies that fought him on all sides until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. ⁴ Now the Lord my God has given me peace on every side, without enemies or misfortune. ⁵ So I’m planning to build a temple for the name of the Lord my God, just as the Lord indicated to my father David, ‘I will give you a son to follow you on your throne. He will build the temple for my name.’

Solomon dedicates the temple

8 Then Solomon assembled Israel’s elders, all the tribal leaders, and the chiefs of Israel’s clans at Jerusalem to bring up the chest containing the Lord’s covenant from David’s City Zion. ² Everyone in Israel assembled before King Solomon in the seventh month, the month of Ethanim,^[a] during the festival. ³ When all of Israel’s elders had arrived, the priests picked up the chest. ⁴ They brought the Lord’s chest, the meeting tent, and all the holy equipment that was in the tent. The priests and the Levites brought them up, ⁵ while King Solomon and the entire Israelite assembly that had joined him before the chest sacrificed countless sheep and oxen. ⁶ The priests brought the chest containing the Lord’s covenant to its designated spot beneath the wings of the winged creatures in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the most holy place. ⁷ The winged creatures spread their wings over the place where the chest rested, covering the chest and its carrying poles. ⁸ The carrying poles were so long that their tips could be seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, though they weren’t visible from outside. They are still there today. ⁹ Nothing was in the chest except the two stone tablets Moses had placed there while at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they left Egypt. ¹⁰ When the priests left the holy place, the cloud filled the Lord’s temple, ¹¹ and the priests were unable to carry out their duties due to the cloud because the Lord’s glory filled the Lord’s temple.

¹² Then Solomon said, “The Lord said that he would live in a dark cloud, ¹³ but I have indeed built you a lofty temple as a place where you can live forever.”