1 Kings 8:1-11

Living Bible

8 Then Solomon called a convocation at Jerusalem of all the leaders of Israel—the heads of the tribes and clans—to observe the transferring of the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord from the Tabernacle in Zion, the City of David, to the Temple. ² This celebration occurred at the time of the Tabernacle Festival in the month of October. ^3-4 During the festivities the priests carried the Ark to the Temple, along with all the sacred vessels that had previously been in the Tabernacle. ⁵ King Solomon and all the people gathered before the Ark, sacrificing uncounted sheep and oxen.

⁶ Then the priests took the Ark into the inner sanctuary of the Temple—the Most Holy Place—and placed it under the wings of the statues of the Guardian Angels. ⁷ The Angels had been constructed in such a manner that their wings spread out over the spot where the Ark would be placed; so now their wings overshadowed the Ark and its carrying poles. ⁸ The poles were so long that they stuck out past the Angels and could be seen from the next room, but not from the outer court; and they remain there to this day. ⁹ There was nothing in the Ark at that time except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed there at Mount Horeb at the time the Lord made his covenant with the people of Israel after they left Egypt.

¹⁰ Look! As the priests are returning from the inner sanctuary, a bright cloud fills the Temple! ¹¹ The priests have to go outside because the glory of the Lord is filling the entire building!