The Ark Brought into the Temple

(A)Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all (B)the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, (C)to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from (D)the city of David, that is, Zion. So all the men of Israel assembled themselves before King Solomon at (E)the feast, in the month Ethanim, that is, the seventh month. Then all the elders of Israel came, and (F)the priests took up the ark. And they brought up the ark of the Lord, (G)the tent of meeting, and all the holy utensils which were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who were gathered together to him, (H)were with him before the ark, sacrificing [a]so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. Then (I)the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord (J)to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the Most Holy Place, (K)under the wings of the cherubim. For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its carrying poles from above. But (L)the poles were so long that the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; they are there to this day. (M)There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, where (N)the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. 10 And it happened that when the priests came from the holy place, (O)the cloud filled the house of the Lord, 11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 8:5 Lit sheep and oxen...numbered for multitude

Solomon dedicates the temple

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. Everyone in Israel assembled before King Solomon in the seventh month, the month of Ethanim,[a] during the festival. When all of Israel’s elders had arrived, the priests picked up the chest. 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, while King Solomon and the entire Israelite assembly that had joined him before the chest sacrificed countless sheep and oxen. 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. The winged creatures spread their wings over the place where the chest rested, covering the chest and its carrying poles. 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. 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.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 8:2 September–October, Tishrei; Ethanim is a month from a Canaanite calendar.