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Solomon finished all the work for the Lord's temple. Then he brought into it all the holy things that belonged to his father, David. He stored all the valuable things in a safe place in God's temple. They included silver things and gold things.

Solomon brings the Covenant Box to the temple

Then Solomon told all the leaders of Israel to come to him in Jerusalem. They were all the leaders of the Israelite tribes and families. He wanted them to bring the Lord's Covenant Box from Mount Zion, the City of David, to put it in the temple.[a] So all the Israelite leaders came together to meet with King Solomon. This happened during the Festival of Huts in the seventh month of the year.

When all Israel's leaders had arrived, the Levites lifted up the Covenant Box. The priests and the other Levites carried the Covenant Box, the Tent of Meeting and all the holy things that were in the tent. King Solomon and all the Israelites who were with him walked in front of the Covenant Box. They offered many sheep and bulls as sacrifices. There were more animals than anyone could count.

Then the priests brought the Lord's Covenant Box to its proper place in the inside room of the temple. That was the Most Holy Place. They put it under the wings of the cherubs. The wings of the cherubs touched each other above the place where the Covenant Box was. The cherubs covered the Covenant Box and the poles that the Levites used to carry it. The poles in the Covenant Box were very long. The priests could see their ends from the Holy Place, if they stood in front of the Most Holy Place. But nobody could see the poles from outside the temple. And they are still there today. 10 There was nothing in the Covenant Box, except the two flat pieces of stone that Moses had put there at Sinai mountain. That was where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out from Egypt.[b]

The priests sing to praise the Lord

11 Then the priests came out of the Holy Place. All the different groups of priests who were there had made themselves clean to serve God. 12 The Levites who were musicians stood on the east side of the altar. They were Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and their relatives. They wore clothes made of linen. They made music with cymbals, harps and lyres. There were also 120 priests who made music with trumpets. 13 All these musicians made nice music together. They joined together to praise the Lord and to thank him. The singers sang loudly to the music of the trumpets, the cymbals and the other musical instruments. They loudly sang these words to praise the Lord:

‘He is good!
His faithful love continues for ever!’

Then a cloud filled the Lord's temple. 14 The priests could not do their work to serve the Lord, because of the cloud. The bright glory of the Lord filled his temple.

Footnotes

  1. 5:2 Before they built the temple, King David had put the Covenant Box in a special tent.
  2. 5:10 See Deuteronomy 10:5; 1 Kings 8:9.

So all the work Solomon did for the Lord’s temple was completed. Then Solomon brought the consecrated things of his father David—the silver, the gold, and all the utensils—and put them in the treasuries of God’s temple.

Preparations for the Temple Dedication

At that time(A) Solomon assembled at Jerusalem the elders of Israel—all the tribal heads, the ancestral chiefs of the Israelites—in order to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord up from the city of David,(B) that is, Zion. So all the men of Israel were assembled in the king’s presence at the festival; this was in the seventh month.[a]

All the elders of Israel came, and the Levites picked up the ark. They brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and the holy utensils that were in the tent. The priests and the Levites brought them up. King Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel who had gathered around him were in front of the ark sacrificing sheep and cattle that could not be counted or numbered because there were so many. The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the most holy place, beneath the wings of the cherubim.(C) And the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark so that the cherubim formed a cover above the ark and its poles. The poles were so long that their ends were seen from the holy place[b](D) in front of the inner sanctuary, but they were not seen from outside; they are there to this very day. 10 Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets that Moses had put in it at Horeb,[c](E) where the Lord had made a covenant with the Israelites when they came out of Egypt.

11 Now all the priests who were present had consecrated themselves regardless of their divisions.(F) When the priests came out of the holy place, 12 the Levitical singers dressed in fine linen and carrying cymbals, harps, and lyres(G) were standing east of the altar, and with them were 120 priests blowing trumpets.(H) The Levitical singers were descendants of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun and their sons(I) and relatives. 13 The trumpeters and singers joined together to praise and thank the Lord with one voice. They raised their voices, accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and musical instruments,(J) in praise to the Lord:

For He is good;
His faithful love endures forever.(K)

The temple, the Lord’s temple, was filled with a cloud.(L) 14 And because of the cloud, the priests were not able to continue ministering, for the glory of the Lord filled God’s temple.(M)

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 5:3 = Tishri (September–October)
  2. 2 Chronicles 5:9 Some Hb mss, LXX; other Hb mss read the ark; 1Kg 8:8
  3. 2 Chronicles 5:10 = Sinai