2 Chronicles 5
New King James Version
The Ark Brought into the Temple
5 So (A)all the work that Solomon had done for the house of the Lord was finished; and Solomon brought in the things which his father David had dedicated: the silver and the gold and all the furnishings. And he put them in the treasuries of the house of God.
The Ark Brought into the Temple(B)
2 (C)Now Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel, in Jerusalem, that they might bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord up (D)from the City of David, which is Zion. 3 (E)Therefore all the men of Israel assembled with the king (F)at the feast, which was in the seventh month. 4 So all the elders of Israel came, and the (G)Levites took up the ark. 5 Then they brought up the ark, the tabernacle of meeting, and all the holy furnishings that were in the tabernacle. The priests and the Levites brought them up. 6 Also King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled with him before the ark, were sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered for multitude. 7 Then the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the (H)inner sanctuary of the [a]temple, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim. 8 For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles. 9 The poles extended so that the ends of the (I)poles of the ark could be seen from the holy place, in front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And [b]they are there to this day. 10 Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets which Moses (J)put there at Horeb, [c]when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they had come out of Egypt.
11 And it came to pass when the priests came out of the Most Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had [d]sanctified themselves, without keeping to their (K)divisions), 12 (L)and the Levites who were the singers, all those of Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, stood at the east end of the altar, clothed in white linen, having cymbals, stringed instruments and harps, (M)and with them one hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets— 13 indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying:
(N)“For He is good,
For His mercy endures forever,”
that the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not [e]continue ministering because of the cloud; (O)for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 5:7 Lit. house
- 2 Chronicles 5:9 Lit. it is
- 2 Chronicles 5:10 Or where
- 2 Chronicles 5:11 consecrated
- 2 Chronicles 5:14 Lit. stand to minister
2 Chronicles 5
Living Bible
5 So the Temple was finally finished. Then Solomon brought in the gifts dedicated to the Lord by his father, King David. They were stored in the Temple treasuries.
2 Solomon now summoned to Jerusalem all of the leaders of Israel—the heads of the tribes and clans—for the ceremony of transferring the Ark from the Tabernacle in the[a] City of David, also known as Zion, to its new home in the Temple. 3 This celebration took place in October at the annual Festival of Tabernacles. 4-5 As the leaders of Israel watched, the Levites lifted the Ark and carried it out of the Tabernacle, along with all the other sacred vessels. 6 King Solomon and the others sacrificed sheep and oxen before the Ark in such numbers that no one tried to keep count!
7-8 Then the priests carried the Ark into the inner room of the Temple—the Holy of Holies—and placed it beneath the wings of the Guardian Angels; their wings spread over the Ark and its carrying poles. 9 These carrying poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the outer room, but not from the outside doorway.
The Ark is still there at the time of this writing. 10 Nothing was in the Ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had put there at Mount Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel as they were leaving Egypt.
11-12 When the priests had undergone the purification rites for themselves, they all took part in the ceremonies without regard to their normal duties. And how the Levites were praising the Lord as the priests came out of the Holy of Holies! The singers were Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and all their sons and brothers, dressed in finespun linen robes and standing at the east side of the altar. The choir was accompanied by 120 priests who were trumpeters, while others played the cymbals, lyres, and harps. 13-14 The band and chorus united as one to praise and thank the Lord; their selections were interspersed with trumpet obbligatos, the clashing of cymbals, and the loud playing of other musical instruments—all praising and thanking the Lord. Their theme was “He is so good! His loving-kindness lasts forever!”
And at that moment the glory of the Lord, coming as a bright cloud, filled the Temple so that the priests could not continue their work.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 5:2 Tabernacle in the, and to its new home in the Temple, implied.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
