The Ark Is Brought into the Temple

5 ^(A)So all the work that Solomon performed for the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the ^[a](B)things that his father David had dedicated, the silver, the gold, and all the utensils, and he put them in the treasuries of the house of God.

^2 (C)Then Solomon assembled at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, and the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, ^(D)to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord up from the city of David, which is Zion. ^3 (E)All the men of Israel assembled themselves before the king at ^(F)the feast, that is in the seventh month. ⁴ Then all the elders of Israel came, and ^(G)the Levites picked up the ark. ⁵ They brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy utensils that were in the tent. The Levitical priests brought them up. ⁶ And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who had assembled with him before the ark were sacrificing ^[b]so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. ⁷ Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim. ⁸ For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its ^[c]poles. ⁹ The poles were so long that ^(H)the ends of the poles of the ark could be seen in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; and ^[d]they are there to this day. ^10 (I)There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.

The Glory of God Fills the Temple

¹¹ When the priests came out from the holy place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without regard ^(J)to divisions), ¹² and all the Levitical singers, ^(K)Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and kinsmen, clothed in fine linen, ^(L)with cymbals, harps, and lyres, standing east of the altar, and with them 120 priests ^(M)blowing trumpets ¹³ in unison when the trumpeters and the singers were to make themselves heard with one voice to praise and to glorify the Lord, and when they raised their voices ^(N)accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other musical instruments, and when they praised the Lord saying, “^(O)He indeed is good for His ^[e]kindness is everlasting,” then the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, ¹⁴ so that the priests could not rise to minister because of the cloud, for ^(P)the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.

Solomon’s Dedication of the Temple

6 ^(Q)Then Solomon said,

³ Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing. ⁴ He said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David, and fulfilled it with His hands, saying, ⁵ ‘Since the day that I brought My people from the land of Egypt, I did not choose a city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, so that My name might be there, nor did I choose a man to be the leader over My people Israel; ⁶ but ^(R)I have chosen Jerusalem so that My name might be there, and I ^(S)have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’ ^7 (T)Now it was ^[f]in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁸ But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Because it was ^[g]in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it was ^[h]in your heart. ⁹ Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who ^[i]will be born to you, he shall build the house for My name.’ ¹⁰ Now the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for I have risen in place of my father David and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord ^[j]promised, and have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹¹ There I have placed the ark ^(U)in which is the covenant of the Lord, which He made with the sons of Israel.”

Testing the Spirits

4 ^(A)Beloved, do not believe every ^(B)spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because ^(C)many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² By this you know the Spirit of God: ^(D)every spirit that ^(E)confesses that ^(F)Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; ³ and every spirit that ^(G)does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the ^(H)antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and ^(I)now it is already in the world. ⁴ You are from God, ^(J)little children, and ^(K)have overcome them; because ^(L)greater is He who is in you than ^(M)he who is in the world. ^5 (N)They are from the world, therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. ^6 (O)We are from God. ^(P)The one who knows God listens to us; ^(Q)the one who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know ^(R)the spirit of truth and ^(S)the spirit of error.

God Is Love

^7 (T)Beloved, let’s ^(U)love one another; for love is from God, and ^(V)everyone who loves has been ^(W)born of God and ^(X)knows God. ⁸ The one who does not love does not know God, because ^(Y)God is love. ⁹ By this the love of God was revealed ^[a](Z)in us, that ^(AA)God has sent His only Son into the world so that we may live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love, ^(AB)not that we loved God, but that ^(AC)He loved us and sent His Son to be ^(AD)the ^[b]propitiation for our sins. ^11 (AE)Beloved, if God so loved us, ^(AF)we also ought to love one another. ^12 (AG)No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God remains in us, and His ^(AH)love is perfected in us. ^13 (AI)By this we know that we remain in Him and He in us, because He has given to us of His Spirit. ¹⁴ We have seen and ^(AJ)testify that the Father has ^(AK)sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

^15 (AL)Whoever confesses that ^(AM)Jesus is the Son of God, God ^(AN)remains in him, and he in God. ^16 (AO)We have come to know and have believed the love which God has ^[c](AP)for us. ^(AQ)God is love, and the one who ^(AR)remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. ¹⁷ By this, ^(AS)love is perfected with us, so that we may have ^(AT)confidence in ^(AU)the day of judgment; because ^(AV)as He is, we also are in this world. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love, but ^(AW)perfect love drives out fear, because fear ^[d]involves punishment, and the one who fears is not ^(AX)perfected in love. ^19 (AY)We love, because He first loved us. ^20 (AZ)If someone says, “I love God,” and yet he ^(BA)hates his brother or sister, he is a ^(BB)liar; for ^(BC)the one who does not love his brother and sister whom he has seen, ^(BD)cannot love God, whom he has not seen. ²¹ And ^(BE)this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God ^(BF)must also love his brother and sister.