The Ark Is Brought into the Temple^(A)

8 King Solomon ·called for [assembled; summoned] the elders of Israel, the heads of the tribes, and the leaders of the ·families [ancestral houses] to come to him in Jerusalem. He wanted them to bring the Ark of the ·Agreement [Treaty; Covenant; Ex. 25:10] with the Lord from the ·older part of the city [^Lcity of David, also known as Zion]. ² So all the Israelites ·came together with [assembled before] King Solomon during the festival in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month.

³ When all the elders of Israel arrived, the priests ·lifted [picked; took] up the Ark. ⁴ They ·carried [brought] the Ark of the Lord, the Meeting Tent, and the holy ·utensils [vessels; items]; the priests and the Levites brought them up. ⁵ King Solomon and all the ·Israelites [congregation/community/assembly of Israel] gathered before the Ark and sacrificed so many sheep and ·cattle [oxen] no one could count or number them all. ⁶ Then the priests ·put [brought; carried] the Ark of the ·Agreement [Treaty; Covenant; Ex. 25:10] with the Lord ·in [to] its place inside the inner ·room [^Lsanctuary] in the ·Temple [^Lhouse], the ·Most Holy Place [^THoly of Holies], under the wings of the ·golden creatures [cherubim; 6:23]. ⁷ The wings of ·these creatures [the cherubim] were spread out over the place ·for [of] the Ark, ·covering [forming a canopy over] it and its carrying poles. ⁸ The carrying poles were so long that anyone standing in the Holy Place in front of the ·Most Holy Place [^Linner sanctuary] could see the ends of the poles, but no one could see them from outside the Holy Place. The poles are still there today. ⁹ The only things inside the Ark were two stone tablets [^Con which were the Ten Commandments] that Moses had put in the Ark at ·Mount Sinai [Horeb; Ex. 40:20]. That was where the Lord made his ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with the Israelites after they came out of [^Lthe land of] Egypt.

¹⁰ When the priests ·left [came/withdrew from] the Holy Place, a cloud filled the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord. ¹¹ The priests could not continue their ·work [service; duties], because the ·Temple [^Lhouse] was filled with the glory of the Lord.