1 Kings 8:1-21 ▼

1 Then Solomon gathered together the elders of Israel, including all the heads of the tribes and the leaders of the ancestral households of the Israelis, to meet with him in Jerusalem so they could bring up the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD from Zion, the City of David.

2 So all the men gathered together to meet with King Solomon at the Festival of Tents in the month Ethanim, the seventh month.

3 All the Elders of Israel showed up, and the priests picked up the ark

4 and brought it, the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy implements that were in the tent. The priests and descendants of Levi carried them up to Jerusalem.

5 King Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel that had assembled to be with him stood in front of the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they were neither counted nor inventoried.

6 After this, the priests brought the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD to the place prepared for it, into the inner sanctuary of the Temple, under the wings of the cherubim in the Most Holy Place.

7 The wings of the cherubim spread over the resting place for the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its poles when viewed from above.

8 The poles extended so far that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside. They remain there to this day.

9 The ark was empty except for the two stone tablets that Moses had placed there at Horeb when the LORD had made a covenant with the Israelis after they had come out of the land of Egypt.

10 When the priests left the Holy Place after setting the ark in place, the cloud filled the LORD's Temple

11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, since the glory of the LORD filled the LORD's Temple.

12 Then Solomon said, |The LORD has said that he lives shrouded in darkness.

13 Now I have been constructing a magnificent Temple dedicated to you that will serve as a place for you to inhabit forever.|

14 Then the king turned to face the entire congregation of Israel while the congregation of Israel remained standing.

15 Then Solomon prayed: |Blessed is the LORD God of Israel, who made a commitment to my father David and then personally fulfilled what he had promised when he said:

16 From the day I brought out my people Israel from Egypt I never chose a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a temple where my name might reside. I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.'

17 |My father David wanted to build a temple for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

18 The LORD told my father David: 'Therefore, since you determined to build a temple for my name, you acted well, because it was your choice to do so.

19 Nevertheless, you are not to build the Temple, but your son who will be born to you is to build a temple for my name.'

20 |The LORD has brought to fulfillment what he promised, and now here I stand, having succeeded my father David to sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised. I have built the Temple for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

21 I have placed there the ark in which the covenant is stored that the LORD made with our ancestors when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.|