1 Kings 8:1-21 ▼

1 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the ancestral leaders of the children of Israel, to king Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the City of David, which is Zion.

2 All the men of Israel assembled themselves to king Solomon at the feast, in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.

3 All the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.

4 They brought up the ark of the LORD, and the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent; and the priests and the Levites brought them up.

5 King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who were assembled to him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and cattle, that could not be counted nor numbered for multitude.

6 The priests brought in 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.

7 For the cherubim spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and its poles above.

8 The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place before the inner sanctuary; but they were not seen outside. And there they are to this day.

9 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

10 It came to pass, when the priests had come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD,

11 so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.

12 Then Solomon said, |The LORD has said that he would dwell in the thick cloud.

13 I have surely built you a house of habitation, a place for you to dwell in forever.|

14 The king turned his face about, and blessed all the assembly of Israel: and all the assembly of Israel stood.

15 He said, |Blessed is the LORD, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David your father, and has with his hand fulfilled it, saying,

16 Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, so that my name might be there; nor did I choose anyone to be a leader over my people Israel. But I have chosen Jerusalem, so that my name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.'

17 |Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

18 But the LORD said to David my father, 'Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart.

19 Nevertheless, you shall not build the house; but your son who shall come forth out of your body, he shall build the house for my name.'

20 The LORD has established his word that he spoke; for I have risen up in the place of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

21 There I have set a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.|