1 Kings 8:1–21

The Ark Brought into the Temple

8^jThen Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, ^kthe leaders of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, ^lto bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of ^mthe city of David, which is Zion. ²And all the men of Israel assembled to King Solomon at ⁿthe feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. ³And all the elders of Israel came, and ^othe priests took up the ark. ⁴And they brought up the ark of the Lord, ^pthe tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. ⁵And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, ^qsacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. ^6rThen the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord ^sto its place in ^tthe inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. ⁷For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles. ^8uAnd the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before ^tthe inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day. ⁹There was nothing in the ark except ^vthe two tablets of stone that Moses put there at Horeb, where ^wthe Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, ^xa cloud filled the house of the Lord, ¹¹so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.

Solomon Blesses the Lord

^12yThen Solomon said, “The Lord¹ has said that he would dwell ^zin thick darkness. ^13aI have indeed built you an exalted house, ^ba place for you to dwell in forever.” ¹⁴Then the king turned around and ^cblessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. ¹⁵And he said, ^d“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled ^ewhat he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, ^16f‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, ^gthat my name might be there. ^hBut I chose David to be over my people Israel.’ ¹⁷ⁱNow it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁸But 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. ^19jNevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ ²⁰Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, ^kas the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ²¹And there I have provided a place for the ark, ^lin which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”