1 Kings 8:1–21

The Lord Comes to His Temple—2 Chronicles 5:2–14

¹Then Solomon assembled the respected leaders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, and the leaders of the Israelite families. They came to King Solomon in Jerusalem to take the ark of the Lord’s promise from the City of David (that is, Zion). ²All the people of Israel gathered around King Solomon at the Festival ⸤of Booths⸥ in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month. 

³When all the leaders of Israel had arrived, the priests picked up the Lord’s ark. ⁴They brought the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy utensils in it ⸤to the temple⸥. The priests and the Levites carried them ⁵while King Solomon with the whole assembly from Israel were offering countless sheep and cattle sacrifices in front of the ark. ⁶The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s promise to its place in the inner room of the temple (the most holy place) under the wings of the angels.^a

⁷When the angels’ outstretched wings were over the place where the ark ⸤rested⸥, the angels became a covering above the ark and its poles. ⁸The poles were so long that their ends could be seen in the holy place by anyone standing in front of the inner room, but they couldn’t be seen outside. (They are still there today.) ⁹There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a promise to the Israelites after they left Egypt. 

¹⁰When the priests left the holy place, a cloud filled the Lord’s temple. ¹¹The priests couldn’t serve because of the cloud. The Lord’s glory filled his temple. 

Solomon Addresses the People—2 Chronicles 6:1–11

¹²Then Solomon said, “The Lord said he would live in a dark cloud. ¹³I certainly have built you a high temple, a home for you to live in permanently.” 

¹⁴Then the king turned around and blessed the whole assembly of Israel while they were standing. ¹⁵“Thanks be to the Lord God of Israel. With his mouth he made a promise to my father David; with his hand he carried it out. He said, ¹⁶‘Ever since I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I didn’t choose any city in any of the tribes of Israel as a place to build a temple for my name. But now I’ve chosen David to rule my people Israel.’ 

¹⁷“My father David had his heart set on building a temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel. ¹⁸However, the Lord said to my father David, ‘Since you had your heart set on building a temple for my name, your intentions were good. ¹⁹But you must not build the temple. Instead, your own son will build the temple for my name.’ ²⁰The Lord has kept the promise he made. I have taken my father David’s place, and I sit on the throne of Israel as the Lord promised. I’ve built the temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel. ²¹I’ve made a place there for the ark which contains the Lord’s promise that he made to our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.”