1 Kings 8:1–13
8 Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefso of the Israelite families, to bring up the arkp of the Lord’s covenant from Zion, the City of David.q 2 All the Israelites came together to King Solomon at the time of the festivalr in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month.s
3 When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priestst took up the ark, 4 and they brought up the ark of the Lord and the tent of meetingu and all the sacred furnishings in it. The priests and Levitesv carried them up, 5 and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificingw so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted.
6 The priests then brought the ark of the Lord’s covenantx to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place,y and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim.z 7 The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadoweda the ark and its carrying poles. 8 These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today.b 9 There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tabletsc that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.
10 When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloudd filled the temple of the Lord. 11 And the priests could not perform their servicee because of the cloud, for the gloryf of the Lord filled his temple.
12 Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud;g 13 I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwellh forever.”