2 Chronicles 5

1Thus all the work that Solomon made for the house of the LORD was finished: and Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated; and the silver, and the gold, and all the instruments, put he among the treasures of the house of God.

2Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.

3Wherefore all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king in the feast which was in the seventh month.

4And all the elders of Israel came; and the Levites took up the ark.

5And they brought up the ark, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, these did the priests and the Levites bring up.

6Also king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel that were assembled unto him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen, which could not be told nor numbered for multitude.

7And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, to the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims:

8For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.

9And they drew out the staves of the ark, that the ends of the staves were seen from the ark before the oracle; but they were not seen without. And there it is unto this day.footnote a

10There was nothing in the ark save the two tables which Moses put therein at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.footnote b

11And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place: (for all the priests that were present were sanctified, and did not then wait by course:footnote c

12Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets:)

13It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD;

14So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.

The Ark Enters the Temple

1So all the work that Solomon had performed for the house of the LORD was completed.
Then Solomon brought in the items his father David had dedicated—the silver, the gold, and all the furnishings—and he placed them in the treasuries of the house of God.

2At that time Solomon assembled in Jerusalem the elders of Israel—all the tribal heads and family leaders of the Israelites—to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Zion, the City of David. 3So all the men of Israel came together to the king at the feast in the seventh month.footnote a

4When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the Levites took up the ark, 5and they brought up the ark and the Tent of Meeting with all its sacred furnishings. The Levitical priests carried them up.

6There, before the ark, King Solomon and the whole congregation of Israel who had assembled with him sacrificed so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.

7Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place,footnote b beneath the wings of the cherubim. 8For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed the ark and its poles.

9The poles of the ark extended far enough that their ends were visible from in front of the inner sanctuary,footnote c but not from outside the Holy Place;footnote d and they are there to this day.

10There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb,footnote e where the LORD had made a covenant with the Israelites after they had come out of Egypt.

11Now all the priests who were present had consecrated themselves regardless of their divisions. And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, 12all the Levitical singers—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and relatives—stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps, and lyres, accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets. 13The trumpeters and singers joined together to praise and thank the LORD with one voice. They lifted up their voices, accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and musical instruments, in praise to the LORD:“For He is good;His loving devotion endures forever.”And the temple, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud 14so that the priests could not stand there to minister because of the cloud. For the glory of the LORD filled the house of God.