2Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers of the sons of Israel, to Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the city of David, which is Zion.3And all the men of Israel assembled to the king at the feast, in the seventh new moon.4And all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites bore the ark.5And they brought up the Ark of the Covenant and the Tent of Meeting and all the holy utensils that were in the Tent; the priests, the Levites, brought them up.6And King Solomon and all the assembly of Israel that was gathered to him before the ark sacrificed sheep and cattle that could not be numbered or counted because of the abundance.7And the priests brought the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD to its place, to the inner sanctuary of the house, to the holy of holies, under the wings of the cherubim.8And the cherubim were spreading their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and its poles from above.9The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the ark in front of the inner sanctuary, but they were not seen from outside. And they are there to this day.10There is nothing in the ark except the two tablets which Moses placed there on the mountain, which the LORD cut with the sons of Israel when they went out from Egypt.11And it came about that when the priests came out from the holy place—for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without regard to divisions—12And the Levites, the singers—for Asaph, Heman, Ethan, and their sons and their brothers—clothed in fine linen with cymbals and with harps and with lyres, standing east of the altar, and with them 120 priests blowing trumpets.13And it was as one for the trumpeters and for the singers to make one voice heard to praise and to give thanks to the LORD, and as they raised their voice with trumpets and with cymbals and with utensils of song and with praise to the LORD, "for good, for his steadfast love is forever," and the house was filled with cloud, the house of the LORD.14The priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.
6
Chapter 6
1Then Solomon said, "The LORD said that he would dwell in thick darkness."2And I have built a house for you, a place established for your dwelling forever.3And the king turned his face and blessed all the assembly of Israel, and all the assembly of Israel was standing.4He said, "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who spoke with his own mouth to my father David and has fulfilled it with his hands, saying,"5From the day that I brought my people out from the land of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a house for my name to be there, and I have not chosen a man to be ruler over my people Israel.6And I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.7And it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.8The LORD said to my father David, "Because your heart was set on building a house for my name, you have done well that your heart was set on it."9Only you shall not build the house, but your son who comes forth from your loins—he shall build the house for my name.10And the LORD has fulfilled his word that he spoke. I have arisen in the place of David my father and sat on the throne of Israel, just as the LORD spoke, and I have built the house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.11And I have placed there the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD that he cut with the sons of Israel.