7. The winged creatures spread their wings over the place where the chest rested, covering the chest and its carrying poles.
8. The carrying poles were so long that their tips could be seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, though they weren’t visible from outside. They are still there today.
9. Nothing was in the chest except the two stone tablets Moses had placed there while at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they left Egypt.
10. When the priests left the holy place, the cloud filled the Lord’s temple,
11. and the priests were unable to carry out their duties due to the cloud because the Lord’s glory filled the Lord’s temple.
12. Then Solomon said, "The Lord said that he would live in a dark cloud,
13. but I have indeed built you a lofty temple as a place where you can live forever."
14. The king turned around, and while the entire assembly of Israel was standing there, he blessed them,
15. saying, “Bless Israel’s God, the Lord, who spoke directly to my father David and now has kept his promise:
16. ‘From the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt I haven’t selected a city from any Israelite tribe as a site for the building of a temple for my name. But now I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’
17. My father David wanted to build a temple for the name of the Lord, Israel’s God.
18. "But the Lord said to my father David, ‘It is very good that you thought to build a temple for my name.
19. Nevertheless, you yourself won’t build that temple. Instead, your very own son will build the temple for my name.’
20. The Lord has kept his promise—I have succeeded my father David on Israel’s throne just as the Lord said, and I have built the temple for the name of the Lord, Israel’s God.