8. The ends of the poles could be seen by anyone standing directly in front of the Most Holy Place, but from nowhere else. (The poles are still there today.)
9. There was nothing inside the Covenant Box except the two stone tablets which Moses had placed there at Mount Sinai, when the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel as they were coming from Egypt.
10. As the priests were leaving the Temple, it was suddenly filled with a cloud
11. shining with the dazzling light of the Lord's presence, and they could not go back in to perform their duties.
12. Then Solomon prayed:“You, Lord, have placed the sun in the sky,yet you have chosen to live in clouds and darkness.
13. Now I have built a majestic temple for you,a place for you to live in for ever.”
14. As the people stood there, King Solomon turned to face them, and he asked God's blessing on them.
15. He said, “Praise the Lord God of Israel! He has kept the promise he made to my father David, when he said,
16. ‘From the time I brought my people out of Egypt, I have not chosen any city in all the land of Israel in which a temple should be built where I would be worshipped. But I chose you, David, to rule my people.’ ”
17. And Solomon continued, “My father David planned to build a temple for the worship of the Lord God of Israel,
18. but the Lord said to him, ‘You were right in wanting to build a temple for me,
19. but you will never build it. It is your son, your own son, who will build my temple.’
20. “And now the Lord has kept his promise. I have succeeded my father as king of Israel, and I have built the Temple for the worship of the Lord God of Israel.
21. I have also provided a place in the Temple for the Covenant Box containing the stone tablets of the covenant which the Lord made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.”
22. Then in the presence of the people Solomon went and stood in front of the altar, where he raised his arms
23. and prayed, “Lord God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven above or on earth below! You keep your covenant with your people and show them your love when they live in wholehearted obedience to you.