1. Then King Solomon told all the elders of Israel, the heads of the tribes, and the leaders of the families of Israel to come together in Jerusalem. Solomon wanted them to join in moving the Box of the Lord’S Agreement from the City of David up to the Temple.
2. So during the special festival in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month of the year, all the men of Israel came to the meeting with King Solomon.
3-4. When all the elders of Israel arrived, the priests and Levites carried the Holy Box of the Lord up to the Temple. They also carried the Meeting Tent and all the holy things that were in it up to the Temple.
5. King Solomon and all Israel met together before the Box of the Agreement and sacrificed so many sheep and cattle that no one was able to count them all.
6. The priests carried the Box of the Lord’S Agreement to its proper place inside the Most Holy Place in the Temple, under the wings of the Cherub angels.
7. The wings of the Cherub angels spread out over the Holy Box, and they covered the Holy Box and its carrying poles.
8. The poles are still there today. They are too long for the Most Holy Place, so anyone standing in the Holy Place can see the ends of the poles, although no one outside can see them.
9. The only things inside the Holy Box are the two tablets that Moses put there at Mt. Horeb. This is where the Lord made his agreement with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.
10. When the priests came out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the Lord’S Temple.
11. The priests could not continue their work because the Temple was filled with the Glory of the Lord.
12. Then Solomon said, “The Lord caused the sun to shine in the sky, but he chose to live in a dark cloud.
13. Now, Lord, I have built a beautiful Temple for you, where you may live forever.”
14. Then King Solomon turned toward all the Israelites who were standing there and asked God to bless them.
15. He prayed this long prayer to the Lord: “The Lord, the God of Israel, is great. He has done what he promised my father David. He told my father,
16. ‘I brought my people, Israel, out of Egypt, but I had not yet chosen a city from among the tribes of Israel for a temple to honor me. And I had not chosen a man to be leader over my people, Israel. But now I have chosen Jerusalem to be the city where I will be honored. And I have chosen David to rule over my people, Israel.’