1. Then King Solomon called for all the leaders of Israel to come to him in Jerusalem. He called for the elders, the heads of the tribes and the leaders of the families. He wanted them to bring the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord from the older part of the city.
2. So all the men of Israel came together with King Solomon. This was during a festival in the month of Ethanim. That is the seventh month.
3. All of the elders of Israel arrived. Then the priests took up the Ark of the Covenant.
4. They carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, the Meeting Tent and the holy things in it. The Levites helped the priests carry these things.
5. King Solomon and all the people of Israel gathered before the Ark of the Covenant. They sacrificed so many sheep and cattle no one could count them all.
6. Then the priests put the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord in its right place. This was inside the Most Holy Place in the Temple. The Ark of the Covenant was put under the wings of the golden creatures.
7. The wings of the creatures were spread out over the place of the Ark of the Covenant. So they covered it and its carrying poles.
8. The carrying poles were very long. Anyone standing in the Holy Place in front of the Most Holy Place could see the ends of the poles. But no one could see them from outside the Holy Place. The poles are still there today.
9. The only things inside the Ark of the Covenant were two stone tablets. Moses had put them in the Ark of the Covenant at Mount Sinai. That was where the Lord made his agreement with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.