The Dedication of the Temple
1 At that time, Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, and the leaders of the {families} of the {Israelites} before King Solomon, in order to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh from the city of David, that is, Zion.
2
All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon at the festival in the month of Ethnaim, that is, the seventh month.
3
All the elders of Israel came, and the priests carried the ark.
4
So they brought up the ark of Yahweh and the tent of assembly and all of the holy vessels that [were] in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up.
5
King Solomon and all the assembly of Israel who were assembling with him in the presence of the ark [were] sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted nor numbered because of abundance.
6
The priests brought the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, to the {most holy place}, under the wings of the cherubim,
7
for the cherubim [were] spreading their wings over the place of the ark. The cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles from above.
8
The poles [were] long, and the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place {in front of} the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen [from] the outside, and they are there until this day.
9
There was not [anything] in the ark {except} the two tablets of stone which Moses had placed there at Horeb, where Yahweh {made} [a covenant] with the {Israelites} after they went out from the land of Egypt.
10
When the priests went out from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of Yahweh.
11
The priests [were] not able to stand to minister {because of the presence of} the cloud, for the glory of Yahweh filled the house of Yahweh.