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.
10. When the priests left the Holy Place, the cloud filled the Temple of the Lord.
11. The priests could not continue their work. This was because the Temple was filled with the glory of the Lord.
12. Then Solomon said, “The Lord said he would live in a dark cloud.
13. Lord, I have truly built a wonderful Temple for you. It is a place for you to live forever.”
14. While all the people of Israel were standing there, King Solomon turned to them and blessed them.
15. Then he prayed: “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel. He himself has done what he promised to my father David. The Lord told my father,
16. ‘I brought my people Israel out of Egypt. But I have not yet chosen a city in any tribe of Israel where a temple will be built for worshiping me. But I have chosen David to rule over my people Israel.’
17. “My father David wanted to build a temple for worshiping the Lord, the God of Israel.
18. But the Lord said to my father David, ‘I know you want to build a temple for worshiping me. And this is good.