1 Then Solomon summoned before him in Jerusalem the elders of Israel, including all the heads of the tribes and the family leaders of the Israelites. He instructed them to bring up with them the Ark of the Lord’s Agreement from Zion, the City of David. 2 All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon at the festival* which is held in the seventh month, the month of Ethanim.

3 When all the elders of Israel had gathered, the priests picked up the Ark and brought the Ark of the Lord and the Tent of Meeting with all its holy items. 4 The priests and Levites carried them up. 5 In front of the Ark, King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who had gathered there with him sacrificed many, many sheep and bulls—so numerous they couldn’t be counted! 6 Then the priests carried the Ark of the Lord’s Agreement to its place in the inner sanctuary of the Temple, the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. 7 The cherubim spread their wings over the place where the Ark was, covering the Ark and its carrying poles. 8 The poles were so long that the ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside. They are there to this day.

9 There was nothing in the Ark apart from the two tablets of stone that Moses had placed in it at Horeb,* where the Lord had made an agreement with the Israelites after they came out of the land of Egypt. 10 When the priests left the Holy Place, the cloud filled the Temple of the Lord. 11 Due to the cloud, the priests could not stay there to carry out their service, for the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s Temple.