2.Chronik 5 | New International Reader’s Version

1 Solomon finished all the work for the LORD’s temple. Then he brought in the things his father David had set apart for the LORD. They included the silver and gold and all the objects for God’s temple. Solomon placed them there with the other treasures.

The ark is brought to the temple

2 Then Solomon sent for the elders of Israel. He told them to come to Jerusalem. They included all the leaders of the tribes. They also included the chiefs of the families of Israel. Solomon wanted them to bring up the ark of the LORD’s covenant from Zion. Zion was the City of David. 3 All the Israelites came together to where the king was. It was at the time of the Feast of Booths. The feast was held in the seventh month. 4 All the elders of Israel arrived. Then the Levites picked up the ark and carried it. 5 They brought up the ark. They also brought up the tent of meeting and all the sacred things in the tent. The priests, who were Levites, carried up everything. 6 The entire community of Israel had gathered around King Solomon. All of them were in front of the ark. They sacrificed huge numbers of sheep and cattle. There were so many animals that they couldn’t be recorded. In fact, they couldn’t even be counted. 7 The priests brought the ark of the LORD’s covenant to its place in the Most Holy Room of the temple. They put it under the wings of the cherubim. 8 The cherubim’s wings were spread out over the place where the ark was. They covered the ark. They also covered the poles used to carry it. 9 The poles reached out from the ark. They were so long that their ends could be seen from in front of the Most Holy Room. But they couldn’t be seen from outside the Holy Room. They are still there to this day. 10 There wasn’t anything in the ark except the two tablets. Moses had placed them in it at Mount Horeb. That’s where the LORD had made a covenant with the Israelites. He made it after they came out of Egypt. 11 The priests left the Holy Room. All the priests who were there had set themselves apart to the LORD. It didn’t matter what group they were in. 12 All the Levites who played music stood near the east side of the altar. They included Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives. They were dressed in fine linen. They were playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were joined by 120 priests who were blowing trumpets. 13 The trumpet players and other musicians played their instruments together. They praised the LORD and gave thanks to him. The singers sang to the music of the trumpets, cymbals and other instruments. They sang in praise to the LORD, ‘The LORD is good. His faithful love continues for ever.’ Then a cloud filled the temple of the LORD. 14 The priests couldn’t do their work. That’s because the cloud of the LORD’s glory filled God’s temple.

English Standard Version

1 Thus all the work that Solomon did for the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, and stored the silver, the gold, and all the vessels in the treasuries of the house of God.

The Ark Brought to the Temple

2 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel, in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion. 3 And all the men of Israel assembled before the king at the feast that is in the seventh month. 4 And all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark. 5 And they brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the Levitical priests brought them up. 6 And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. 7 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. 8 The cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering above the ark and its poles. 9 And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside. And they are* there to this day. 10 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of Egypt. 11 And when the priests came out of the Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had consecrated themselves, without regard to their divisions, 12 and all the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, their sons and kinsmen, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres, stood east of the altar with 120 priests who were trumpeters; 13 and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord), and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the Lord, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever,” the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.

2.Chronik 5 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version

The ark is brought to the temple

The Ark Brought to the Temple