2 Chronicles 5

1 After Solomon’s workers had finished building the temple, Solomon put in the temple storage rooms everything that his father David had dedicated to Yahweh—all the silver and gold and all the other things that were used at the temple.

Once Solomon had finished all the work on the house of the Lord, he brought the holy items of his father David had dedicated—the silver, the gold, and all the various worship items—and he placed them in the treasuries of God's Temple.

2 Then King Solomon summoned to Jerusalem all the elders of Israel, all the leaders of the tribes and of the families/clans. He wanted them to help to bring to the temple Yahweh’s Sacred Chest from Zion [Hill], where it was in [the part of the city called] ‘The City of David’.

Then Solomon summoned to Jerusalem the elders of Israel—all the heads of the tribes and family leaders of the Israelites—to bring the Ark of the Lord's Agreement from Zion, the City of David.

3 So all the leaders of Israel gathered together along with the king, during the Festival of [Living in Temporary] Shelters, in October.

So all the Israelites gathered to be with the king at the feast which is in the seventh month.

4 When they had all arrived, the descendants of Levi lifted up the Sacred Chest,

When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the Levites lifted up the Ark.

5 and they carried it and the Sacred Tent and the sacred things that were inside it. The priests, who were also descended from Levi, carried them.

The priests and Levites brought up the Ark, the Tent of Meeting, were with him were there in front of the Ark.

6 King Solomon and many of the other people of Israel who had gathered there walked in front of the Sacred Chest. And they sacrificed a huge amount of sheep and cattle. No one was able to count them [because there were very many].

They sacrificed so many sheep and cattle that they couldn't be counted!

7 The priests then brought the Sacred Chest into the Most Holy Place, the inner room of the temple, and they placed it under the wings of the statues of winged creatures.

Then the priests brought the Ark of the Lord's Agreement and put placed it in the inner sanctuary of the Temple, the Most Holy Place, beneath the wings of the cherubim.

8 The wings of those statues spread out over the Sacred Chest and over the poles by which it was carried.

The cherubim were spreading their wings over the place where the Ark was, so that the cherubim made a covering above the Ark and its poles.

9 The poles were very long, with the result that they could be seen by [those who were standing] at the entrance to the Most Holy Place, but they could not be seen by anyone standing outside the temple. Those poles are still there.

The poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the Most Holy Place, but not from outside. They are there to this day.

10 The only things that were inside the Sacred Chest were the two stone tablets that Moses had put there at Sinai Mountain, where Yahweh made an agreement with the Israeli people after they came out of Egypt.

Inside the Ark there was nothing except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Mount Sinai, where the Lord had made an agreement with the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt.

11 Then the priests left the Holy Place. All the priests who were there, from every group, had performed the rituals to cause them to be acceptable to God.

Then the priests came out of the Holy Place. All the priests who were there had purified themselves, whatever their division.

12 All the descendants of Levi who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, their sons and their other relatives—stood on the east side of the altar. They were wearing linen clothes, and they were playing cymbals, harps, and lyres. There were 120 other priests who were blowing trumpets.

All the Levites who were singers—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and relatives—stood on the east side of the altar. They were dressed in fine linen, striking cymbals, playing harps and lyres, and accompanied by one hundred and twenty priests sounding trumpets.

13 The men blowing trumpets, those playing the cymbals and other musical instruments, and the singers, made music together, praising Yahweh and singing this song: “Yahweh is good [to us]; he faithfully loves us forever.” Then [suddenly] the temple was filled with a cloud.

The trumpeters and singers joined together with one voice to praise and thank the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and musical instruments, the singers raised their voices, praising the Lord: “For he is good; his trustworthy love lasts forever.” Then the Temple, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud.

14 The glorious radiance of Yahweh filled the temple, with the result that the priests were not able to continue doing their work.

The priests could not stand up to continue with the service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord had filled the Temple of God.