~ The Ark Brought to the Temple and Part of Solomon's Prayer ~

Then King Solomon summoned
into his presence at Jerusalem
the elders of Israel,
all the heads of the tribes
and the chiefs of the Israelite families,
to bring up the ark of the Lord's covenant
from Zion, the City of David.
All the men of Israel came together to King Solomon
at the time of the festival
in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month.

When all the elders of Israel had arrived,
the priests took up the ark,
and they brought up the ark of the Lord
and the Tent of Meeting
and all the sacred furnishings in it.
The priests and Levites carried them up,
and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel
that had gathered about him
were before the ark,
sacrificing so many sheep and cattle
that they could not be recorded or counted.

The priests then brought
the ark of the Lord's covenant
to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple,
the Most Holy Place,
and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim.
The cherubim spread their wings
over the place of the ark
and overshadowed the ark and its carrying poles.
These poles were so long
that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place
in front of the inner sanctuary,
but not from outside the Holy Place;
and they are still there today.
There was nothing in the ark
except the two stone tablets
that Moses had placed in it at Horeb,
where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites
after they came out of Egypt.

When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place,
the cloud filled the temple of the Lord.
And the priests could not perform their service
because of the cloud,
for the glory of the Lord filled His temple.

. . . then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord
in front of the whole assembly of Israel,
spread out of his hands toward heaven and said:

"O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like You
in the heaven above or on earth below --
You who keep your covenant of love with Your servants
who continue wholeheartedly in Your way.
. . . Hear the supplication of Your servant
and of Your people Israel
when they pray toward this place.
Hear from heaven,
Your dwelling place,
and when You year, forgive."

(I Kings 8: 1-11, 22-23, 30)