1 Kings 8:3-16

³All the elders of Israel came, and the priests picked up the ark.

⁴They brought up the LORD’s ark, the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent. The priests and the Levites brought these up.

⁵King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who were assembled to him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and cattle that could not be counted or numbered for multitude.

⁶The priests brought in the ark of the LORD’s covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place, even under the cherubim’s wings.

⁷For the cherubim spread their wings out over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and its poles above.

⁸The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place before the inner sanctuary, but they were not seen outside. They are there to this day.

⁹There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁰It came to pass, when the priests had come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the LORD’s house,

¹¹so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud; for the LORD’s glory filled the LORD’s house.

¹²Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

¹³I have surely built you a house of habitation, a place for you to dwell in forever.”

¹⁴The king turned his face around and blessed all the assembly of Israel; and all the assembly of Israel stood.

¹⁵He said, “Blessed is the LORD, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David your father, and has with his hand fulfilled it, saying,

¹⁶‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, that my name might be there; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.’