2 Chronicles 5:8-14

5:8 The cherubs’ wings extended over the place where the ark sat; the cherubs overshadowed the ark and its poles. ¹  5:9 The poles were so long their ends extending out from the ark were visible from in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from beyond that point. ²  They have remained there to this very day. 5:10 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets Moses had placed there in Horeb. ³  (It was there that ⁴  the Lord made an agreement with the Israelites after he brought them out of the land of Egypt.)

5:11 The priests left the holy place. ⁵  All the priests who participated had consecrated themselves, no matter which division they represented. ⁶  5:12 All the Levites who were musicians, including Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and relatives, wore linen. They played cymbals and stringed instruments as they stood east of the altar. They were accompanied by 120 priests who blew trumpets. 5:13 The trumpeters and musicians played together, praising and giving thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, they loudly praised the Lord, singing: ⁷  “Certainly he is good; certainly his loyal love endures!” Then a cloud filled the Lord’s temple. ⁸  5:14 The priests could not carry out their duties ⁹  because of the cloud; the Lord’s splendor filled God’s temple.

[5:8]  ¹ sn These poles were used to carry the ark. The Levites were to carry it with the poles on their shoulders. See Exod 25:13-15; 1 Chr 15:15.

[5:9]  ² tn Heb “they could not be seen outside.”

[5:10]  ³ sn Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai (cf. Exod 3:1).

[5:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “in Horeb where.”

[5:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “and when the priests went from the holy place.” The syntactical relationship of this temporal clause to the following context is unclear. Perhaps the thought is completed in v. 14 after a lengthy digression.

[5:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “Indeed [or “for”] all the priests who were found consecrated themselves without guarding divisions.”

[5:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “like one were the trumpeters and the musicians, causing one voice to be heard, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, and while raising a voice with trumpets and with cymbals and with instruments of music, and while praising the Lord.”

[5:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “and the house was filled with a cloud, the house of the Lord.”

[5:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “were not able to stand to serve.”