The cherubs’ wings extended over the place where the ark sat; the cherubs overshadowed the ark and its poles.

When all Israel’s elders had arrived, the priests lifted the ark.

He prepared the inner sanctuary inside the temple so that the ark of the covenant of the Lord could be placed there.

The priests and Levites carried the ark of the Lord, the tent of meeting, and all the holy items in the tent.

The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its assigned place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, in the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubs.

and set up in it a place for the ark containing the covenant the Lord made with our ancestors when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

Solomon then woke up and realized it was a dream. He went to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant, offered up burnt sacrifices, presented peace offerings, and held a feast for all his servants.

Then Solomon convened in Jerusalem Israel’s elders, all the leaders of the Israelite tribes and families, so they could witness the transferal of the ark of the Lord’s covenant from the city of David (that is, Zion).

Now King Solomon and all the Israelites who had assembled with him went on ahead of the ark and sacrificed more sheep and cattle than could be counted or numbered.

There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets Moses had placed there in Horeb. It was there that the Lord made an agreement with the Israelites after he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

The king then told Abiathar the priest, “Go back to your property in Anathoth. You deserve to die, but today I will not kill you because you did carry the ark of the sovereign Lord before my father David and you suffered with my father through all his difficult times.”