5 The priests and Levites brought up the Ark along with the special tent and all the sacred items that had been in it.
6 There, before the Ark, King Solomon and the entire community of Israel sacrificed so many sheep, goats, and cattle that no one could keep count!
7 Then the priests carried the Ark of the lord’s Covenant into the inner sanctuary of the Temple—the Most Holy Place—and placed it beneath the wings of the cherubim.
8 The cherubim spread their wings over the Ark, forming a canopy over the Ark and its carrying poles.
9 These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place, which is in front of the Most Holy Place, but not from the outside. They are still there to this day.
10 Nothing was in the Ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Mount Sinai, where the lord made a covenant with the people of Israel when they left Egypt.
11 Then the priests left the Holy Place. All the priests who were present had purified themselves, whether or not they were on duty that day.