Read the Modern Pastor’s Version
Select a book and chapter to read the MPV in modern, pastor-shaped English. This view shows the reading edition of the text in paragraphs.
Currently viewing: 2 Chronicles 5 · MPV reading edition
All the work that Solomon made for the Lord's house was finished. He brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated - silver, gold, and all the instruments - which he placed among the treasures of God's house.
Solomon gathered the leaders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, along with the chief representatives of the families of Israel, to Jerusalem. They came together to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the city of David, which is Zion. The men of Israel assembled themselves to the king at the feast in the seventh month.
The elders of Israel arrived, and the Levites took up the ark. The priests and Levites brought up the ark, the tabernacle of the congregation, and all its holy vessels. King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel gathered before the ark to make sacrifices - sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered because of their multitude.
The priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its designated place within the inner sanctuary. This was beneath the outstretched wings of the cherubim, magnificent creatures whose wings spread wide over the ark and covered it, along with its staves, above. They drew out the staves of the ark.
Inside the ark were only two tablets that Moses had placed there at Horeb when the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt. When the priests who had been in the holy place emerged from their duty, all the other priests present were sanctified and didn't need to follow their assigned courses.
Meanwhile, the Levites who served as singers - Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, along with their sons and brothers - donned white linen, carrying cymbals, psalteries, and harps. They stood at the east end of the altar, accompanied by a hundred and twenty priests who blew trumpets.
As the trumpeters and singers made one sound in praise and thanks to the Lord, their voices lifted with the trumpets, cymbals, and instruments of music to honor God, saying, "For he is good; his loving kindness endures forever." The house was filled with a cloud - the presence of the Lord Himself.