5. King Solomon and all Israel met together before the Box of the Agreement and sacrificed so many sheep and cattle that no one was able to count them all.
6. The priests carried the Box of the Lord’S Agreement to its proper place inside the Most Holy Place in the Temple, under the wings of the Cherub angels.
7. The wings of the Cherub angels spread out over the Holy Box, and they covered the Holy Box and its carrying poles.
8. The poles are still there today. They are too long for the Most Holy Place, so anyone standing in the Holy Place can see the ends of the poles, although no one outside can see them.
9. The only things inside the Holy Box are the two tablets that Moses put there at Mt. Horeb. This is where the Lord made his agreement with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.
41-42. “People from other places will hear about your greatness and your power. They will come from far away to pray at this Temple.
43. From your home in heaven, please listen to their prayers. Please do everything the people from other places ask you. Then they will fear and respect you the same as your people in Israel. Then all people everywhere will know that I built this Temple to honor you.
44. “Sometimes you will command your people to go and fight against their enemies. Then your people will turn toward the city that you have chosen and the Temple that I built in your honor, and they will pray to you, Lord.
45. Please listen to their prayers from your home in heaven, and help them.
46. “Your people will sin against you. I know this because everyone sins. And you will be angry with your people. You will let their enemies defeat them. Their enemies will make them prisoners and carry them to some faraway land.
47. In that faraway land, your people will think about what happened. They will be sorry for their sins, and they will pray to you. They will say, ‘We have sinned and done wrong.’
48. They will be in that faraway land of their enemies, but they will turn back to you. They will feel sorry for their sins with their whole heart and soul. They will turn toward the land you gave their ancestors. They will look toward the city you chose and toward the Temple I built, and they will pray to you.
49. Please listen to their prayers from your home in heaven, and do what is right.
50. Forgive your sinful people for all the things they have done against you. Make their enemies be kind to them.
51. Remember that they are your people and that you brought them out of Egypt. It was as if you saved them by pulling them out of a hot oven!
52. “Please listen to my prayers and to the prayers of your people Israel. Listen to their prayers any time that they ask you for help.
53. You have chosen them from all the peoples of the earth to be your own special people. Lord GOD, you promised to do that for us. You used your servant Moses to make that promise when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt.”
54. When Solomon prayed this prayer to the Lord, he was on his knees in front of the Lord’S altar and his arms were raised toward heaven. When he finished praying, he stood up.
55. Then, in a loud voice, he asked God to bless all the people of Israel. Solomon said,
56. “Praise the Lord! He promised to give rest to his people, Israel. And he has given us rest! He used his servant Moses and made many good promises to the people of Israel. And he has kept every one of them!
57. I pray that the Lord our God will be with us, as he was with our ancestors. I pray that he will never leave us.