Preparations for the Temple

¹Then David said, “Here shall be the house of the LORD God, as well as the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”

²So David gave orders to gather the foreigners in the land of Israel, from whom he appointed stonecutters to prepare finished stones for building the house of God.

³David provided a large quantity of iron to make the nails for the doors of the gateways and for the fittings, together with more bronze than could be weighed

⁴and more cedar logs than could be counted; for the Sidonians and Tyrians had brought a large quantity of cedar logs to David.

⁵And David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the LORD must be exceedingly magnificent—famous and glorious throughout all lands. Therefore I must make preparations for it.” So David made lavish preparations before his death.

Solomon Anointed to Build the Temple

⁶Then David called for his son Solomon and instructed him to build a house for the LORD, the God of Israel.

⁷“My son,” said David to Solomon, “it was in my heart to build a house for the Name of the LORD my God,

⁸but this word of the LORD came to me: ‘You have shed much blood and waged great wars. You are not to build a house for My Name because you have shed so much blood on the ground before Me.

⁹But a son will be born to you who will be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side; for his name will be Solomon,and I will grant to Israel peace and quiet during his reign.

¹⁰He is the one who will build a house for My Name. He will be My son, and I will be his Father. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’

¹¹Now, my son, may the LORD be with you, and may you succeed in building the house of the LORD your God, as He said you would.

¹²Above all, may the LORD give you insight and understanding when He puts you in command over Israel, so that you may keep the Law of the LORD your God.

¹³Then you will succeed, if you carefully follow the statutes and ordinances that the LORD commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged.

¹⁴Now behold, I have taken great pains to provide for the house of the LORD—100,000 talents of gold,1,000,000 talents of silver,and bronze and iron too great to be weighed. I have also provided timber and stone, and you may add to them.

¹⁵You also have many workers: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and men skilled in every kind of work—

¹⁶in gold and silver, bronze and iron—craftsmen beyond number. Now begin the work, and may the LORD be with you.”

¹⁷Then David ordered all the leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon:

¹⁸“Is not the LORD your God with you, and has He not granted you rest on every side? For He has given the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land has been subdued before the LORD and His people.

¹⁹Now set your heart and soul to seek the LORD your God. Begin building the sanctuary of the LORD God, so that you may bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD and the holy articles of God into the temple that will be built for the Name of the LORD.”

David Commissions Solomon

¹Now David summoned all the leaders of Israel to Jerusalem: the leaders of the tribes, the leaders of the divisions in the king’s service, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and the officials in charge of all the property and cattle of the king and his sons, along with the court officials and mighty men—every mighty man of valor.

²Then King David rose to his feet and said, “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. It was in my heart to build a house as a resting place for the ark of the covenant of the LORD and as a footstool for our God. I had made preparations to build it,

³but God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for My Name, because you are a man of war who has shed blood.’

⁴Yet the LORD, the God of Israel, chose me out of all my father’s house to be king over Israel forever. For He chose Judah as leader, and from the house of Judah He chose my father’s household, and from my father’s sons He was pleased to make me king over all Israel.

⁵And of all my sons—for the LORD has given me many sons—He has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel.

⁶And He said to me, ‘Solomon your son is the one who will build My house and My courts, for I have chosen him as My son, and I will be his Father.

⁷I will establish his kingdom forever, if he resolutely carries out My commandments and ordinances, as is being done this day.’

⁸So now in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the LORD, and in the hearing of our God, keep and seek out all the commandments of the LORD your God, so that you may possess this good land and leave it as an inheritance to your descendants forever.

⁹As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands the intent of every thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.

¹⁰Consider now that the LORD has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary. Be strong and do it.”

The Plans for the Temple

¹¹Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple,its buildings, storehouses, upper rooms, inner rooms, and the room for the mercy seat.

¹²The plans contained everything David had in mindfor the courts of the house of the LORD, for all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of the house of God and of the dedicated things,

¹³for the divisions of the priests and Levites, for all the work of service in the house of the LORD, and for all the articles of service in the house of the LORD:

¹⁴the weight of all the gold articles for every kind of service;the weight of all the silver articles for every kind of service;

¹⁵the weight of the gold lampstands and their lamps, including the weight of each lampstand and its lamps;the weight of each silver lampstand and its lamps, according to the use of each lampstand;

¹⁶the weight of gold for each table of showbread, and of silver for the silver tables;

¹⁷the weight of the pure gold for the forks, sprinkling bowls, and pitchers;the weight of each gold dish;the weight of each silver bowl;

¹⁸the weight of the refined gold for the altar of incense;and the plans for the chariot of the gold cherubim that spread their wings and overshadowed the ark of the covenant of the LORD.

¹⁹“All this,” said David, “all the details of this plan, the LORD has made clear to me in writing by His hand upon me.”

²⁰David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do it. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will neither fail you nor forsake you before all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished.

²¹The divisions of the priests and Levites are ready for all the service of the house of God, and every willing man of every skill will be at your disposal for the work. The officials and all the people are fully at your command.”

Offerings for the Temple

¹Then King David said to the whole assembly, “My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The task is great because this palace is not for man, but for the LORD God.

²Now with all my ability I have made provision for the house of my God—gold for the gold articles, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron, and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, all kinds of precious stones, and slabs of marble—all in abundance.

³Moreover, because of my delight in the house of my God, I now give for it my personal treasures of gold and silver, over and above all that I have provided for this holy temple:

⁴three thousand talents of gold(the gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver,to overlay the walls of the buildings,

⁵for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now who is willing to consecrate himself to the LORD today?”

⁶Then the leaders of the families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king’s work gave willingly.

⁷Toward the service of God’s house they gave 5,000 talentsand 10,000 darics of gold,10,000 talents of silver,18,000 talents of bronze,and 100,000 talents of iron.

⁸Whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the LORD, under the care of Jehielthe Gershonite.

⁹And the people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given to the LORD freely and wholeheartedly. And King David also rejoiced greatly.

David’s Prayer of Blessing

¹⁰Then David blessed the LORD in the sight of all the assembly and said:“May You be blessed, O LORD, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.

¹¹Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in heaven and on earth belongs to You.Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all.

¹²Both riches and honor come from You, and You are the ruler over all. In Your hands are power and might to exalt and give strength to all.

¹³Now therefore, our God, we give You thanks, and we praise Your glorious name.

¹⁴But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from You, and from Your own hand we have given to You.

¹⁵For we are foreigners and strangers in Your presence, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.

¹⁶O LORD our God, from Your hand comes all this abundance that we have provided to build You a house for Your holy Name, and all of it belongs to You.

¹⁷I know, my God, that You test the heart and delight in uprightness. All these things I have given willingly and with an upright heart, and now I have seen Your people who are present here giving joyfully and willingly to You.

¹⁸O LORD, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, keep this desire forever in the intentions of the hearts of Your people, and direct their hearts toward You.

¹⁹And give my son Solomon a whole heart to keep and carry out all Your commandments, decrees, and statutes, and to build Your palace for which I have made provision.”

²⁰Then David said to the whole assembly, “Bless the LORD your God.”So the whole assembly blessed the LORD, the God of their fathers. They bowed down and paid homage to the LORD and to the king.

Solomon Anointed King

²¹The next day they offered sacrifices and presented burnt offerings to the LORD: a thousand bulls, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs, along with their drink offerings, and other sacrifices in abundance for all Israel.

²²That day they ate and drank with great joy in the presence of the LORD.Then, for a second time, they designated David’s son Solomon as king, anointing him before the LORD as ruler, and Zadok as the priest.

²³So Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king in place of his father David. He prospered, and all Israel obeyed him.

²⁴All the officials and mighty men, as well as all of King David’s sons, pledged their allegiance to King Solomon.

²⁵The LORD highly exalted Solomon in the sight of all Israel and bestowed on him royal majesty such as had not been bestowed on any king in Israel before him.

David’s Reign and Death

²⁶David son of Jesse was king over all Israel.

²⁷The length of David’s reign over Israel was forty years—seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

²⁸He died at a ripe old age, full of years, riches, and honor, and his son Solomon reigned in his place.

²⁹Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are indeed written in the Chronicles of Samuel the Seer, the Chronicles of Nathan the Prophet, and the Chronicles of Gad the Seer,

³⁰together with all the details of his reign, his might, and the circumstances that came upon him and Israel and all the kingdoms of the lands.

God’s Righteous Judgment

¹We give thanks to You, O God;we give thanks, for Your Name is near.The people declare Your wondrous works.

²“When I choose a time,I will judge fairly.

³When the earth and all its dwellers quake,it is I who bear up its pillars.Selah

⁴I say to the proud, ‘Do not boast,’and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn.

⁵Do not lift up your horn against heavenor speak with an outstretched neck.’”

⁶For exaltation comes neither from east nor west,nor out of the desert,

⁷but it is God who judges;He brings down one and exalts another.

⁸For a cup is in the hand of the LORD,full of foaming wine mixed with spices.He pours from His cup,and all the wicked of the earthdrink it down to the dregs.

⁹But I will proclaim Himforever;I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.

¹⁰“All the horns of the wicked I will cut off,but the horns of the righteous will be exalted.”