David's Charge to Israel

28 ^(A)David assembled at Jerusalem all the officials of Israel, the ^(B)officials of the tribes, the officers of the divisions that served the king, the ^(C)commanders of thousands, the commanders of hundreds, the ^(D)stewards of all the property and livestock of the king and his sons, together with the palace officials, the ^(E)mighty men and all the seasoned warriors. ² Then King David rose to his feet and said: “Hear me, my brothers and my people. ^(F)I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for the ^(G)footstool of our God, and I made preparations for building. ³ But God said to me, ^(H)‘You may not build a house for my name, for you are a man of war and have shed blood.’ ⁴ Yet the Lord God of Israel ^(I)chose me from all my father's house to be king over Israel ^(J)forever. ^(K)For he chose Judah as leader, and in the house of Judah my father's ^(L)house, and among my father's sons he took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel. ⁵ And of ^(M)all my sons (for the Lord has given me many sons) he ^(N)has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. ⁶ He said to me, ‘It is ^(O)Solomon your son who shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. ⁷ I will establish his kingdom ^(P)forever ^(Q)if he continues strong in keeping my commandments and my rules, as he is today.’ ⁸ Now therefore in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God, observe and seek out all the commandments of the Lord your God, that you may possess this good land and leave it for an inheritance to your children after you forever.

David's Charge to Solomon

⁹ “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a ^(R)whole heart and with a willing mind, ^(S)for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. ^(T)If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever. ¹⁰ Be careful now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; ^(U)be strong and do it.”

¹¹ Then David gave Solomon his son the ^(V)plan of the ^(W)vestibule of the temple,^[a] and of its houses, its treasuries, its upper rooms, and its inner chambers, and of the room for the ^(X)mercy seat; ¹² and the plan of all that he had in mind for the courts of the house of the Lord, all the surrounding chambers, ^(Y)the treasuries of the house of God, and the treasuries for dedicated gifts; ¹³ for the ^(Z)divisions of the priests and of the ^(AA)Levites, and all the work of the service in the house of the Lord; for all the vessels for the service in the house of the Lord, ¹⁴ the weight of gold for all golden vessels for each service, the weight of silver vessels for each service, ¹⁵ the weight of the golden ^(AB)lampstands and their lamps, the weight of gold for each lampstand and its lamps, the weight of silver for a lampstand and its lamps, according to the use of each lampstand in the service, ¹⁶ the weight of gold for each table for the showbread, the silver for the silver tables, ¹⁷ and pure gold for the forks, the basins and the cups; for the golden bowls and the weight of each; for the silver bowls and the weight of each; ¹⁸ for the ^(AC)altar of incense made of refined gold, and its weight; also his plan for the golden chariot of the ^(AD)cherubim that spread their wings and covered the ark of the covenant of the Lord. ¹⁹ “All this he made clear to me in writing from the hand of the Lord, ^(AE)all the work to be done according to the plan.”

²⁰ Then David said to Solomon his son, ^(AF)“Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the Lord God, even my God, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished. ²¹ And behold the ^(AG)divisions of the priests and the Levites for all the service of the house of God; and with you in all the work will be ^(AH)every willing man who has skill for any kind of service; also the officers and all the people will be wholly at your command.”

Offerings for the Temple

29 And David the king said to all the assembly, “Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is ^(AI)young and inexperienced, and the work is great, for ^(AJ)the palace will not be for man but for the Lord God. ² So I have provided for the house of my God, so far as I was able, the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, and the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, besides great quantities of ^(AK)onyx and stones for setting, antimony, colored stones, all sorts of precious stones and marble. ³ Moreover, in addition to all that I have provided for the holy house, I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, and because of my devotion to the house of my God I give it to the house of my God: ^4 (AL)3,000 talents^[b] of gold, of the gold of ^(AM)Ophir, and 7,000 talents of refined silver, for overlaying the walls of the house,^{[c] 5} and for all the work to be done by craftsmen, gold for the things of gold and silver for the things of silver. Who then will offer willingly, consecrating himself^[d] today to the Lord?”

⁶ Then ^(AN)the leaders of fathers' houses made their freewill offerings, as did also the leaders of the tribes, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and ^(AO)the officers over the king's work. ⁷ They gave for the service of the house of God 5,000 talents and 10,000 ^(AP)darics^[e] of gold, 10,000 talents of silver, 18,000 talents of bronze and 100,000 talents of iron. ⁸ And whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord, in the care of ^(AQ)Jehiel the Gershonite. ⁹ Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a ^(AR)whole heart they had offered freely to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly.

David Prays in the Assembly

¹⁰ Therefore David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: ^(AS)“Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. ^11 (AT)Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. ^12 (AU)Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. ^(AV)In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. ¹³ And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.

¹⁴ “But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. ^15 (AW)For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are ^(AX)like a shadow, and there is no abiding.^{[f] 16} O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own. ¹⁷ I know, my God, ^(AY)that you test the heart and ^(AZ)have pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. ¹⁸ O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you. ^19 (BA)Grant to Solomon my son a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, performing all, and that he may ^(BB)build the palace ^(BC)for which I have made provision.”

²⁰ Then David said to all the assembly, ^(BD)“Bless the Lord your God.” And all the assembly blessed the Lord, the God of their fathers, ^(BE)and bowed their heads and paid homage to the Lord and to the king. ²¹ And they offered sacrifices to the Lord, and on the next day offered burnt offerings to the Lord, 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams, and 1,000 lambs, with their ^(BF)drink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. ²² And they ate and drank before the Lord on that day with great gladness.

Solomon Anointed King

And they made Solomon the son of David king ^(BG)the second time, and they ^(BH)anointed him as prince for the Lord, and ^(BI)Zadok as priest.

^23 (BJ)Then Solomon sat on the ^(BK)throne of the Lord as king in place of David his father. And he prospered, and all Israel obeyed him. ²⁴ All the leaders and the mighty men, and also all the sons of King David, pledged their allegiance to King Solomon. ²⁵ And the Lord made Solomon very ^(BL)great in the sight of all Israel and ^(BM)bestowed on him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.

The Death of David

²⁶ Thus David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. ²⁷ The ^(BN)time that he reigned over Israel was forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. ²⁸ Then he died ^(BO)at a good age, ^(BP)full of days, riches, and honor. And Solomon his son reigned in his place. ²⁹ Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are written in the Chronicles ^(BQ)of Samuel the seer, and in the Chronicles of ^(BR)Nathan the prophet, and in the Chronicles of ^(BS)Gad the seer, ³⁰ with accounts of all his rule and his might and of the circumstances ^(BT)that came upon him and upon Israel and upon all the kingdoms of the countries.

Solomon Worships at Gibeon

1 ^(BU)Solomon the son of David established himself in his kingdom, ^(BV)and the Lord his God was with him and made him exceedingly great.

² Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the ^(BW)commanders of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to all the leaders in all Israel, the heads of fathers' houses. ³ And Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to ^(BX)the high place that was at Gibeon, ^(BY)for ^(BZ)the tent of meeting of God, which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness, was there. ^4 (CA)(But David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the place that David had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.) ⁵ Moreover, ^(CB)the bronze altar that ^(CC)Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, had made, was there before the tabernacle of the Lord. And Solomon and the assembly ^(CD)sought it^[g] out. ⁶ And Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the Lord, which was at the tent of meeting, ^(CE)and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.

Solomon Prays for Wisdom

^7 (CF)In that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask what I shall give you.” ⁸ And Solomon said to God, “You have shown great and steadfast love to David my father, ^(CG)and have made me king in his place. ⁹ O Lord God, ^(CH)let your word to David my father be now fulfilled, for you have made me king over a people as numerous ^(CI)as the dust of the earth. ¹⁰ Give me now wisdom and knowledge to ^(CJ)go out and come in before this people, for who can govern this people of yours, which is so great?” ¹¹ God answered Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked for ^(CK)possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked for long life, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may govern my people over whom I have made you king, ¹² wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you ^(CL)riches, possessions, and honor, ^(CM)such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like.” ¹³ So Solomon came from^[h] the ^(CN)high place at Gibeon, from before ^(CO)the tent of meeting, to Jerusalem. And he reigned over Israel.

Solomon Given Wealth

^14 (CP)Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. ^(CQ)He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed ^(CR)in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ¹⁵ And the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah. ¹⁶ And Solomon's import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king's traders would buy them from Kue for a price. ¹⁷ They imported a chariot from Egypt for 600 shekels^[i] of silver, and a horse for 150. Likewise through them these were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.