The Daily Audio Bible
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Plans for the Temple
22 Then David said, “This is the place for the House of the Lord God and for the altar for burnt offerings for Israel.” 2 David said to gather together the aliens who were residents in the land of Israel. He lined up stonecutters to prepare trimmed stones for building the house for God. 3 He provided a large amount of iron for making nails for the doors of the gates, and he provided so much bronze for the fittings[a] that it was not weighed. 4 He provided cedar logs beyond number because the Sidonians and Tyrians brought a large supply of cedar logs to David.
5 David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced. The house to be built for the Lord will make his name very great and give him glory in all the lands. Therefore, I will make preparations for it.” So David completed many of the preparations before his death. 6 He summoned his son Solomon and commanded him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel.
7 David said to Solomon:
My son, I had it in my heart to build a house for the name of the Lord my God. 8 But this word of the Lord was laid upon me: “You have shed much blood. You have waged great wars. You will not build a house for my name because of the great amount of blood you have shed on the earth in my presence. 9 You see, a son has been born to you. He will be a man of peace. To him I will give peace from all the enemies around him. Solomon will be his name. I will bestow peace and quiet upon Israel in his days. 10 He will build a house for my name. He will be my son. I will be his father. I will establish the throne of his kingdom in Israel forever.”
11 Now, my son, the Lord will be with you. You will succeed. You will build the house for the Lord your God, as he has said about you. 12 The Lord will give you discretion and understanding. He will give you orders about Israel and about how to keep the Law of the Lord your God. 13 You will prosper if you will continue to carry out the statutes and the judgments that the Lord commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and be courageous. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed.
14 Look! With great effort I have provided one hundred thousand talents[b] of gold for the House of the Lord, a million talents of silver, and too much bronze and iron to be weighed. I have provided lumber and stones. You may add to what I have provided. 15 There are plenty of laborers available to you, namely, stonecutters, masons, and wood workers, and those capable in all kinds of crafts, 16 also workers with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, too many to count. Get up and do it. The Lord will be with you.
17 David commanded all the officials and officers of Israel to help his son Solomon. He said:
18 Is not the Lord your God with you? He has given you peace on all sides by giving the inhabitants of the land into my hand. The land has been subdued before the Lord and before his people. 19 Now devote your hearts and your minds to seek the Lord your God. Get up and build the holy place for the Lord God, in order to bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord and the holy vessels of God into the house built for the name of the Lord.
David Organizes the Levites
23 When David was old and had lived a long life, he made his son Solomon king over Israel. 2 He gathered together all the officials and officers of Israel, along with the priests and the Levites. 3 The Levites who were thirty years old and over were counted, and their total number, man by man,[c] was thirty-eight thousand. 4 David said, “Of these, twenty-four thousand are to oversee the work of the Lord’s house, six thousand are to be officers and judges, 5 four thousand are to be gatekeepers, and four thousand are to praise the Lord with the musical instruments that I made for giving praise.”
David’s Divisions of the Levites
6 David assigned them to divisions based on their descent from the sons of Levi, namely, Gershon,[d] Kohath, and Merari.
Divisions of the Gershonites
7 The Gershonites were descended from Ladan and Shimei.
8 The sons of Ladan were Jehiel, who was the head, then Zetham[e] and Joel, three in all.
9 The sons of Shimei[f] were Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran, three in all. These were the heads of the fathers’ households of Ladan.
10 The sons of Shimei were Jahath, Ziza,[g] Jeush, and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei. 11 Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second, but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons. That is why they were counted as only one father’s house.[h]
Divisions of the Kohathites
12 The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four in all.
Descendants of Amram
13 The sons of Amram were Aaron and Moses.
Aaron was set apart to consecrate the most holy things. He and his sons received a permanent assignment to burn incense before the Lord, to minister to him, and to bless his name forever.
14 The sons of Moses, the man of God, however, were classified along with the rest of the tribe of Levi. 15 The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer.
16 The son of Gershom was Shebuel the head.
17 The son of Eliezer was Rehabiah the head.
Eliezer had no other sons, but Rehabiah had very many sons.
Descendants of Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel
18 The son of Izhar was Shelomith the head.
19 The sons of Hebron were Jeriah the head, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.
20 The sons of Uzziel were Micah the head, and Ishiah the second.
Divisions of the Merarites
21 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi.
The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and Kish. 22 Eleazar died, and he had no sons but only daughters, so their cousins the sons of Kish took them as wives.
23 The sons of Mushi were Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth, three in all.
24 These were the descendants of Levi who were registered by their fathers’ houses. They were listed under the heads of their fathers’ houses. All those twenty years old and older were counted man by man and registered by name to perform the work for the service of the Lord’s house. 25 For David had said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people, and he dwells in Jerusalem forever, 26 so the Levites will no longer need to carry the Dwelling and all the vessels and utensils for its service.”
27 So according to the last directions given by David, the descendants of Levi twenty years old and older were counted. 28 Their work was to assist the descendants of Aaron in the service of the Lord’s house, in the courtyards, in the storage rooms, and in the purification of all the holy things, that is, in all the work of the service of God’s house. 29 Their responsibilities included the bread that was to be set out and the fine flour for the grain offerings (whether for unleavened wafers, or for offerings baked in a pan, or those soaked in oil). They also did all of the measuring and mixing.
30 They also were to stand and thank and praise the Lord every morning, and likewise in the evening, 31 and to offer all burnt offerings to the Lord on the sabbaths, on the new moons, and on the prescribed festivals. They were to serve continually before the Lord, in the number specified by the regulations, 32 so that they would diligently carry out their duties for the Tent of Meeting, their duties for the Holy Place, and their duties with their brothers, the descendants of Aaron, for the service of the Lord’s house.
All Are Guilty of Sin
9 What then? Are we any better off? No, not at all! In fact, we have already made the charge that all (both Jews and Greeks) are under sin. 10 Just as it is written:
There is no one who is righteous, not even one.
11 There is no one who understands. There is no one who searches for God.
12 They all turned away; together they became useless.
There is no one who does what is good; there is not even one.[a]
13 Their throat is an open grave.
They kept deceiving with their tongues.
The poison of asps is on their lips.[b]
14 Their mouth is filled with cursing and bitterness.[c]
15 Their feet are quick to shed blood.
16 They leave a trail of destruction and suffering wherever they go.
17 The way of peace they did not know.[d]
18 There is no fear of God in front of their eyes.[e]
The Law Condemns Everyone
19 Now we know that whatever the law says is addressed to those who are under the law,[f] so that every mouth will be silenced and the whole world will be subject to God’s judgment. 20 For this reason, no one[g] will be declared righteous in his sight by works of the law, for through the law we become aware of sin.
A Righteousness Apart From the Law by Faith
21 But now, completely apart from the law, a righteousness from God has been made known. The Law and the Prophets testify to it. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all and over all[h] who believe.
In fact, there is no difference, 23 because all have sinned and fall short of the glory[i] of God 24 and are justified[j] freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God publicly displayed as the atonement seat[k] through faith in his blood. God did this to demonstrate his justice, since, in his divine restraint, he had left the sins that were committed earlier unpunished. 26 He did this to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so that he would be both just and the one who justifies the person who has faith in Jesus.
27 What happens to boasting then? It has been eliminated. By what principle[l]—by the principle of works? No, but by the principle of faith. 28 For we conclude that a person is justified by faith without the works of the law. 29 Or is he only the God of the Jews? Is he not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, also of the Gentiles, 30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised person by faith and the uncircumcised person through the very same faith. 31 So are we doing away with the law by this faith? Absolutely not! Instead, we are upholding the law.
Psalm 12
Proud Words vs. Pure Words
Heading
For the choir director. According to sheminith.[a] A psalm by David.
The Proud Words of the Ungodly
1 Save us, Lord, for the merciful have disappeared.
The faithful have vanished from among mankind.
2 Everyone speaks falsehood to his neighbor.
Their flattering lips speak double-talk.[b]
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips.
May he cut off every tongue that speaks boastfully,
4 which says, “With our tongues we will establish our power.
We say what we please.[c] Who is lord over us?”
The Pure Words of the Lord
5 “Because of the destruction of the oppressed,
because of the groaning of the poor,
now I will rise up,” says the Lord.
“I will keep him safe from the one who puffs against him.”[d]
6 The words of the Lord are pure words,
like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.
7 You, Lord, will keep them safe.
You will protect them from such people forever.
8 The wicked strut around
when depravity is honored by the children of Adam.
Dealing With Fools
13 A foolish son is a disaster to his father,
and a nagging wife is like constantly dripping water.
14 Home and wealth are an inheritance from fathers,
but a wife with good sense is from the Lord.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.