1 Chronicles 29
Lexham English Bible
Offerings for the Temple
29 Then David the king said to all the assembly, “God has chosen Solomon my son alone, a young man and inexperienced, and the work is great, for the citadel is not for humankind, but for Yahweh God. 2 So I have provided for the house of my God according to all my strength, the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and the wood for the things of wood, along with an abundance of onyx stones, stones for settings, stones of turquoise, and variegated stones, and all kinds of precious stones and alabaster stones. 3 And moreover, with respect to my provisions for the house of my God I have a treasure of gold and silver that I have given to the house of my God above all that I have provided for the holy house: 4 three thousand talents of gold from the gold of Ophir and seven thousand talents of refined silver to overlay the walls of the houses, 5 gold for the golden things and silver for the silver things, for all the work by the hand of skilled craftsmen. Now who will offer willingly, consecrating himself[a] today to Yahweh?”
6 Then the commanders of the families,[b] the commanders of the tribes of Israel, and the commanders of thousands and hundreds, and the commanders of the work of the king offered themselves willingly. 7 And they gave for the service of the house of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze, and one hundred thousand talents of iron. 8 And whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of Yahweh under the authority[c] of Jehiel the Gershonite. 9 And the people rejoiced over their freewill offering, for with a whole heart they had willingly offered to Yahweh, and King David also rejoiced with great joy.
10 Then David blessed Yahweh in the sight of all the assembly, and David said, “Blessed are you, O Yahweh, God of Israel, our father forever and ever! 11 To you, O Yahweh, is the greatness and the power and the splendor and the glory and the strength, for everything in the heavens and in the earth. Yours, O Yahweh, is the kingdom and exaltation over all as head! 12 And wealth and glory are from you, and you rule over all. And in your hand is power and might. And in your hand is power to make great and to give strength to all. 13 And now, our God, we give thanks to you and offer praise to the name of your splendor. 14 And indeed, who am I, and who are my people that we retain power to offer according to these offerings willingly? For everything is from you, and from your hand we have given to you. 15 For we are strangers before you and sojourners like all our ancestors.[d] Our days are like the shadow upon earth, and there is no hope of abiding. 16 O Yahweh our God, all this abundance that we have provided to build for you a house for your holy name is from your hand, and all of it is yours. 17 And I know, my God, that you yourself test the heart and are pleased with uprightness. I, in the uprightness of my heart, have willingly offered all these things, and now I have seen your people who are found here willingly offer to you. 18 O Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our ancestors,[e] keep this forever as a plan and thoughts of the heart of your people, and establish their heart toward you. 19 Grant to Solomon my son a heart of peace to keep your commands, your statutes, and your regulations to do everything, and to build the citadel for which I have provided.” 20 And David said to all the assembly, “Bless Yahweh your God!” And all the assembly blessed Yahweh, the God of their ancestors.[f] And they bowed down and prostrated themselves before Yahweh and the king.
Solomon’s Coronation
21 And they offered sacrifices to Yahweh, and on that next day they offered burnt offerings to Yahweh: one thousand bulls, one thousand rams, one thousand lambs, with their libations and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. 22 And they ate and drank before Yahweh on that day with great joy. And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and they anointed him commander for Yahweh, and Zadok the priest.
23 Then Solomon sat upon the throne of Yahweh as king in place of David his father. And he prospered, and all Israel obeyed him. 24 And all the officials and mighty warriors, and also all the sons of King David, pledged allegiance to[g] King Solomon. 25 And Yahweh made Solomon exceedingly great in the sight of all Israel, and he bestowed upon him royal splendor that was not bestowed upon any king before him in Israel.
The Death of King David
26 And David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. 27 And the days that he reigned over Israel were forty years. In Hebron he reigned seven years, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years. 28 And he died in a good old age, full of days, wealth, and honor. And Solomon his son reigned in his place. 29 Now the words of King David, from the first to the last, see, they are written among the words of Samuel the seer, and among the words of Nathan the prophet, and among the words of Gad the seer, 30 with all the accounts of his kingdom, his power, and the times that came upon him, and upon Israel, and upon all the kingdoms of the earth.
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 29:5 Literally “to consecrate his hand”
- 1 Chronicles 29:6 Literally “fathers”
- 1 Chronicles 29:8 Or “hand”
- 1 Chronicles 29:15 Or “fathers”
- 1 Chronicles 29:18 Or “fathers”
- 1 Chronicles 29:20 Or “fathers”
- 1 Chronicles 29:24 Literally “placed a hand under”
1 Chronicles 29
Contemporary English Version
Gifts for Building the Temple
29 (A) David told the crowd:
God chose my son Solomon to build the temple, but Solomon is young and has no experience. This is not just any building—this is the temple for the Lord God! 2 That's why I have done my best to get everything Solomon will need to build it—gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, onyx, turquoise, colored gems, all kinds of precious stones, and marble.
3 Besides doing all that, I have promised to give part of my own gold and silver as a way of showing my love for God's temple. 4 More than 100 tons of my finest gold and almost 240 tons of my silver will be used to decorate its walls 5 and to make the gold and silver objects. Now, who else will show their dedication to the Lord by giving gifts for building his temple?
6 After David finished speaking, the family leaders, the tribal leaders, the army commanders, and the government officials voluntarily gave gifts 7 for the temple. These gifts included more than 170 tons of gold, over 340 tons of silver, 620 tons of bronze, and more than 3,400 tons of iron. 8 Everyone who owned precious stones also donated them to the temple treasury, where Jehiel from the Levite clan of Gershon guarded them.
9 David and the people were very happy that so much had been given to the Lord, and they all celebrated.
David Praises the Lord
10 Then, in front of everyone, David sang praises to the Lord:
I praise you forever, Lord! You are the God our ancestor Jacob[a] worshiped. 11 (B) Your power is great, and your glory is seen everywhere in heaven and on earth. You are king of the entire world, 12 and you rule with strength and power. You make people rich and powerful and famous. 13 We thank you, our God, and praise you.
14 But why should we be happy that we have given you these gifts? They belong to you, and we have only given back what is already yours. 15 We are only foreigners living here on earth for a while, just as our ancestors were. And we will soon be gone, like a shadow that suddenly disappears.
16 Our Lord God, we have brought all these things for building a temple to honor you. They belong to you, and you gave them to us. 17 But we are happy, because everyone has voluntarily given you these things. You know what is in everyone's heart, and you are pleased when people are honest. 18 Always make us eager to give, and help us be faithful to you, just as our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob faithfully worshiped you. 19 And give Solomon the desire to completely obey your laws and teachings, and the desire to build the temple for which I have provided these gifts.
20 David then said to the people, “Now it's your turn to praise the Lord, the God your ancestors worshiped!” So everyone praised the Lord, and they bowed down to honor him and David their king.
Solomon Is Crowned King
21 The next day, the Israelites slaughtered 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams, and 1,000 lambs, and they offered them as sacrifices to please the Lord,[b] along with offerings of wine. 22 The people were very happy, and they ate and drank there at the Lord's altar.
That same day, Solomon was again crowned king. The people celebrated and poured olive oil on Solomon's head to show that he would be their next king. They also poured oil on Zadok's head to show that he was their priest.
23 (C) So Solomon became king after David his father. Solomon was successful, and everyone in Israel obeyed him. 24 Every official and every soldier, as well as all of David's other sons, were loyal to him. 25 The Lord made Solomon a great king, and the whole nation was amazed at how famous he was. In fact, no other king of Israel was as great as Solomon.
David Dies
26 David the son of Jesse was king of Israel 27 (D) for 40 years. He ruled from Hebron for 7 years and from Jerusalem for 33 years. 28 David was rich and respected and lived to be an old man. Then he died, and his son Solomon became king.
29 Everything David did while he was king is included in the history written by the prophets Samuel, Nathan, and Gad. 30 They wrote about his powerful rule and about the things that happened not only to him, but also to Israel and the other nations.
Copyright © 2004 by World Bible Translation Center
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.
