David’s Charge to Israel

28 Then David assembled all the commanders of Israel, the commanders of the tribes and the commanders of working groups who served the king, and the commanders of thousands, the commanders of hundreds, and the commanders over all the property of the king and his sons, with the court officials and mighty warriors, and all the mighty warriors of ability, at Jerusalem. ² And King David rose to his feet and said, “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. I myself wanted^[a] to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of Yahweh and the footstool of our God, and I prepared to build. ³ But God said to me, ‘You may not build a house for my name because you are a man of war, and you have shed blood.’ ⁴ But Yahweh the God of Israel chose me from all of the house of my father to be king over Israel forever, for he chose Judah as leader, and in the house of Judah, the house of my father, and among the sons of my father he took pleasure in me to reign over all Israel. ⁵ And from all my sons—for Yahweh has given many sons to me—he has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the kingdom of Yahweh over Israel. ⁶ And he said to me, ‘Solomon your son, he himself shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him as a son to myself, and I myself will be as a father to him, ⁷ and I will establish his kingdom forever if he firmly performs^[b] my commandments and my judgments as he has to this day.’ ⁸ So now in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of Yahweh, and in the hearing of our God, observe and seek all the commandments of Yahweh your God so that you may take possession of this good land and bestow it as 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 whole heart and a willing mind, for Yahweh searches all hearts and understands every plan and all thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you abandon him, he will reject you forever. ¹⁰ Look now, for Yahweh has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong and do it!”

¹¹ Then David gave to Solomon his son the plan of the vestibule and of its houses, its treasuries, its upper rooms, its inner chambers, and of the house of the lid of the ark, ¹² and the plan of all that he had in mind^[c] for the courtyards of the house of Yahweh and for all the surrounding storage rooms, the treasuries of the house of God, and the treasuries for sanctified objects, ¹³ and for the working groups of the priests and the Levites, and for all the work of the service of the house of Yahweh, and for all the vessels for the service of the house of Yahweh, ¹⁴ and for the gold, according to the weight of the gold for all the vessels of the service, and the service of all the vessels of silver according to the weight of all the vessels for every kind of service.^{[d] 15} And the weight of the golden lampstands and the golden lamps, the weight of each lampstand and each lamp,^[e] and the silver according to the weight of a lampstand and its lamp, according to the use of each lampstand,^{[f] 16} and the weight of gold for the tables of the arranged bread, each table,^[g] and silver for the tables of silver, ¹⁷ and pure gold for the three-pronged meat forks, and the bowls and the pitchers, and for the golden bowls, by weight for each bowl,^[h] and for the silver bowls, by weight for each bowl,^{[i] 18} and for the altar of incense made of refined gold, by weight, and gold for the plan for the chariot—the cherubim with outspread and covering wings over the ark of the covenant of Yahweh. ¹⁹ “All this I give you in writing; from the hand of Yahweh he instructed me about all the workings of this plan.”

²⁰ Then David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do this! Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for Yahweh God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you and will not forsake you until all the work of the service of the house of Yahweh is finished. ²¹ And behold, the working groups of the priests and the Levites for all the service of the house of God; and with you in all the work for all those willing with the skill for every service, and the commanders and all the people for all your commands.”