22 Then David said, “The house of the Lord God^(A) is to be here, and also the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”

Preparations for the Temple

² So David gave orders to assemble the foreigners^(B) residing in Israel, and from among them he appointed stonecutters^(C) to prepare dressed stone for building the house of God. ³ He provided a large amount of iron to make nails for the doors of the gateways and for the fittings, and more bronze than could be weighed.^{(D) 4} He also provided more cedar logs^(E) than could be counted, for the Sidonians and Tyrians had brought large numbers of them to David.

⁵ David said, “My son Solomon is young^(F) and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the Lord should be of great magnificence and fame and splendor^(G) in the sight of all the nations. Therefore I will make preparations for it.” So David made extensive preparations before his death.

⁶ Then he called for his son Solomon and charged him to build^(H) a house for the Lord, the God of Israel.

The Levites

23 When David was old and full of years, he made his son Solomon^(A) king over Israel.^(B)

² He also gathered together all the leaders of Israel, as well as the priests and Levites. ³ The Levites thirty years old or more^(C) were counted,^(D) and the total number of men was thirty-eight thousand.^{(E) 4} David said, “Of these, twenty-four thousand are to be in charge^(F) of the work^(G) of the temple of the Lord and six thousand are to be officials and judges.^{(H) 5} Four thousand are to be gatekeepers and four thousand are to praise the Lord with the musical instruments^(I) I have provided for that purpose.”^(J)