1 Chronicles 28
New American Standard Bible
David’s Address about the Temple
28 Now (A)David assembled at Jerusalem all the officials of Israel, the leaders of the tribes, and the commanders of the divisions that served the king, the commanders of thousands, and the commanders of hundreds, and the overseers of all the property and livestock belonging to the king and his sons, with the officials and (B)the mighty men, all the valiant warriors. 2 Then King David rose to his feet and said, “Listen to me, my brothers and my people; [a]I (C)had intended to build a [b]permanent home for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for (D)the footstool of our God. So I had made preparations to build it. 3 But God said to me, ‘(E)You shall not build a house for My name, because you are a man of war and have shed blood.’ 4 Yet, the Lord, the God of Israel, (F)chose me from all the household of my father to be king over Israel (G)forever. For (H)He has chosen Judah to be a leader; and (I)in the house of Judah, my father’s house, and among the sons of my father He took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel. 5 (J)Of all my sons (for the Lord has given me many sons), (K)He has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. 6 He said to me, ‘Your son (L)Solomon is the one who shall build My house and My courtyards; for I have chosen him to be a son to Me, and I will be a Father to him. 7 I will establish his kingdom forever (M)if he resolutely performs My commandments and My ordinances, as [c]is done now.’ 8 So now, in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the Lord, and in the [d]presence of our God, keep and seek after all the commandments of the Lord your God so that you may possess the good land and leave it as an inheritance to your sons after you forever.
9 “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and (N)serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing [e]mind; (O)for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. (P)If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever. 10 Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; (Q)be courageous and act.”
11 Then David gave to his son Solomon (R)the plan of (S)the porch of the temple, its buildings, its storehouses, its upper rooms, its inner rooms, and (T)the room for the [f]atoning cover; 12 and the plan of all that he had in [g]mind, for the courtyards of the house of the Lord, and for all the surrounding rooms, for (U)the storehouses of the house of God and for the storehouses of the dedicated things; 13 also for (V)the divisions of the priests and (W)the Levites and for all the work of the service of the house of the Lord and for all the utensils of service in the house of the Lord; 14 for the golden utensils, by weight of gold for all utensils for every service; for all the silver utensils, by weight of silver for all utensils for every service; 15 and the weight of gold for the (X)golden lampstands and their golden lamps, with the weight of each lampstand and its lamps; and the weight of silver for the silver lampstands, with the weight of each lampstand and its lamps according to the use of each lampstand; 16 and the gold by weight for the tables of the showbread, for each table; and silver for the silver tables; 17 and the forks, the basins, and the pitchers of pure gold; and for the golden bowls with the weight for each bowl; and for the silver bowls with the weight for each bowl; 18 and for (Y)the altar of incense, refined gold by weight; and gold for the model of the chariot, and (Z)the cherubim that spread out their wings and covered the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
19 “All this,” said David, “the Lord made me understand in writing by His hand upon me, (AA)all the [h]details of this pattern.”
20 Then David said to his son Solomon, “(AB)Be strong and courageous, and act; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. (AC)He will not fail you nor forsake you until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished. 21 Now behold, (AD)there are the divisions of the priests and the Levites for all the service of the house of God, and (AE)every willing man of any skill will be with you in all the work for all kinds of service. The officials also and all the people will be entirely at your command.”
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 28:2 Lit as for me, it was with my heart
- 1 Chronicles 28:2 Lit house of rest
- 1 Chronicles 28:7 Lit this day
- 1 Chronicles 28:8 Lit ears of
- 1 Chronicles 28:9 Lit soul
- 1 Chronicles 28:11 Also called mercy seat; i.e., where blood was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement
- 1 Chronicles 28:12 Lit the spirit with him
- 1 Chronicles 28:19 Lit works
1 Chronicles 28
Common English Bible
David addresses Israel’s leaders
28 David assembled all of Israel’s leaders in Jerusalem, the leaders of the tribes, the leaders of the divisions that served the king, the commanders of units of a thousand and a hundred, the officials in charge of all the property and livestock of the king and his sons, as well as the officers, warriors, and all the valiant men. 2 Then King David stood up and said:
Listen to me, my relatives and my people. I wanted to build a temple as the permanent home for the chest containing the Lord’s covenant, our God’s footrest. But when I prepared to build it, 3 God said to me, You must not build a temple for my name, because you are a military man and you’ve shed blood. 4 The Lord, the God of Israel, chose me from my whole household to become king over Israel forever. He chose Judah as leader, and within Judah’s family, my household, and among my father’s family he was pleased with me, making me king over all Israel. 5 And from all the many sons the Lord has given me, he has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the Lord’s kingdom over Israel. 6 He said to me: Your son Solomon will build my temple and my courtyards, for I’ve chosen him to become my son even as I myself will become his father. 7 I’ll establish his kingdom forever if he remains committed to keeping my commands and case laws as he does now.
8 So now, in the presence of all the Lord’s assembly[a] and with God as our witness, carefully observe all the commands of the Lord your God, so that you may hold on to this good land and pass it on to your children forever. 9 As for you, Solomon, my son, acknowledge your father’s God and serve him with enthusiastic devotion, because the Lord searches every mind and understands the motive behind every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you abandon him, he will reject you forever. 10 Now then, since the Lord has chosen you to build a temple for him[b] as the sanctuary, work hard.
11 Then David gave his son Solomon the plan for the entrance hall, its buildings, treasuries, upper and inner rooms, and the room for the cover.[c] 12 He provided all of the plans he had in mind: for the courtyards of the Lord’s temple, and for all its surrounding rooms where the treasures of God’s temple and the dedicated gifts would be stored; 13 for the divisions of the priests and Levites, for all their responsibilities within the Lord’s temple, and for all the equipment used in its service; 14 for the weight of all the gold equipment used for every kind of service, and the weight of all the silver equipment used for every kind of service; 15 for the weight of the gold lampstands and their gold lamps—the weight of gold for each lampstand with its lamps—and for the weight of each silver lampstand and its lamps depending on how each would be used; 16 for the weight of gold for each table with the stacks of bread, and the silver for the silver tables; 17 for the forks, bowls, and cups of pure gold; for the weight of each gold dish and the weight of each silver dish; 18 for the weight of the incense altar made of refined gold; and for the construction of the chariot—with the gold winged creatures spreading their wings and covering the chest containing the Lord’s covenant. 19 All of this the Lord made clear to David[d] directly in a document, including the plan for all of the work.
20 “Be strong and courageous,” David said to his son Solomon. “Get to work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, because the Lord God, my God, is with you. He’ll neither let you down nor leave you before all the work for the service of the Lord’s temple is done. 21 Here are the divisions of the priests and the Levites who will perform all the service of God’s temple. For all this work you will have willing and able workers with you to do it. The officials and all the people are ready to follow your instructions.”
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 28:8 LXX; MT all Israel, the assembly of the Lord
- 1 Chronicles 28:10 LXX; MT lacks for him.
- 1 Chronicles 28:11 Or mercy seat or perhaps reconciliation cover (Heb kapporet)
- 1 Chronicles 28:19 LXX; MT to me
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