22 Then David said, This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel.

And David commanded to gather together the strangers that were in the land of Israel; and he set masons to hew wrought stones to build the house of God.

And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates, and for the joinings; and brass in abundance without weight;

Also cedar trees in abundance: for the Zidonians and they of Tyre brought much cedar wood to David.

And David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be builded for the Lord must be exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I will therefore now make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his death.

Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build an house for the Lord God of Israel.

And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God:

But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build an house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight.

Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days.

10 He shall build an house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.

11 Now, my son, the Lord be with thee; and prosper thou, and build the house of the Lord thy God, as he hath said of thee.

12 Only the Lord give thee wisdom and understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel, that thou mayest keep the law of the Lord thy God.

13 Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which the Lord charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.

14 Now, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the Lord an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and thou mayest add thereto.

15 Moreover there are workmen with thee in abundance, hewers and workers of stone and timber, and all manner of cunning men for every manner of work.

16 Of the gold, the silver, and the brass, and the iron, there is no number. Arise therefore, and be doing, and the Lord be with thee.

17 David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying,

18 Is not the Lord your God with you? and hath he not given you rest on every side? for he hath given the inhabitants of the land into mine hand; and the land is subdued before the Lord, and before his people.

19 Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God; arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the Lord God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the Lord.

David Prepares to Build the Temple

22 Then David said, (A)“This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.” So David commanded to gather the (B)aliens who were in the land of Israel; and he appointed masons to (C)cut hewn stones to build the house of God. And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails of the doors of the gates and for the joints, and bronze in abundance (D)beyond measure, and cedar trees in abundance; for the (E)Sidonians and those from Tyre brought much cedar wood to David.

Now David said, (F)“Solomon my son is young and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent, famous and glorious throughout all countries. I will now make preparation for it.” So David made abundant preparations before his death.

Then he called for his son Solomon, and [a]charged him to build a house for the Lord God of Israel. And David said to Solomon: “My son, as for me, (G)it was in my mind to build a house (H)to the name of the Lord my God; but the word of the Lord came to me, saying, (I)‘You have shed much blood and have made great wars; you shall not build a house for My name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in My sight. (J)Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him (K)rest from all his enemies all around. His name shall be [b]Solomon, for I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days. 10 (L)He shall build a house for My name, and (M)he shall be My son, and I will be his Father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’ 11 Now, my son, may (N)the Lord be with you; and may you prosper, and build the house of the Lord your God, as He has said to you. 12 Only may the Lord (O)give you wisdom and understanding, and give you charge concerning Israel, that you may keep the law of the Lord your God. 13 (P)Then you will prosper, if you take care to fulfill the statutes and judgments with which the Lord [c]charged Moses concerning Israel. (Q)Be strong and of good courage; do not fear nor be dismayed. 14 Indeed I have taken much trouble to prepare for the house of the Lord one hundred thousand talents of gold and one million talents of silver, and bronze and iron (R)beyond measure, for it is so abundant. I have prepared timber and stone also, and you may add to them. 15 Moreover there are workmen with you in abundance: woodsmen and stonecutters, and all types of skillful men for every kind of work. 16 Of gold and silver and bronze and iron there is no limit. Arise and begin working, and (S)the Lord be with you.”

17 David also commanded all the (T)leaders of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, 18 Is not the Lord your God with you? (U)And has He not given you rest on every side? For He has given the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land is subdued before the Lord and before His people. 19 Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God. Therefore arise and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, to (V)bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy articles of God into the house that is to be built (W)for the name of the Lord.”

Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 22:6 com-manded
  2. 1 Chronicles 22:9 Lit. Peaceful
  3. 1 Chronicles 22:13 commanded

Chapter 22

Then David said, “This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar for the burnt offerings of Israel.”

Preparations for Building the Temple. David ordered that all of the foreigners who were in the land of Israel be gathered together. He assigned them the task of serving as masons to prepare hewn stone to build the house of God. David prepared quite a bit of iron for the nails to be used in the doors, the gates, and the joints. He also prepared so much bronze that it could not be measured. He also had much cedar wood, for the Sidonians of Tyre had brought much cedar wood to David.

David said, “Solomon, my son, is young and inexperienced, and the house that will be built for the Lord must be tremendously magnificent, famous, and glorious throughout every land. I will therefore make preparations for it now.” So David made many preparations before he died.

He then summoned Solomon, his son, and he charged him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel. David said to Solomon, “My son, I wanted to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, but the word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘Because you have shed so much blood and you have waged many wars, you will not build a house for my name because you have shed too much blood upon the earth before me. Behold, a son will be born to you who will be a man of peace[a] and rest. I will give him a respite from all of his surrounding enemies, for his name will be Solomon. I will give peace and quiet to Israel during his reign. 10 He is the one who will build a house for my name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’

11 “Now, my son, the Lord will be with you. You will prosper, and you will build a house for the Lord, your God, as he has proclaimed. 12 May the Lord give you insight and understanding when he sets you over Israel so that you might observe the law of the Lord, your God. 13 You will prosper if you carefully observe the statutes and the ordinances that the Lord gave Moses for Israel. Be strong and be brave. Do not be afraid nor dismayed. 14 I have put myself to the trouble of preparing the following for the temple of the Lord: one hundred thousand talents of gold, one million talents of silver, so much bronze and iron that it could not even be weighed, and an abundance of wood and stone. You can now add to it.[b] 15 You have many workmen: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and men who are skilled in every type of craft. 16 You cannot even count those who can work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron. So now be about it, and the Lord will be with you.”

17 Charge to the Leaders. David commanded all of the leaders of Israel to assist Solomon, his son, saying, 18 “Is not the Lord, your God, with you? Has he not given you rest on every side? He has placed the inhabitants of the land in your hand, and the land has been subjected to the Lord and his people. 19 Now dedicate yourselves heart and soul to seeking the Lord, your God. Rise up and build a sanctuary for the Lord, your God. Bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord and the sacred vessels of God into the temple that will be built for the name of the Lord.”

Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 22:9 Peace: in Hebrew, shalom, which is here connected with the name “Solomon.”
  2. 1 Chronicles 22:14 The numbers seem fantastic. They can be explained by the idealizing outlook of the Chronicler.

22 Then David said, ‘This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.’(A)

David’s Preparations for the Temple

So David gave orders to gather the resident foreigners that were in the land of Israel,(B) and he appointed stonecutters to cut finished stones for building God’s house.(C) David supplied a great deal of iron to make the nails for the doors of the gates and for the fittings, together with an immeasurable quantity of bronze,(D) and innumerable cedar logs because the Sidonians and Tyrians had brought a large quantity of cedar logs to David.(E) David said, ‘My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly great and famous and glorious in all the lands.(F) Therefore, I will make provision for it.’ So David made lavish preparations for it before his death.

Then he summoned his son Solomon and charged him to build a house for the Lord God of Israel. ‘My son,’ David said to Solomon, ‘It was in my heart to build a house for the name of the Lord my God,(G) but the word of the Lord came to me: “You have shed much blood and waged great wars. You are not to build a house for my name because you have shed so much blood on the ground before me.(H) But a son will be born to you; he will be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies,(I) for his name will be Solomon,[a](J) and I will give peace and quiet to Israel during his reign.(K) 10 He is the one who will build a house for my name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.”(L)

11 ‘Now, my son, may the Lord be with you,(M) and may you succeed in building the house of the Lord your God, as he said about you. 12 Above all, may the Lord give you insight and understanding when he puts you in charge of Israel so that you may keep the law of the Lord your God.(N) 13 Then you will succeed if you carefully follow the statutes and ordinances the Lord commanded Moses for Israel.(O) Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or discouraged.(P)

14 ‘Notice I have taken great pains to provide for the house of the Lord – 3,450 tonnes of gold, 34,500 tonnes of silver,[b](Q) and bronze and iron that can’t be weighed because there is so much of it. I have also provided timber and stone, but you will need to add more to them. 15 You also have many workers: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and people skilled in every kind of work 16 in gold, silver, bronze, and iron – beyond number. Now begin the work, and may the Lord be with you.’(R)

17 Then David ordered all the leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon: 18 ‘The Lord your God is with you, isn’t he? And hasn’t he given you rest on every side?(S) For he has handed the land’s inhabitants over to me, and the land has been subdued before the Lord and his people. 19 Now determine in your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God.(T) Get started building the Lord God’s sanctuary so that you may bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant and the holy articles of God to the temple that is to be built(U) for the name of the Lord.’(V)

Footnotes

  1. 22:9 In Hb, the name Solomon sounds like ‘peace’.
  2. 22:14 Lit 100,000 talents of gold and 1,000,000 talents of silver