1 Chronicles 28
Lexham English Bible
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.”
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 28:2 Literally “I myself with my heart”
- 1 Chronicles 28:7 Literally “if he is strong to do”
- 1 Chronicles 28:12 Literally “that was in the spirit with him”
- 1 Chronicles 28:14 Literally “service and service”
- 1 Chronicles 28:15 Literally “by weight of lampstand and lampstand, with its lamp and to the lamps”
- 1 Chronicles 28:15 Literally “lampstand and lampstand”
- 1 Chronicles 28:16 Literally “to table and table”
- 1 Chronicles 28:17 Literally “for bowl and bowl”
- 1 Chronicles 28:17 Literally “for bowl and bowl”
1 Chronicles 28
EasyEnglish Bible
David brings all his officers together[a]
28 David told all Israel's officers to come and meet with him in Jerusalem. They included:
The officers who had authority over Israel's tribes.
The leaders of the army groups that served the king.
The army officers who led groups of 1,000 soldiers or 100 soldiers.
The officers who had authority for the king's valuable things and animals.
The officers who had authority for the animals and things that belonged to the king's sons.
The officers in the king's palace.
The brave army officers and soldiers.
2 King David stood up and he said, ‘Listen to me, my people. I wanted to build a house where we could put the Lord's Covenant Box. It would be like a place for our God to rest his feet. I prepared the things that I would need to build a temple. 3 But God said to me, “You are a fighter and you have killed many people in war. So you must not build a house to give honour to my name.”
4 But it was the Lord, Israel's God, who chose me to become Israel's king. He chose my family to rule Israel for all time. First, he chose the tribe of Judah to be the leader of Israel's people. Then he chose my father's family from among the clans of Judah. Finally, he chose me from among my father's sons. He made me king to rule over all Israel. 5 The Lord has given me many sons. Now he has chosen my son Solomon from among them to rule over his kingdom, Israel. 6 The Lord said to me, “Your son Solomon will build my temple and the yards around it. I have chosen him to become my son. And I will become his father. 7 He must always continue to obey my commands and my laws, as he now does. If he is careful to do that, I will make his kingdom strong for all time.”
8 I am telling you this now, while we meet together as the Lord's people. All Israel's people, as well as our God, know what I have said. You must be careful to obey all the commands of the Lord your God. Then this good land will continue to be your home. And after you die it will belong to your descendants for ever.
9 As for you, Solomon, my son, keep near to your father's God. Be happy to serve him faithfully in every way. The Lord knows what you are thinking. He understands all your thoughts. If you turn to him, you will find him. But if you turn away from him, he will leave you alone for ever. 10 You must realize that the Lord has chosen you to build a temple to be his special home. Now you must be strong! Do this work.’
Solomon learns how to build the temple
11 Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the temple buildings. That included the entrance room, the rooms to store things, the upstairs rooms and the inside rooms. And it included the Most Holy Place where the Covenant Box would be. 12 David showed Solomon the ideas that God had put in his mind. He gave him the plans for the yards around the Lord's temple and the rooms around the yards. There were also plans of the rooms to store the valuable things and the gifts that people had offered to God.
13 David gave Solomon the rules for the work of the priests and Levites. He gave him a list of the different kinds of work that each group must do in the Lord's temple. He also gave him a list of the special things that were used to serve the Lord in the temple.
14 He told Solomon the weight of gold and the weight of silver that he must use to make some of those special things. 15 That included the weight of gold for the lampstands and for their lamps. It also included the weight of silver for the silver lampstands and for their lamps. Each lampstand was different because they would use it for a different purpose. 16 It included the weight of gold to make the special table where the priests would put the special bread. And it included the weight of silver to make the silver tables. 17 It also included the weight of pure gold to make the forks, dishes, cups and small bowls. Each gold bowl had its own weight. There was also the weight of silver for each of the silver bowls. 18 And there was the weight of pure gold for the altar to burn incense.
David also gave Solomon the plan for the gold images of cherubs for the Lord's Covenant Box. They would have wings that touched each other above the lid of the Covenant Box. They would be like a chariot for the Lord.
19 David said, ‘I have written down everything about these things, as the Lord told me to do. He helped me to understand how these plans would work.’
20 David said to his son Solomon, ‘Be strong and brave to do this work. The Lord God, my God, is with you to help you. He will not leave you alone. So do not be afraid. He will stay with you until you have finished all the work to build his temple.
21 Look! Here are the groups of priests and Levites who are ready to serve the Lord in the temple. The men with special skills are ready to help you with the work. The officers and all the people are ready to do what you tell them to do.’
Footnotes
- 28:1 All this happened in the last year of David's rule. It was about 970 BC.
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