Offerings for the Temple

29 Then King David said to the entire assembly, “My son Solomon, whom alone God has chosen, ^(A)is still young and inexperienced and the work is great; for ^(B)the ^[a]temple is not for man, but for the Lord God. ² Now ^(C)with all my ability I have provided for the house of my God the gold for the things of gold, and the silver for the things of silver, and the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, onyx stones and inlaid stones, stones of antimony and stones of various colors, and all kinds of precious stones and alabaster in abundance. ³ Moreover, in my delight in the house of my God, the treasure I have of gold and silver, I give to the house of my God, over and above all that I have already provided for the holy ^[b]temple, ⁴ namely, ^(D)3,000 talents of gold, of ^(E)the gold of Ophir, and 7,000 talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the ^[c]buildings; ⁵ of gold for the things of gold and of silver for the things of silver, that is, for all the work ^[d]done by the craftsmen. Who then is willing ^[e]to consecrate himself this day to the Lord?”

⁶ Then ^(F)the rulers of the fathers’ households, and the princes of the tribes of Israel, and the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, with ^(G)the overseers over the king’s work, offered willingly; ⁷ and for the service for the house of God they gave 5,000 talents and 10,000 ^(H)darics of gold, and 10,000 talents of silver, and 18,000 talents of brass, and 100,000 talents of iron. ^8 [f]Whoever possessed precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord, ^[g]in care of ^(I)Jehiel the Gershonite. ⁹ Then the people rejoiced because they had offered so willingly, for they made their offering to the Lord ^(J)with a whole heart, and King David also rejoiced greatly.

David’s Prayer

¹⁰ So David blessed the Lord in the sight of all the assembly; and David said, “Blessed are You, O Lord God of Israel our father, forever and ever. ^11 (K)Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. ^12 (L)Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and ^(M)in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone. ¹³ Now therefore, our God, we thank You, and praise Your glorious name.

¹⁴ “But who am I and who are my people that we should ^[h]be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given You. ¹⁵ For ^(N)we are sojourners before You, and tenants, as all our fathers were; ^(O)our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope. ¹⁶ O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided to build You a house for Your holy name, it is from Your hand, and all is Yours. ¹⁷ Since I know, O my God, that ^(P)You try the heart and ^(Q)delight in uprightness, I, in the integrity of my heart, have willingly offered all these things; so now with joy I have seen Your people, who are present here, make their offerings willingly to You. ¹⁸ O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, our fathers, preserve this forever in the ^[i]intentions of the heart of Your people, and direct their heart to You; ¹⁹ and ^(R)give to my son Solomon a perfect heart to keep Your commandments, Your testimonies and Your statutes, and to do them all, and ^(S)to build the ^[j]temple, for which I have made provision.”

²⁰ Then David said to all the assembly, “Now bless the Lord your God.” And ^(T)all the assembly blessed the Lord, the God of their fathers, and ^(U)bowed low and did homage to the Lord and to the king.

Sacrifices

²¹ On the next day ^(V)they ^[k]made sacrifices to the Lord and offered burnt offerings to the Lord, 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams and 1,000 lambs, with their drink offerings and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. ²² So they ate and drank that day before the Lord with great gladness.

Solomon Again Made King

And they made Solomon the son of David king ^(W)a second time, and they ^(X)anointed him as ruler for the Lord and Zadok as priest. ²³ Then ^(Y)Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David his father; and he prospered, and all Israel obeyed him. ²⁴ All the officials, the mighty men, and also all the sons of King David ^[l]pledged allegiance to King Solomon. ^25 (Z)The Lord highly exalted Solomon in the sight of all Israel, and ^(AA)bestowed on him royal majesty which had not been on any king before him in Israel.

²⁶ Now ^(AB)David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. ^27 (AC)The period which he reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned in Hebron seven years and ^[m]in Jerusalem thirty-three years.

Death of David

²⁸ Then he died in ^(AD)a ^[n]ripe old age, ^(AE)full of days, riches and honor; and his son Solomon reigned in his place. ²⁹ Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are written in the chronicles of ^(AF)Samuel the seer, in the chronicles of ^(AG)Nathan the prophet and in the chronicles of ^(AH)Gad the seer, ³⁰ with all his reign, his power, and the circumstances which came on him, on Israel, and on all the kingdoms of the lands.

Solomon Worships at Gibeon

1 Now ^(A)Solomon the son of David established himself securely over his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him and ^(B)exalted him greatly.

² Solomon spoke to all Israel, ^(C)to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and to the judges and to every leader in all Israel, the heads of the fathers’ households. ³ Then Solomon and all the assembly with him went to ^(D)the high place which was at Gibeon, ^(E)for God’s tent of meeting was there, which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness. ⁴ However, David had brought up ^(F)the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim ^[a]to ^(G)the place he had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem. ⁵ Now ^(H)the bronze altar, which Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, ^[b]was there before the tabernacle of the Lord, and Solomon and the assembly sought it out. ⁶ Solomon went up there before the Lord to the bronze altar which was at the tent of meeting, and ^(I)offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.

^7 (J)In that night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask what I shall give you.”

Solomon’s Prayer for Wisdom

⁸ Solomon said to God, “You have dealt with my father David with great lovingkindness, and ^(K)have made me king in his place. ⁹ Now, O Lord God, ^(L)Your ^[c]promise to my father David is fulfilled, for You have made me king over ^(M)a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. ^10 (N)Give me now wisdom and knowledge, ^(O)that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can rule this great people of Yours?” ^11 (P)God said to Solomon, “Because ^[d]you had this in mind, and did not ask for riches, wealth or honor, or the life of those who hate you, nor have you even asked for long life, but you have asked for yourself wisdom and knowledge that you may rule My people over whom I have made you king, ¹² wisdom and knowledge have been granted to you. And ^(Q)I will give you riches and wealth and honor, ^[e]such as none of the kings who were before you has possessed nor those who will ^[f]come after you.” ^13 (R)So Solomon went ^[g]from the high place which was at Gibeon, from the tent of meeting, to Jerusalem, and he reigned over Israel.

Solomon’s Wealth

^14 (S)Solomon amassed chariots and horsemen. ^(T)He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, and he stationed them in ^(U)the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem. ^15 (V)The king made ^(W)silver and gold as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamores in the ^[h]lowland. ¹⁶ Solomon’s ^(X)horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue; the king’s traders procured them from Kue for a price. ¹⁷ They ^[i]imported chariots from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver apiece and horses for 150 apiece, and ^[j]by the same means they ^[k]exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.

Solomon Will Build a Temple and Palace

2 ^[l](Y)Now Solomon ^[m]decided to build a house for the name of the Lord and a ^[n]royal palace for himself. ^2 [o]So ^(Z)Solomon ^[p]assigned 70,000 men to carry loads and 80,000 men to quarry stone in the mountains and 3,600 to supervise them.

^3 (AA)Then Solomon sent word to ^[q]Huram the king of Tyre, saying, “^(AB)As you dealt with David my father and sent him cedars to build him a house to dwell in, so do for me. ⁴ Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, dedicating it to Him, ^(AC)to burn fragrant incense before Him and to set out ^(AD)the showbread continually, and to offer ^(AE)burnt offerings morning and evening, ^(AF)on sabbaths and on new moons and on the appointed feasts of the Lord our God, this being required forever in Israel. ⁵ The house which I am about to build will be great, for ^(AG)greater is our God than all the gods. ⁶ But ^(AH)who is able to build a house for Him, for the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain Him? So who am I, that I should build a house for Him, except to ^[r]burn incense before Him? ⁷ Now ^(AI)send me a skilled man to work in gold, silver, brass and iron, and in purple, crimson and violet fabrics, and who knows how to make engravings, to work with the skilled men ^[s](AJ)whom I have in Judah and Jerusalem, whom David my father provided. ^8 (AK)Send me also cedar, cypress and algum timber from Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut timber of Lebanon; and indeed ^(AL)my servants will work with your servants, ⁹ to prepare timber in abundance for me, for the house which I am about to build will be great and wonderful. ¹⁰ Now behold, ^(AM)I will give to your servants, the woodsmen who cut the timber, 20,000 ^[t]kors of crushed wheat and 20,000 ^[u]kors of barley, and 20,000 baths of wine and 20,000 baths of oil.”

Huram to Assist

¹¹ Then Huram, king of Tyre, ^[v]answered in a letter sent to Solomon: “^(AN)Because the Lord loves His people, He has made you king over them.” ¹² Then Huram ^[w]continued, “Blessed be ^(AO)the Lord, the God of Israel, who has made heaven and earth, who has given King David a wise son, ^[x]endowed with discretion and understanding, ^(AP)who will build a house for the Lord and a ^[y]royal palace for himself.

¹³ “Now I am sending Huram-abi, a skilled man, ^[z]endowed with understanding, ^14 (AQ)the son of a ^[aa]Danite woman and ^[ab]a Tyrian father, who knows how to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone and wood, and in purple, violet, linen and crimson fabrics, and who knows how to make all kinds of engravings and to ^[ac]execute any design which may be assigned to him, to work with your skilled men and with ^[ad]those of my lord David your father. ¹⁵ Now then, let my lord send to his servants wheat and barley, oil and wine, of ^(AR)which he has spoken. ^16 (AS)We will cut whatever timber you need from Lebanon and bring it to you on rafts by sea to Joppa, so that you may carry it up to Jerusalem.”

¹⁷ Solomon numbered all the aliens who were in the land of Israel, ^(AT)following the ^[ae]census which his father David had ^[af]taken; and 153,600 were found. ^18 (AU)He appointed 70,000 of them to carry loads and 80,000 to quarry stones in the mountains and 3,600 supervisors to make the people work.

Believers Are Dead to Sin, Alive to God

6 ^(A)What shall we say then? Are we to ^(B)continue in sin so that grace may increase? ^2 (C)May it never be! How shall we who ^(D)died to sin still live in it? ³ Or do you not know that all of us who have been ^(E)baptized into ^(F)Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? ⁴ Therefore we have been ^(G)buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was ^(H)raised from the dead through the ^(I)glory of the Father, so we too might walk in ^(J)newness of life. ⁵ For ^(K)if we have become ^[a]united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be ^[b]in the likeness of His resurrection, ⁶ knowing this, that our ^(L)old ^[c]self was ^(M)crucified with Him, in order that our ^(N)body of sin might be ^[d]done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; ⁷ for ^(O)he who has died is ^[e]freed from sin.

⁸ Now ^(P)if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, ⁹ knowing that Christ, having been ^(Q)raised from the dead, ^[f]is never to die again; ^(R)death no longer is master over Him. ¹⁰ For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. ¹¹ Even so consider yourselves to be ^(S)dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

¹² Therefore do not let sin ^(T)reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, ¹³ and do not go on ^(U)presenting ^[g]the members of your body to sin as ^[h]instruments of unrighteousness; but ^(V)present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as ^[i]instruments of righteousness to God. ¹⁴ For ^(W)sin shall not ^(X)be master over you, for ^(Y)you are not under law but ^(Z)under grace.

¹⁵ What then? ^(AA)Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? ^(AB)May it never be! ¹⁶ Do you not ^(AC)know that when you present yourselves to someone as ^(AD)slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of ^(AE)sin ^[j]resulting in death, or of obedience ^[k]resulting in righteousness? ¹⁷ But ^(AF)thanks be to God that ^[l]though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that ^(AG)form of teaching to which you were committed, ¹⁸ and having been ^(AH)freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. ^19 (AI)I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just ^(AJ)as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, ^[m]resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, ^[n]resulting in sanctification.

²⁰ For ^(AK)when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ²¹ Therefore what ^[o](AL)benefit were you then ^[p]deriving ^[q]from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is ^(AM)death. ²² But now having been ^(AN)freed from sin and ^(AO)enslaved to God, you ^[r]derive your ^[s](AP)benefit, ^[t]resulting in sanctification, and ^(AQ)the outcome, eternal life. ²³ For the wages of ^(AR)sin is death, but the free gift of God is ^(AS)eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.