Offerings for the Temple

29 And David the king said to all the assembly, “Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is (A)young and inexperienced, and the work is great, for (B)the palace will not be for man but for the Lord God. So I have provided for the house of my God, so far as I was able, the gold for the things of gold, 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, besides great quantities of (C)onyx and stones for setting, antimony, colored stones, all sorts of precious stones and marble. Moreover, in addition to all that I have provided for the holy house, I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, and because of my devotion to the house of my God I give it to the house of my God: (D)3,000 talents[a] of gold, of the gold of (E)Ophir, and 7,000 talents of refined silver, for overlaying the walls of the house,[b] and for all the work to be done by craftsmen, gold for the things of gold and silver for the things of silver. Who then will offer willingly, consecrating himself[c] today to the Lord?”

Then (F)the leaders of fathers' houses made their freewill offerings, as did also the leaders of the tribes, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and (G)the officers over the king's work. They gave for the service of the house of God 5,000 talents and 10,000 (H)darics[d] of gold, 10,000 talents of silver, 18,000 talents of bronze and 100,000 talents of iron. And whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord, in the care of (I)Jehiel the Gershonite. Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a (J)whole heart they had offered freely to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 29:4 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms
  2. 1 Chronicles 29:4 Septuagint; Hebrew houses
  3. 1 Chronicles 29:5 Or ordaining himself; Hebrew filling his hand
  4. 1 Chronicles 29:7 A daric was a coin weighing about 1/4 ounce or 8.5 grams

Gifts for Building the Temple

29 Then King David turned to the entire assembly and said, “My son Solomon, whom God has clearly chosen as the next king of Israel, is still young and inexperienced. The work ahead of him is enormous, for the Temple he will build is not for mere mortals—it is for the Lord God himself! Using every resource at my command, I have gathered as much as I could for building the Temple of my God. Now there is enough gold, silver, bronze, iron, and wood, as well as great quantities of onyx, other precious stones, costly jewels, and all kinds of fine stone and marble.

“And now, because of my devotion to the Temple of my God, I am giving all of my own private treasures of gold and silver to help in the construction. This is in addition to the building materials I have already collected for his holy Temple. I am donating more than 112 tons of gold[a] from Ophir and 262 tons of refined silver[b] to be used for overlaying the walls of the buildings and for the other gold and silver work to be done by the craftsmen. Now then, who will follow my example and give offerings to the Lord today?”

Then the family leaders, the leaders of the tribes of Israel, the generals and captains of the army,[c] and the king’s administrative officers all gave willingly. For the construction of the Temple of God, they gave about 188 tons of gold,[d] 10,000 gold coins,[e] 375 tons of silver,[f] 675 tons of bronze,[g] and 3,750 tons of iron.[h] They also contributed numerous precious stones, which were deposited in the treasury of the house of the Lord under the care of Jehiel, a descendant of Gershon. The people rejoiced over the offerings, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord, and King David was filled with joy.

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Footnotes

  1. 29:4a Hebrew 3,000 talents [102 metric tons] of gold.
  2. 29:4b Hebrew 7,000 talents [238 metric tons] of silver.
  3. 29:6 Hebrew the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds.
  4. 29:7a Hebrew 5,000 talents [170 metric tons] of gold.
  5. 29:7b Hebrew 10,000 darics [a Persian coin] of gold, about 185 pounds or 84 kilograms in weight.
  6. 29:7c Hebrew 10,000 talents [340 metric tons] of silver.
  7. 29:7d Hebrew 18,000 talents [612 metric tons] of bronze.
  8. 29:7e Hebrew 100,000 talents [3,400 metric tons] of iron.