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Offerings for the Temple

29 Then King David addressed the entire assembly: “My son Solomon, the one whom God alone has chosen, is still young and inexperienced, and the task is great, since this structure will be a citadel to the Lord God and not for human beings. To the extent that I have been able to do so, I have provided supplies for the Temple of my God, including gold for what is to be made of gold, silver for what is to be made of silver, bronze for what is to be made of bronze, iron for what is to be made of iron, wood for what is to be made of wood, and great quantities of onyx, precious stones, antimony, colored stones, all types of other semi-precious stones, and plenty of marble.

“In addition to everything that I have supplied for the Temple, it pleases me to provide my own treasure of gold and silver, so because of my love for the Temple of my God I hereby give to the Temple of my God the following: 3,000 gold talents[a] imported from Ophir,[b] 7,000 talents[c] of refined silver for gilding the walls of the Temple and for all the work to be undertaken by skilled artists, gold for what is to be made of gold, and silver for what is to be made of silver. Who then, will be dedicating the productivity[d] of his own work[e] to the Lord today?”

So the leaders of the ancestral households presented their voluntary offerings, as did the leaders of the tribes, the commanders of thousands and hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king’s business. They presented 5,000 gold talents[f] and 10,000 gold darics[g] for the work of the Temple of God, 10,000 silver talents[h], 18,000 bronze talents,[i] and 100,000 iron talents.[j] Whoever owned precious stones gave them to the treasury of the Temple of the Lord, in care of Jehiel the Gershonite. Then the people rejoiced because they had given voluntarily, since with a devoted heart they had freely given to the Lord.

David’s Praise to God

King David also rejoiced greatly.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 29:4 I.e. about 225,000 pounds; a talent weighed about 75 pounds
  2. 1 Chronicles 29:4 Or from a source of fine gold; cf. 2Chr 8:18
  3. 1 Chronicles 29:4 I.e. about 525,000 pounds; a talent weighed about 75 pounds
  4. 1 Chronicles 29:5 Lit. filling
  5. 1 Chronicles 29:5 Lit. hand
  6. 1 Chronicles 29:7 I.e. about 375,000 pounds; a talent weighed about 75 pounds
  7. 1 Chronicles 29:7 I.e. about 156 pounds; a daric weighed about one quarter of an ounce
  8. 1 Chronicles 29:7 I.e. about 750,000 pounds; a talent weighed about 75 pounds
  9. 1 Chronicles 29:7 I.e. about 1,350,000 pounds; a talent weighed about 75 pounds
  10. 1 Chronicles 29:7 I.e. about 7,500,000 pounds; a talent weighed about 75 pounds

Offerings for the Temple

29 Then David the king said to all the assembly, “God has chosen Solomon my son alone, a young man and inexperienced, and the work is great, for the citadel is not for humankind, but for Yahweh God. So I have provided for the house of my God according to all my strength, the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and the wood for the things of wood, along with an abundance of onyx stones, stones for settings, stones of turquoise, and variegated stones, and all kinds of precious stones and alabaster stones. And moreover, with respect to my provisions for the house of my God I have a treasure of gold and silver that I have given to the house of my God above all that I have provided for the holy house: three thousand talents of gold from the gold of Ophir and seven thousand talents of refined silver to overlay the walls of the houses, gold for the golden things and silver for the silver things, for all the work by the hand of skilled craftsmen. Now who will offer willingly, consecrating himself[a] today to Yahweh?”

Then the commanders of the families,[b] the commanders of the tribes of Israel, and the commanders of thousands and hundreds, and the commanders of the work of the king offered themselves willingly. And they gave for the service of the house of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze, and one hundred thousand talents of iron. And whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of Yahweh under the authority[c] of Jehiel the Gershonite. And the people rejoiced over their freewill offering, for with a whole heart they had willingly offered to Yahweh, and King David also rejoiced with great joy.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 29:5 Literally “to consecrate his hand”
  2. 1 Chronicles 29:6 Literally “fathers”
  3. 1 Chronicles 29:8 Or “hand”