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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 Yahweh God. Now (C)with all my power I have prepared 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. Moreover, in my pleasure 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 prepared for the holy [b]house, namely, [c](D)3,000 talents of gold, of (E)the gold of Ophir, and [d]7,000 talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the [e]buildings; of gold for the things of gold and of silver for the things of silver, that is, for all the work done by the hand of craftsmen. Who then would offer willingly [f]to ordain himself this day to Yahweh?”

Then (F)the commanders of the fathers’ households, and the commanders of the tribes of Israel, and the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, with (G)the commanders of the king’s work, offered willingly; and for the service for the house of God they gave 5,000 talents and 10,000 [g](H)darics of gold, and 10,000 talents of silver, and 18,000 talents of brass, and 100,000 talents of iron. [h]And whoever possessed precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of Yahweh, [i]in the care of (I)Jehiel the Gershonite. Then the people were glad because they had offered so willingly, for they made their freewill offering to Yahweh (J)with a whole heart, and King David also was exceedingly glad.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 29:1 Lit palace
  2. 1 Chronicles 29:3 Or temple
  3. 1 Chronicles 29:4 Approx. 112.5 tons or 102 metric tons
  4. 1 Chronicles 29:4 Approx. 262.5 tons or 238 metric tons
  5. 1 Chronicles 29:4 Lit houses
  6. 1 Chronicles 29:5 Lit to fill his hand
  7. 1 Chronicles 29:7 A Persian gold coin weighing approx. 0.3 oz. or 8 gm
  8. 1 Chronicles 29:8 Lit Those with whom were found
  9. 1 Chronicles 29:8 Lit under the hand of

29 King David said this to the whole assembly:

My son Solomon, the one God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The work is great because this citadel is not for a man. It is for the Lord God. According to all my strength, I have provided these things for the house of my God: gold for the gold items, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron, wood for the wooden, onyx stones and settings, antimony,[a] stones of many different colors, every kind of precious stone, and alabaster[b] in abundance.

Because of my devotion to the house of my God, from my personal treasure of gold and silver I am also giving for the house of my God in addition to all that I have already provided for this holy house: three thousand talents[c] of gold from Ophir and seven thousand talents of refined silver for overlaying the walls of the structures.

I have given gold for gold items and silver for silver items for all the work by the craftsmen. Who else is willing to dedicate himself to the Lord today?

The officials of fathers’ houses, the officials of the tribes of Israel, and the officers of the thousands and of the hundreds made their offerings to the officials who were in charge of the king’s work. They gave for the service of the house of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics[d] of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze, and one hundred thousand talents of iron. Anyone who possessed stones gave them to the treasury of the House of the Lord, which was under the control of Jehiel the Gershonite. The people rejoiced over their willing giving, since with an undivided heart they had offered freely to the Lord. King David also was very joyful.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 29:2 The identification of this substance is uncertain. Turquoise is another possibility.
  2. 1 Chronicles 29:2 Or marble
  3. 1 Chronicles 29:4 The weight of a talent is uncertain. It may be about 75 pounds. This gift would be about 225,000 pounds.
  4. 1 Chronicles 29:7 A daric is a unit of weight that appears in post-exilic books. It is apparently a Persian term, equal to the Greek drachma, perhaps a third of an ounce. It is also the name for the standard gold coin of the Persian Empire.