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29 David the king said to all the assembly, “Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great; for the palace is not for man, but for Yahweh God. Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, the bronze for the things of bronze, iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood; also onyx stones, stones to be set, stones for inlaid work, of various colors, all kinds of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance. In addition, because I have set my affection on the house of my God, since I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, I give it to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, even three thousand talents of gold,[a] of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents[b] of refined silver, with which to overlay the walls of the houses; of gold for the things of gold, and of silver for the things of silver, and for all kinds of work to be made by the hands of artisans. Who then offers willingly to consecrate himself today to Yahweh?”

Then the princes of the fathers’ households, and the princes of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the rulers over the king’s work, offered willingly; and they gave for the service of God’s house of gold five thousand talents[c] and ten thousand darics,[d] of silver ten thousand talents, of bronze eighteen thousand talents, and of iron one hundred thousand talents. People with whom precious stones were found gave them to the treasure of Yahweh’s house, under the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite. Then the people rejoiced, because they offered willingly, because with a perfect heart they offered willingly to Yahweh; and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.

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Footnotes

  1. 29:4 A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds or 965 Troy ounces, so 3000 talents is about 90 metric tons
  2. 29:4 about 210 metric tons
  3. 29:7 A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds or 965 Troy ounces, so 5000 talents is about 150 metric tons
  4. 29:7 a daric was a gold coin issued by a Persian king, weighing about 8.4 grams or about 0.27 troy ounces each.

Contributions for Building the Temple

29 Then King David said to all the assembly, “My son Solomon—God has chosen him alone—is young and inexperienced. The task is great(A) because the building will not be built for a human but for the Lord God.(B) So to the best of my ability I’ve made provision for the house of my God:(C) gold for the gold articles, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron, and wood for the wood, as well as onyx, stones for mounting,[a] antimony,[b](D) stones of various colors, all kinds of precious stones, and a great quantity of marble. Moreover, because of my delight in the house of my God, I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the house of my God over and above all that I’ve provided for the holy house: 100 tons[c](E) of gold (gold of Ophir(F)) and 250 tons[d] of refined silver for overlaying the walls of the buildings, the gold for the gold work and the silver for the silver, for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now who will volunteer to consecrate himself to the Lord today?”

Then the leaders of the households, the leaders of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds,(G) and the officials in charge of the king’s work(H) gave willingly. For the service of God’s house they gave 185 tons[e] of gold and 10,000 gold coins,[f](I) 375 tons[g] of silver, 675 tons[h] of bronze, and 4,000 tons[i] of iron. Whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the Lord’s house under the care of Jehiel(J) the Gershonite. Then the people rejoiced because of their leaders’ willingness to give, for they had given to the Lord wholeheartedly.(K) King David also rejoiced greatly.

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Footnotes

  1. 29:2 Or mosaic
  2. 29:2 In Hb, the word antimony is similar to “turquoise”; Ex 28:18.
  3. 29:4 Lit 3,000 talents
  4. 29:4 Lit 7,000 talents
  5. 29:7 Lit 5,000 talents
  6. 29:7 Or drachmas, or darics
  7. 29:7 Lit 10,000 talents
  8. 29:7 Lit 18,000 talents
  9. 29:7 Lit 100,000 talents