22 Then David said, ^(A)“Here shall be the house of the Lord God and here the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”

David Prepares for Temple Building

² David commanded to gather together the ^(B)resident aliens who were in the land of Israel, and he ^(C)set stonecutters to prepare dressed stones for building the house of God. ³ David also provided great quantities of iron for nails for the doors of the gates and for clamps, ^(D)as well as bronze in quantities beyond weighing, ⁴ and cedar timbers without number, ^(E)for the Sidonians and Tyrians brought great quantities of cedar to David. ⁵ For David said, ^(F)“Solomon my son is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and glory throughout all lands. I will therefore make preparation for it.” So David provided materials in great quantity before his death.

Solomon Charged to Build the Temple

⁶ Then he called for Solomon his son and charged him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁷ David said to Solomon, “My son, ^(G)I had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the Lord my God. ⁸ But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ^(H)‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth. ⁹ Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. ^(I)I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies. ^(J)For his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. ^10 (K)He shall build a house for my name. ^(L)He shall be my son, and I will be his father, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel forever.’

¹¹ “Now, my son, ^(M)the Lord be with you, so that you may succeed in building the house of the Lord your God, as he has spoken concerning you. ^12 (N)Only, may the Lord grant you discretion and understanding, that when he gives you charge over Israel you may keep the law of the Lord your God. ^13 (O)Then you will prosper if you are careful to observe the statutes and the rules that the Lord commanded Moses for Israel. ^(P)Be strong and courageous. Fear not; do not be dismayed. ¹⁴ With great pains I have provided for the house of the Lord ^(Q)100,000 talents^[a] of gold, a million talents of silver, and ^(R)bronze and iron beyond weighing, for there is so much of it; timber and stone, too, I have provided. To these you must add. ¹⁵ You have an abundance of workmen: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and all kinds of craftsmen without number, skilled in working ¹⁶ gold, silver, bronze, and iron. Arise and work! ^(S)The Lord be with you!”

¹⁷ David also commanded ^(T)all the leaders of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, ¹⁸ “Is not the Lord your God with you? And ^(U)has he not given you peace^[b] on every side? For he has delivered the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land is subdued before the Lord and his people. ¹⁹ Now ^(V)set your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God. Arise and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, ^(W)so that the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy vessels of God may be brought into a house built ^(X)for the name of the Lord.”

David Organizes the Levites

23 ^(Y)When David was old and full of days, ^(Z)he made Solomon his son king over Israel.

² David^[c] assembled all the leaders of Israel and the priests and the Levites. ³ The Levites, ^(AA)thirty years old and upward, were numbered, and ^(AB)the total was ^(AC)38,000 men. ⁴ “Twenty-four thousand of these,” David said,^{[d] (AD)}“shall have charge of the work in the house of the Lord, 6,000 shall be ^(AE)officers and judges, ⁵ 4,000 gatekeepers, and 4,000 shall offer praises to the Lord with the instruments ^(AF)that I have made for praise.” ^6 (AG)And David organized them in divisions ^(AH)corresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

^7 (AI)The sons of Gershon^[e] were Ladan and Shimei. ⁸ The sons of Ladan: ^(AJ)Jehiel the chief, and Zetham, and Joel, three. ⁹ The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers' houses of Ladan. ¹⁰ And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, and Jeush and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei. ¹¹ Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second; but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, therefore they became counted as a single father's house.

^12 (AK)The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four. ^13 (AL)The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. ^(AM)Aaron was set apart to dedicate the most holy things, that he and his sons forever should ^(AN)make offerings before the Lord and ^(AO)minister to him and ^(AP)pronounce blessings in his name forever. ¹⁴ But the sons of Moses the ^(AQ)man of God were named among the ^(AR)tribe of Levi. ¹⁵ The ^(AS)sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer. ¹⁶ The sons of Gershom: ^(AT)Shebuel the chief. ¹⁷ The sons of Eliezer: Rehabiah the chief. Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many. ¹⁸ The sons of Izhar: Shelomith the chief. ¹⁹ The ^(AU)sons of Hebron: Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. ^20 (AV)The sons of Uzziel: Micah the chief and Isshiah the second.

^21 (AW)The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and ^(AX)Kish. ²² Eleazar died ^(AY)having no sons, but only daughters; their ^(AZ)kinsmen, the sons of Kish, married them. ^23 (BA)The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth, three.

^24 (BB)These were the sons of Levi by their fathers' houses, the heads of fathers' houses ^(BC)as they were listed according to the number of the names of the individuals from ^(BD)twenty years old and upward who were to do the work for the service of the house of the Lord. ²⁵ For David said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, ^(BE)has given rest to his people, and he dwells in Jerusalem forever. ²⁶ And so the Levites no longer need ^(BF)to carry the tabernacle or any of the things for its service.” ²⁷ For by the last words of David the sons of Levi were numbered from ^(BG)twenty years old and upward. ²⁸ For their duty was to assist the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the Lord, having the care of the courts and the chambers, the cleansing of all that is holy, and any work for the service of the house of God. ²⁹ Their duty was also to assist with the ^(BH)showbread, the ^(BI)flour for the grain offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the ^(BJ)baked offering, the ^(BK)offering mixed with oil, and all ^(BL)measures of quantity or size. ³⁰ And they were to stand every morning, thanking and praising the Lord, and likewise at evening, ³¹ and whenever burnt offerings were offered to the Lord ^(BM)on Sabbaths, ^(BN)new moons, and feast days, ^(BO)according to the number required of them, regularly before the Lord. ³² Thus ^(BP)they were to keep charge of the tent of meeting and the sanctuary, and to attend the sons of Aaron, their brothers, for the ^(BQ)service of the house of the Lord.

David Organizes the Priests

24 The divisions of the sons of Aaron were these. The sons of ^(BR)Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ^2 (BS)But Nadab and Abihu died before their father and had no children, so Eleazar and Ithamar became the priests. ³ With the help of ^(BT)Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, David organized them according to the appointed duties in their service. ⁴ Since more chief men were found among the sons of Eleazar than among the sons of Ithamar, they organized them under sixteen heads of fathers' houses of the sons of Eleazar, and eight of the sons of Ithamar. ⁵ They divided them ^(BU)by lot, all alike, for there were sacred officers and officers of God among both the sons of Eleazar and the sons of Ithamar. ⁶ And the scribe Shemaiah, the son of Nethanel, a Levite, recorded them in the presence of the king and the princes and Zadok the priest and ^(BV)Ahimelech the son of Abiathar and the heads of the fathers' houses of the priests and of the Levites, one father's house being chosen for Eleazar and one chosen for Ithamar.

⁷ The first lot fell to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah, ⁸ the third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim, ⁹ the fifth to Malchijah, the sixth to Mijamin, ¹⁰ the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to ^(BW)Abijah, ¹¹ the ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to Shecaniah, ¹² the eleventh to Eliashib, the twelfth to Jakim, ¹³ the thirteenth to Huppah, the fourteenth to Jeshebeab, ¹⁴ the fifteenth to Bilgah, the sixteenth to Immer, ¹⁵ the seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Happizzez, ¹⁶ the nineteenth to Pethahiah, the twentieth to Jehezkel, ¹⁷ the twenty-first to Jachin, the twenty-second to Gamul, ¹⁸ the twenty-third to Delaiah, the twenty-fourth to Maaziah. ¹⁹ These had as their appointed duty in their service ^(BX)to come into the house of the Lord according to the procedure established for them by Aaron their father, as the Lord God of Israel had commanded him.

²⁰ And of the rest of the sons of Levi: ^(BY)of the sons of Amram, Shubael; of the sons of Shubael, Jehdeiah. ^21 (BZ)Of Rehabiah: of the sons of Rehabiah, Isshiah the chief. ²² Of the Izharites, Shelomoth; of the sons of Shelomoth, Jahath. ^23 (CA)The sons of Hebron:^[f] Jeriah the chief,^[g] Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, Jekameam the fourth. ^24 (CB)The sons of Uzziel, Micah; of the sons of Micah, Shamir. ²⁵ The brother of Micah, Isshiah; of the sons of Isshiah, Zechariah. ^26 (CC)The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Jaaziah: Beno.^{[h] 27} The sons of Merari: of Jaaziah, Beno, Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri. ²⁸ Of Mahli: Eleazar, ^(CD)who had no sons. ²⁹ Of Kish, the sons of Kish: Jerahmeel. ^30 (CE)The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth. These were the sons of the Levites according to their fathers' houses. ³¹ These also, the head of each father's house and his younger brother alike, ^(CF)cast lots, just as their brothers the sons of Aaron, in the presence of King David, ^(CG)Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of fathers' houses of the priests and of the Levites.

3 Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing ^(A)to be left behind at Athens alone, ² and we ^(B)sent Timothy, ^(C)our brother and God's coworker^[a] in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, ³ that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that ^(D)we are destined for this. ⁴ For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, ^(E)just as it has come to pass, and just as you know. ⁵ For this reason, ^(F)when I could bear it no longer, ^(G)I sent to learn about your faith, ^(H)for fear that somehow ^(I)the tempter had tempted you and ^(J)our labor would be in vain.

Timothy's Encouraging Report

⁶ But ^(K)now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of ^(L)your faith and love and reported ^(M)that you always remember us kindly and ^(N)long to see us, as we long to see you— ⁷ for this reason, brothers,^[b] in all our distress and affliction ^(O)we have been comforted about you through your faith. ⁸ For now we live, if you ^(P)are standing fast in the Lord. ⁹ For ^(Q)what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, ¹⁰ as we pray most earnestly ^(R)night and day ^(S)that we may see you face to face and ^(T)supply what is lacking in your faith?

¹¹ Now may ^(U)our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, ^(V)direct our way to you, ¹² and may the Lord ^(W)make you increase and abound in love ^(X)for one another and for all, as we do for you, ¹³ so that he may ^(Y)establish your hearts blameless in holiness before ^(Z)our God and Father, at ^(AA)the coming of our Lord Jesus ^(AB)with all his saints.