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 mankind, but for the Lord God. Now (C)with all my ability I have provided 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, the iron for the things of iron, 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. In addition, in my delight 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 provided for the holy [b]temple, namely, (D)three thousand [c]talents of gold, from (E)the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the [d]buildings; gold for the things of gold and silver for the things of silver, that is, for all the work [e]done by the craftsmen. Who then is willing [f]to consecrate himself this day to the Lord?”

Then (F)the rulers of the fathers’ households, the leaders of the tribes of Israel, and the commanders of thousands and hundreds, with (G)the supervisors of the king’s work, offered willingly; and for the service of the house of God they gave five thousand talents and ten thousand [g](H)darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of brass, and a hundred thousand talents of iron. [h]Whoever possessed precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord, [i]in care of (I)Jehiel the Gershonite. Then the people rejoiced because they had offered so willingly, for they made their offering to the Lord (J)wholeheartedly, and King David also rejoiced greatly.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 29:1 Lit palace
  2. 1 Chronicles 29:3 Lit house
  3. 1 Chronicles 29:4 A talent was about 75 lb. or 34 kg
  4. 1 Chronicles 29:4 Lit houses
  5. 1 Chronicles 29:5 Lit by the hand of the craftsmen
  6. 1 Chronicles 29:5 Lit to fill his hand
  7. 1 Chronicles 29:7 A coin weighing about 0.25 oz. or 7 gm
  8. 1 Chronicles 29:8 Lit Those with whom were found
  9. 1 Chronicles 29:8 Lit on the hand of

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