Beginning
David Addresses Israel
28 David gathered together all of the leaders of Israel, the leaders of the tribes, division officers who reported to the king, the commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, the supervisors of the property and livestock that belonged to the king and to his sons, along with all of the officers of the palace, the elite forces, and all of the soldiers.
2 King David rose to his feet and said, “My fellow citizens,[a] may I have your attention. I intended to build a house of rest for the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, for a footstool of our God, so I began preparations for its construction. 3 But then God told me, ‘You will not build a temple to my name, because you are a man of war, and you have committed bloodshed.’[b] 4 Nevertheless, the Lord God of Israel chose me from my entire ancestral household to be king over Israel forever, since he had chosen Judah as Commander-in-Chief.[c] In my ancestor Judah’s household, from my father’s household, and from among my father’s sons it pleased him to make me king over all of Israel.
5 “Now out of all of my sons (since the Lord has given me many of them), he has selected my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord, ruling[d] over Israel. 6 He told me,
‘I chose your son Solomon to be the one who will construct my Temple and my courts, because I have chosen him to be a son to me, and I will be a father to him. 7 I will establish his kingdom forever, assuming he remains strongly committed to carry out my commandments and ordinances, as he is doing today.’
8 Therefore, in the presence[e] of all of Israel, the assembly of the Lord, and while our God is listening, observe and search through all of the commandments of the Lord your God, so that you may continue to possess this good land, leaving it for an inheritance forever to benefit your descendants who come after you.”
David Addresses Solomon Directly
9 “Now as for you, my son Solomon, get to know the God of your father. Serve him with a sound heart and a devoted soul, because the Lord is searching every heart, every plan and thought. He will be found by you, assuming you are seeking him, but if you abandon him, he will abandon you forever. 10 So keep watching, because the Lord has chosen you to build the Temple of his sanctuary. So be strong, and get to work!”
David Transfers Plans and Materials to Solomon
11 At this point in his address,[f] David transferred to his son Solomon the construction plans for the Hall of Justice,[g] its buildings, its treasure vaults, its upper rooms, its inner chambers, the housing for the Mercy Seat, 12 and the plans for everything else that he had in mind for the courtyards of the Temple of the Lord. Included were plans for[h] all of the surrounding vaults and treasuries of the Temple of God intended for storage of[i] dedicated gifts, 13 for use by the ranks of priests and descendants of Levi, for all the work of service responsibilities in the Temple of the Lord, and for all of the utensils used in the work of the Temple of the Lord. 14 David also transferred to him[j] by weight the gold that was to be used to craft the[k] service utensils, the silver that was to be used to craft the[l] service utensils, 15 the gold for the golden lamp stands and their lamps, the silver for a lamp stand and its lamps (each according to its intended use in the service), 16 the gold by weight for each table of the rows of bread, the silver for the silver tables, 17 pure gold for the forks, the basins, the cups, the golden bowls (along with enough gold by weight for each one), enough weight for each of the silver bowls, 18 refined gold for the altar of incense, by weight, along with his plans for crafting[m] the golden chariot for the cherubim that spread out their wings to cover the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord.
David Continues His Address
19 “All of these things the Lord made clear to me in writing at his direction—the construction plans for all of the building.”
20 David continued with these words for his son Solomon: “Be strong and courageous, and get to work. Never be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you nor will he abandon you right up to your completion of the work for the service of the Temple of the Lord. 21 Now look! Here are the ranks of the priests and the descendants of Levi for the entire service of the Temple of God, and in all of the work there will be all types of volunteers who have skills for anything needed for the services. Furthermore, the officers and all of the people will be at your complete command.”
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. 2 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.
3 “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: 4 3,000 gold talents[n] imported from Ophir,[o] 7,000 talents[p] of refined silver for gilding the walls of the Temple 5 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[q] of his own work[r] to the Lord today?”
6 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. 7 They presented 5,000 gold talents[s] and 10,000 gold darics[t] for the work of the Temple of God, 10,000 silver talents[u], 18,000 bronze talents,[v] and 100,000 iron talents.[w] 8 Whoever owned precious stones gave them to the treasury of the Temple of the Lord, in care of Jehiel the Gershonite. 9 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. 10 Then David blessed the Lord in the presence of the entire assembly. David said,
How blessed you are, Lord,
the God of our ancestor Israel,
from eternity to eternity!
11 To you, Lord, belongs the greatness, and the valor,
and the splendor, and the endurance, and the majesty
because all that is in heaven
and on earth is yours.
To you belongs the kingdom, Lord,
and you are exalted as head over all.
12 Both wealth and honor proceed from you,
and you are ruling over them all.
You control[x] power—
you control who is made great,
and how everyone becomes strong.
13 And so, our God, we are giving you thanks,
and we are praising your wonderful name!
14 But who am I,
and who are my people,
that we make such voluntary offerings as these?
For all things come from you,
and from your own hand we are giving to you.
15 For we are aliens and vagrants in your presence,
as were all of our ancestors.
Our days on the earth pass away like shadows,
and we have no hope.
16 Lord our God, all of this abundance that we have given
for building a temple for your great name
was provided by you[y]
and all of it belongs to you.
17 And I know, God,
that it is you who searches the heart
and you who finds pleasure in righteousness.
With a righteous heart I have freely given all these things,
and now I have seen all of these people of yours
giving freely and joyfully to you!
18 Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our ancestors,
keep your purposes and thoughts
constantly in the hearts of your people
and direct their hearts toward you,
19 granting to my son Solomon to keep with a devoted heart
your commands, your decrees, and your statutes,
carrying out all of them,
and that he may build the Temple
for which I have made the preparations.
20 Then David told the entire assembly, “Bless the Lord your God, please.” So the entire assembly blessed the Lord God of their ancestors, bowing their heads and falling in the Lord’s presence and before the king. 21 The next day, they offered sacrifices and burnt offerings to the Lord amounting to[z] 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams, and 1,000 lambs, along with their libations. Sacrifices were abundant throughout all Israel, 22 and they ate and drank in the Lord’s presence with great joy.
Solomon is Anointed King(A)
They crowned David’s son Solomon king a second time and anointed him to serve[aa] as Commander-in-Chief[ab] to the Lord and Zadok to serve[ac] as priest. 23 So Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king in the place of[ad] his father David. He prospered, and all of Israel obeyed[ae] him. 24 All of the officials, all of the valiant soldiers, and all of King David’s sons submitted to King Solomon’s control, 25 and the Lord exalted Solomon magnificently in the sight of all Israel, bestowing upon him royal majesty such as had not been given to any king in Israel before him.
Summary of the Reign of King David
26 Jesse’s son David reigned as king over all of Israel, 27 serving as king over Israel for 40 years. He reigned for seven years in Hebron and for 33 in Jerusalem. 28 He died at a good old age, having lived a full life, replete with riches and honor, and with his son Solomon reigning in his place. 29 The activities of David the king are recorded in the History of Samuel the Seer,[af] in the History of Nathan the Prophet,[ag] and in the History of Gad the Seer,[ah] 30 including details regarding[ai] his reign, his power, the circumstances that attended his life, Israel, and all of the kingdoms of the countries that surrounded him.[aj]
The Beginnings of Solomon’s Administration(A)
1 As David’s son Solomon consolidated[a] his administration,[b] the Lord his God was with him to make him very successful.[c] 2 Solomon addressed the entire nation of Israel, including the commanders of thousands and hundreds, the judges, all the other leaders of Israel, and all of the heads of the ancestral houses of Israel.
3 Solomon, along with the whole assembly with him, met at the high place in Gibeon because that’s where God’s Tent of Meeting that the Lord’s servant Moses had constructed in the wilderness was located. 4 Nevertheless, David had brought the Ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the place that David had prepared for it, after having erected a tent for it in Jerusalem. 5 Also, the bronze altar that Uri’s son Bezalel, Hur’s grandson, had erected, was in place in front of the Lord’s tent. Solomon and the assembly sought the Lord[d] there. 6 Solomon approached the presence of the Lord at the bronze altar that had been placed at the Tent of Meeting and offered 1,000 burnt offerings on it.
Solomon Asks God for Wisdom
7 That very night God appeared to Solomon and told him, “Ask what I am to give you.”
8 Solomon replied to God, “You showed great gracious love to my father David, and have established me as king in his place. 9 Now, Lord God, your promise to my father David is fulfilled, because you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. 10 Give me wisdom now, so I may go in and out among[e] this people, because who can rule this great people that belongs to you?
11 God told Solomon, “Since you had this in mind,[f] to ask neither to focus on riches, wealth, honor, or the lives of those who hate you, nor have you requested a long life, but instead you have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself, so that you may rule my people over whom I have established you as king, 12 wisdom and knowledge have been granted to you. Furthermore, I will give you riches, wealth, and honor—such as none of the kings owned who lived before you and none after you are to ever attain their equal.”
Solomon’s Wealth(B)
13 So Solomon returned from the Tent of Meeting at the high place in Gibeon to Jerusalem, where he reigned over Israel. 14 Solomon amassed both chariots and horsemen: he owned 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, stationing them in armories[g] and with the king in Jerusalem. 15 The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and made cedar[h] trees as plentiful as sycamore[i] trees that grow in the Shephelah.[j] 16 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue; the king’s procurement officials obtained them from Kue at great[k] price. 17 Chariots were imported from Egypt for 600 shekels[l] each, and horses cost 150 shekels[m] each, and then they exported them to all of the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram.
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