Beginning
The Plan for the Temple
28 David gathered all the officials of Israel in Jerusalem: namely, the officials over the tribes, the officers over the military divisions that served the king (the officers over the units of a thousand and the units of a hundred), the officials who were in charge of all the property and cattle that belonged to the king and his sons, together with the palace officials, the powerful men, all the strong, capable men.
2 Then King David stood up and said:
Listen to me, my brothers and my people. In my heart I wanted to build a house as a resting place for the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord and as a footstool for our God. So I made preparations to build. 3 But God said to me, “You will not build a house for my name because you are a man of war, and you have shed blood.” 4 Yet the Lord, the God of Israel, chose me from the whole house of my father to become king over Israel forever, because he chose Judah as leader, and in the house of Judah he chose the house of my father, and among the sons of my father he took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel. 5 From all my sons (the Lord has given me many sons) he has chosen my son Solomon to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. 6 He said to me, “Solomon, your son, is the one who will build my house and my courtyards, because I have chosen him for myself as a son. I will be his father. 7 I will establish his kingdom forever, if he is committed to keeping my commandments and my ordinances, as is happening today.”
8 Now in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God, keep and seek out all the commandments of the Lord your God so that you may possess the good land and live in it as an inheritance for your children after you, forever.
9 You, Solomon, my son, know the God of your father, and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind because the Lord searches all hearts. He understands every thought people plan. If you seek him, he will let you find him. If you forsake him, he will cast you off forever. 10 Consider this carefully! Because the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the holy place, be strong and do it.
11 David gave his son Solomon the plan for the porch, its buildings, its storage rooms, its upper rooms, its inner chambers, and the chamber for the atonement seat. 12 He also gave him the plans for everything he had in mind for the courtyard of the House of the Lord, for all the chambers around it, for the storage rooms, and for the storage rooms for the dedicated gifts. 13 He gave the plans for the divisions of the priests and Levites, for all the work of service of the House of the Lord, and the designs for all the vessels and utensils for the service of the House of the Lord.
14 He prescribed the weight of the gold for all the vessels for every kind of service and the weight of the silver for all the vessels for every kind of service. 15 This included the weight of the gold for each gold lampstand and its lamps, the weight of the silver for the silver lampstands and their lamps according to the prescribed use of each lampstand, 16 the weight of gold for each table for the bread that is arranged, the silver for the silver tables, 17 the weight for the meat hooks,[a] the sprinkling bowls, the pure gold pitchers, the weight for each gold bowl, the weight of silver for each small silver bowl,[b] 18 the weight of refined gold for the altar of incense, and the plan for the chariot for the gold cherubim who are spreading their wings and covering the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord.
19 David said, “All this is in writing. Because the hand of the Lord was on me, he made clear all the specifications involved in the plan.”
20 Then David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and be courageous and do this. Do not fear and do not be overwhelmed, because the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you. He will not forsake you while all the work for the service for the House of the Lord is being finished. 21 Look, the divisions of the priests and the Levites have been designated for all the service in the house of God. With you in all this work is every willing man, skilled for every form of service, the officials, and all the people who are ready for all your directions.”
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. 2 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,[c] stones of many different colors, every kind of precious stone, and alabaster[d] in abundance.
3 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: 4 three thousand talents[e] of gold from Ophir and seven thousand talents of refined silver for overlaying the walls of the structures.
5 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?
6 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. 7 They gave for the service of the house of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics[f] of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze, and one hundred thousand talents of iron. 8 Anyone who possessed stones gave them to the treasury of the House of the Lord, which was under the control of Jehiel the Gershonite. 9 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.
10 David blessed the Lord in the presence of the entire assembly. He said:
Blessed are you, Lord, the God of Israel, our father, from eternity to eternity. 11 To you, O Lord, belong greatness, power, glory, victory, and majesty, because everything in the heavens and on the earth belongs to you. You, Lord, are exalted as head above everything. The kingdom belongs to you. 12 Riches and honor come from you. You are ruling over everything. In your hand are power and strength. It is in your power to make anyone great and strong. 13 Now, our God, we are thanking you and praising your glorious name.
14 Who am I? Who are my people that we are able to offer willingly like this? For everything comes from you. What we have given to you came from your hand. 15 We are aliens and temporary residents before you, as were all our fathers. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope of staying.
16 Lord, our God, all this abundance, which we have provided for building a house for you, for your holy name, is from your hand. This abundance belongs to you.
17 I know, my God, that you test the heart, and you take pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things. Now with joy I see your people, who are present here to bring the offering freely to you.
18 Lord, the God of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, preserve forever this purpose and way of thinking in the heart of your people. Direct their heart to you.
19 To my son Solomon, give an undivided heart to keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, to do everything needed to build the citadel for which I have made preparations.
20 David said to the whole assembly, “Now bless the Lord your God.” So all the assembly blessed the Lord, the God of their fathers. They bowed and stretched out flat on the ground before the Lord and the king. 21 They offered sacrifices to the Lord. On the next day they offered burnt offerings to the Lord (one thousand bulls, one thousand rams, one thousand lambs), their drink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. 22 They ate and drank before the Lord on that day with great joy. They made Solomon, the son of David, king a second time. They anointed him as the ruler for the Lord and Zadok as the priest.
23 Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king in the place of David his father. He prospered, and all Israel obeyed him. 24 All the officials, the strong warriors, and also all the sons of King David pledged loyalty to Solomon the king. 25 The Lord made Solomon extremely great in the presence of all Israel. He gave him kingly majesty, such as had not been bestowed upon any king before him in Israel.
26 David son of Jesse had been king over all Israel. 27 He was king over Israel for forty years, in Hebron for seven years and in Jerusalem for thirty-three years. 28 He died at a good age, full of days, riches, and honor. Then Solomon his son reigned as king in his place.
29 The acts of King David from first to last are written in the records of Samuel the seer, the records[g] of Nathan the prophet, and the records of Gad the seer, 30 including everything about his kingship, his mighty deeds, and the events that happened during his time, to him, to Israel, and to the kingdoms of the other lands.
God Blesses Solomon With Wisdom and Possessions
1 Solomon, the son of David, firmly established his rule over his kingdom. The Lord his God was with him and made him very great. 2 Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of the units of a thousand and a hundred, to the judges, to all the leaders of all Israel, that is, to all the leading fathers.[a]
3 Solomon and the whole assembly with him went to the high place at Gibeon, because God’s Tent of Meeting, which Moses, the servant of the Lord, had made in the wilderness, was located there.
4 (David had brought up the Ark of God from Kiriath Jearim to the place he had prepared for it, because he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem. 5 But the bronze altar, which Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, was set up in front of the Tent of the Lord, so that was where Solomon and the assembly sought God.)
6 Solomon went to the bronze altar there in the presence of the Lord at the Tent of Meeting, and he offered a thousand burnt offerings upon the altar.
7 That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give to you.”
8 Solomon said to God, “You have shown great mercy and faithfulness[b] to my father David, and you have made me king in his place. 9 Now, Lord God, let your commitment to David my father be fully realized, because you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. 10 Now give me wisdom and knowledge, so that I can come and go[c] before this people, for who is up to the task of judging[d] this great people of yours?”
11 God said to Solomon, “Because this was on your heart, and you did not ask for riches, possessions, and honor, or for the lives of those who hate you, or even for many days of life, and because you have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself so that you can judge my people, over whom I have made you king, 12 wisdom and knowledge will be given to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, the likes of which the kings before you never had, nor will those who come after you.”
Military and Economic Prosperity
13 After Solomon had gone up to the high place in Gibeon, he returned from the Tent of Meeting to Jerusalem, and he ruled as king over Israel.
14 Solomon accumulated chariots and charioteers. He had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand charioteers, and he stationed them in the chariot cities, as well as with the king in Jerusalem. 15 In Jerusalem the king made silver and gold as plentiful as ordinary stones. He made cedar as plentiful as sycamore fig trees in the Shephelah.[e] 16 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and Kue.[f] The king’s dealers bought them from Kue for the market price. 17 They could import a chariot from Egypt for six hundred silver shekels and a horse for one hundred fifty. In the same way these dealers exported chariots to all the kings of the Hittites and Aram.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.