Beginning

28 ¶ And David assembled all the princes of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the princes of the companies that ministered to the king by course, and the princes over the thousands, and princes over the hundreds, with the princes over all the substance and possession of the king, and his sons, with the officers, and with the mighty men, and with all the valiant men, unto Jerusalem.

² Then David, the king, stood up upon his feet and said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people: As for me, I had in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD and for the footstool of our God and had made ready for the building.

³ But God said unto me, Thou shalt not build a house for my name because thou hast been a man of war and hast shed blood.

⁴ However, the LORD God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever, for he has chosen Judah to be the ruler; and of the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my father he liked me to make me king over all Israel;

⁵ and of all my sons (for the LORD has given me many sons) he has chosen Solomon, my son, to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel.

⁶ And he said unto me, Solomon, thy son, he shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.

⁷ Moreover, I will establish his kingdom for ever if he is constant to do my commandments and my judgments as at this day.

⁸ Now, therefore, in the sight of all Israel the congregation of the LORD and in the audience of our God, keep and seek for all the commandments of the LORD your God, that ye may possess this good land and leave it for an inheritance for your sons after you for ever.

⁹ And thou, Solomon, my son, know thou the God of thy father and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing soul, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

¹⁰ Take heed now, for the LORD has chosen thee to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong, and do it.

¹¹ ¶ Then David gave to Solomon, his son, the pattern of the porch and of its houses and of its treasuries and of its upper chambers and of its inner parlours and of the place of the seat of reconciliation,

¹² and the pattern of all that he had received by the Spirit of the courts of the house of the LORD and of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries of the house of God and of the treasuries of the holy things;

¹³ also for the courses of the priests and the Levites, and for all the work of the ministry of the house of the LORD, and for all the vessels of ministry of the house of the LORD.

¹⁴ He gave gold by weight for that of gold, for all the vessels of each manner of service; silver also for all the vessels of silver by weight, for all the vessels of each service.

¹⁵ Gold by weight for the lampstands of gold, and for their lamps of gold, by weight for every lampstand, and for its lamps; and for the lampstands of silver by weight, both for the lampstand and also for its lamps, according to the service of each lampstand.

¹⁶ And by weight he gave gold for the tables of showbread, for each table; and, likewise, silver for the tables of silver.

¹⁷ Also pure gold for the fleshhooks and the bowls and the cups, and for the golden covers he gave gold by weight for every basin; and likewise silver by weight for every basin of silver;

¹⁸ and for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubim, that spread out their wings and covered the ark of the covenant of the LORD.

¹⁹ All this, said David, the LORD made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern.

²⁰ And David said to Solomon, his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it; fear not, nor be dismayed, for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not leave thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work of the service of the house of the LORD.

²¹ Behold the courses of the priests and the Levites, in all the ministry of the house of God; they shall be with thee in all the work; all of them voluntarily, with wisdom in all ministry; likewise, the princes and all the people to execute all thy commands.

29 ¶ Furthermore, David, the king, said unto all the congregation, Only Solomon, my son, has God chosen; he is young and tender, and the work is great, for the palace is not for man, but for the LORD God.

² Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God, gold for the things of gold, and silver for the things of silver, and brass for the things of brass, and iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood; onyx stones, and stones to be set, black stones and of different colours, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance.

³ Moreover, because I have my delight in the house of my God, I have in my own treasury, gold and silver, which I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the house of the sanctuary:

⁴ three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses;

⁵ the gold for things of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and for all manner of work to be made by the hands of the workmen. And who then is willing to consecrate the offering of his hands today unto the LORD?

⁶ Then the princes of the fathers and princes of the tribes of Israel, and the princes of thousands and of hundreds, with the rulers of the king’s work, offered willingly

⁷ and gave for the service of the house of God five thousand talents of gold and ten thousand daily wages and ten thousand talents of silver and eighteen thousand talents of brass and one hundred thousand talents of iron.

⁸ And each one gave the precious stones that they had to the treasure of the house of the LORD, into the hand of Jehiel, the Gershonite.

⁹ Then the people rejoiced to have offered willingly because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the LORD. Likewise, David the king rejoiced with great joy

¹⁰ ¶ and blessed the LORD before all the congregation; and David said, Blessed be thou, LORD God of Israel our father, for ever and ever.

¹¹ Thine, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the honour, for all things in the heavens and in the earth are thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.

¹² The riches and the glory are before thee, and thou dost reign over all, and in thy hand is power and might and in thy hand the greatness and the strength of all things.

¹³ Now, therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.

¹⁴ But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? For all things come of thee and of thine own have we given thee.

¹⁵ For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers; our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is no other hope.

¹⁶ O LORD our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee a house for thy holy name comes of thy hand and is all thy own.

¹⁷ I know also, my God, that thou dost try the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things; and now have I seen with joy that thy people, who are present here, have given willingly unto thee.

¹⁸ O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep for ever this purpose in the thoughts of the heart of thy people and prepare their heart unto thee.

¹⁹ Likewise, give unto Solomon, my son, a perfect heart, to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace, for which I have made provision.

²⁰ Then David said to all the congregation, Now bless the LORD your God. And all the congregation blessed the LORD God of their fathers and bowed down and worshipped before the LORD and the king.

²¹ And they sacrificed sacrifices unto the LORD and offered burnt offerings unto the LORD, on the next day, even a thousand bullocks, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs, with their drink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel.

²² And they ate and drank before the LORD on that day with great gladness. And they made Solomon, the son of David, king the second time and anointed him unto the LORD as ruler and Zadok as priest.

²³ ¶ Then Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king instead of David, his father, and was prospered; and all Israel heard him.

²⁴ And all the princes and the mighty men and all the sons likewise of King David, submitted themselves unto Solomon, the king.

²⁵ And the LORD magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel and bestowed upon him such glory of the kingdom as had not been on any king before him in Israel.

²⁶ Thus David, the son of Jesse, reigned over all Israel.

²⁷ And the time that he reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

²⁸ And he died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and glory; and Solomon his son reigned in his stead.

²⁹ Now the acts of David, the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel, the seer, and in the book of Nathan, the prophet, and in the book of Gad, the seer,

³⁰ with all his reign and his might, and the times that went over him and over Israel and over all the kingdoms of the lands.

1 ¶ And Solomon, the son of David, was strengthened in his kingdom, and the LORD his God was with him and magnified him exceedingly.

² Then Solomon spoke unto all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds and to the judges and to every prince in all Israel, the chief of the fathers.

³ So Solomon and all the congregation with him went to the high place that was at Gibeon, for there was the tabernacle of the testimony of God, which Moses the slave of the LORD had made in the wilderness.

⁴ But David had brought the ark of God up from Kirjathjearim to the place which David had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem.

⁵ Moreover, the brasen altar that Bezaleel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made was there before the tabernacle of the LORD; and Solomon and the congregation sought unto it.

⁶ And Solomon went up there to the brasen altar before the LORD, which was at the tabernacle of the testimony, and offered a thousand burnt offerings upon it.

⁷ And that night God appeared unto Solomon and said unto him, Ask what I shall give thee.

⁸ And Solomon said unto God, Thou hast showed great mercy unto David, my father, and hast placed me as king in his stead.

⁹ Now, O LORD God, let thy word unto David, my father, be established, for thou hast placed me as king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude.

¹⁰ Give me now wisdom and knowledge that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can judge this thy people, that is so great?

¹¹ And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thy heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth or glory, nor the life of thy enemies, neither yet hast asked long life, but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou may judge my people, over whom I have placed thee as king,

¹² wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee; and I will also give thee riches and wealth and glory such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall any after thee have the like.

¹³ ¶ Then Solomon returned to Jerusalem from the high place that was at Gibeon, from before the tabernacle of the testimony, and reigned over Israel.

¹⁴ And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen, and he had a thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, which he placed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem.

¹⁵ And the king made silver and gold at Jerusalem as plenteous as stones, and he made cedar trees as the sycamore trees that are in the vale for abundance.

¹⁶ And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn; the king’s merchants received the linen yarn at a price.

¹⁷ And they went up and brought forth out of Egypt a chariot for six hundred shekels of silver and a horse for one hundred and fifty; and so they brought out horses for all the kings of the Hittites and for the kings of Syria, by their hands.