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22 Then David said, “This is where the Lord God’s temple will be, along with Israel’s altar for entirely burned offerings.”
David prepares to build the temple
2 David gave orders to gather the immigrants living in the land of Israel, and he appointed masons who would cut stones for building God’s temple. 3 David also provided a huge amount of iron for nails for the doors of the gates and for the braces, so much bronze that it couldn’t be weighed, 4 and innumerable cedar logs from the Sidonians and the Tyrians, who gave them to David. 5 David thought, My son Solomon is too inexperienced to build the Lord’s temple. It must be great beyond compare in order to win fame and glory throughout all lands, so I myself will prepare things for him. So David made extensive preparations before his death.
Instructions to Solomon
6 David sent for his son Solomon and instructed him to build a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel. 7 David said to Solomon, “My son,[a] I had intended to build a temple for the name of the Lord my God. 8 But the Lord told me: You’ve shed much blood and waged great wars. You won’t build a temple for my name because you’ve spilled so much blood on the ground before me. 9 A son has just been born to you. He’ll be a man of peace, and I’ll give him peace with all his surrounding enemies. In fact, his name will be Solomon,[b] and I’ll give Israel peace and quiet during his reign. 10 He will be the one to build a temple for my name. He’ll become my son, and I’ll become his father, and I’ll establish his royal throne over Israel forever.
11 “Now, my son, may the Lord be with you so that you may successfully build the temple of the Lord your God, as he promised you. 12 May the Lord be sure to give you insight and understanding so that when he appoints you over Israel, you will observe the Instruction from the Lord your God.[c] 13 Then, if you carefully follow the regulations and case laws that the Lord commanded Moses concerning Israel, you’ll prosper. Be strong and brave. Don’t be afraid or lose heart! 14 With great effort I’ve now provided for the Lord’s temple one hundred thousand kikkars of gold, one million kikkars of silver, and so much bronze and iron that it can’t be weighed, as well as wood and stone, though you may add to these. 15 You also have innumerable people to do the work: stonecutters, masons, and carpenters with every skill required for any task, 16 whether in gold, silver, bronze, or iron. So get to work, and may the Lord be with you.”
Instructions to Israel’s leaders
17 Then David ordered all of Israel’s leaders to help his son Solomon: 18 “The Lord your God is with you! He’s given you peace on every side. He’s placed under my power the land’s people, so that the land is under the control of the Lord and his people. 19 Now then, dedicate yourselves to seeking the Lord your God. Get to work and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, so that the chest containing the Lord’s covenant together with God’s holy equipment may be brought into the temple built for the Lord’s name.”
David appoints the Levites
23 When David had grown old after a long life, he made his son Solomon king over Israel. 2 He then gathered together all Israel’s leaders along with the priests and the Levites. 3 When the Levites were counted, the head count of every male 30 and older totaled 38,000. 4 Of these, there were 24,000 to supervise the work on the Lord’s temple, 6,000 officers and judges, 5 4,000 gatekeepers, and 4,000 praising the Lord with instruments made[d] for offering praise. 6 Then David divided them into three groups named after Levi’s family members: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
Gershonites
7 The Gershonites included Ladan and Shimei.
8 Ladan’s family: Jehiel the first, Zetham, and Joel—three in all. 9 Jehiel’s[e] family: Shelomith, Haziel, and Haran—three in all. These were the heads of the households of Ladan.
10 Shimei’s family: Jahath, Ziza,[f] Jeush, and Beriah. These four were Shimei’s family: 11 Jahath was the first, and Ziza the second; since Jeush and Beriah didn’t have many children, they became a single household.
Kohathites
12 Kohath’s family: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel—four in all.
13 Amram’s family: Aaron and Moses. Aaron, together with his sons, was set apart to make the holiest objects holy, to make offerings before the Lord, to serve him, and to give blessings in his name forever.
14 As for Moses the man of God, his sons were considered to be Levites. 15 Moses’ family: Gershom and Eliezer.
16 Gershom’s family: Shebuel the first.
17 Eliezer’s family: Rehabiah the first; Eliezer had no other sons, but Rehabiah had many children.
18 Izhar’s family: Shelomoth[g] the first.
19 Hebron’s family: Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.
20 Uzziel’s family: Micah the first and Isshiah the second.
Merarites
21 Merari’s family: Mahli and Mushi.
Mahli’s family: Eleazar and Kish.
22 Eleazar died without sons, but he did have daughters who married their relatives from Kish’s family.
23 Mushi’s family: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth—three in all.
24 These were the members of Levi’s family according to their households. The household heads were registered, along with a listing of the names of each person 20 years old and above who carried out assigned tasks in the Lord’s temple.
Levites’ duties
25 David said, “Since the Lord, Israel’s God, has given his people peace and has made his home in Jerusalem forever, 26 the Levites need no longer carry the dwelling or any of the equipment used in its service.” 27 David’s last instructions were to count the Levites 20 years old and above. 28 Their assignment was to be at the side of the Aaronites to serve in the Lord’s temple, maintaining the courtyards and side rooms and cleansing all of the holy objects and doing whatever was needed in the service of God’s temple. 29 They were responsible for the stacks of bread, the fine flour for grain offerings, the wafers of unleavened bread, the cakes made on the griddle, the offering mixed with oil, as well as all the measuring. 30 They were to be present every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and to do the same every evening. 31 Whenever entirely burned offerings were offered to the Lord for the sabbaths, the new moons, and festivals, a designated number were to serve in the Lord’s presence continuously. 32 In this way they were to observe the instructions for the meeting tent, the instructions for the sanctuary, and the instructions for Aaron’s family and relatives about serving in the Lord’s temple.
All are under the power of sin
9 So what are we saying? Are we better off? Not at all. We have already stated the charge: both Jews and Greeks are all under the power of sin. 10 As it is written,
There is no righteous person, not even one.
11 There is no one who understands.
There is no one who looks for God.
12 They all turned away.
They have become worthless together.
There is no one who shows kindness.
There is not even one.[a]
13 Their throat is a grave that has been opened.
They are deceitful with their tongues,
and the poison of vipers is under their lips.[b]
14 Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.[c]
15 Their feet are quick to shed blood;
16 destruction and misery are in their ways;
17 and they don’t know the way of peace.[d]
18 There is no fear of God in their view of the world.[e]
19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, in order to shut every mouth and make it so the whole world has to answer to God. 20 It follows that no human being will be treated as righteous in his presence by doing what the Law says, because the knowledge of sin comes through the Law.
God’s righteousness through faithfulness of Christ
21 But now God’s righteousness has been revealed apart from the Law, which is confirmed by the Law and the Prophets. 22 God’s righteousness comes through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who have faith in him. There’s no distinction. 23 All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory, 24 but all are treated as righteous freely by his grace because of a ransom that was paid by Christ Jesus. 25 Through his faithfulness, God displayed Jesus as the place of sacrifice where mercy is found by means of his blood. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness in passing over sins that happened before, 26 during the time of God’s patient tolerance. He also did this to demonstrate that he is righteous in the present time, and to treat the one who has faith in Jesus as righteous.
27 What happens to our bragging? It’s thrown out. With which law? With what we have accomplished under the Law? 28 No, not at all, but through the law of faith. We consider that a person is treated as righteous by faith, apart from what is accomplished under the Law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Isn’t God the God of Gentiles also? Yes, God is also the God of Gentiles. 30 Since God is one, then the one who makes the circumcised righteous by faith will also make the one who isn’t circumcised righteous through faith. 31 Do we then cancel the Law through this faith? Absolutely not! Instead, we confirm the Law.
Psalm 12
For the music leader. According to the Sheminith.[a] A psalm of David.
12 Help, Lord, because the godly are all gone;
the faithful have completely disappeared
from the human race!
2 Everyone tells lies to everyone else;
they talk with slick speech and divided hearts.
3 Let the Lord cut off all slick-talking lips
and every tongue that brags and brags,
4 that says, “We’re unbeatable with our tongues!
Who could get the best of us with lips like ours?”
5 But the Lord says,
“Because the poor are oppressed,
because of the groans of the needy,
I’m now standing up.
I will provide the help they are gasping for.”[b]
6 The Lord’s promises are pure,
like silver that’s been refined in an oven,
purified seven times over!
7 You, Lord, will keep us,[c]
protecting us from this generation forever.
8 The wicked roam all over the place,
while depravity is praised by human beings.
13 A foolish son is a disaster to his father;
a contentious wife is like constant dripping.
14 House and riches are an inheritance from one’s ancestors,
but an insightful wife is from the Lord.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible