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David Prepares for Temple Building
22 Then David said, “(A)This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”
2 So David [a]gave orders to gather (B)the strangers who were in the land of Israel, and (C)he set stonecutters to cut out stones to build the house of God. 3 And David (D)prepared large quantities of iron [b]to make the nails for the doors of the gates and for the clamps, and more (E)bronze than could be weighed; 4 and timbers of cedar beyond number, for (F)the Sidonians and Tyrians brought large quantities of cedar timber to David. 5 David said, “My son (G)Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord shall be exceedingly magnificent, famous, and glorious throughout the lands. Therefore I now will make preparations for it.” So David made ample preparations before his death.
Solomon Commanded to Build the Temple
6 Then (H)he called for his son Solomon, and commanded him to build a house for the Lord God of Israel. 7 David said to Solomon, “(I)My son, [c]I had intended to build a house for the name of the Lord my God. 8 But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘(J)You have shed much blood and have [d]waged great wars; you shall not build a house to My name, because you have shed so much blood on the earth before Me. 9 Behold, a son will be born to you, who shall be a man of rest, and (K)I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side; for (L)his name will be [e]Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. 10 (M)He shall build a house for My name, and he shall be My son and I will be his Father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’ 11 Now, my son, (N)the Lord be with you that you may be successful, and build the house of the Lord your God just as He has spoken concerning you. 12 (O)Only the Lord give you discretion and understanding, and put you in charge of Israel, so that you may (P)keep the Law of the Lord your God. 13 (Q)Then you will prosper, if you are careful to [f]follow the statutes and the ordinances which the Lord commanded Moses concerning Israel. (R)Be strong and courageous, do not fear nor be dismayed. 14 Now behold, [g]with great pains I have prepared for the house of the Lord (S)a hundred thousand [h]talents of gold and a million talents of silver, and (T)bronze and iron beyond measure, for [i]they are in great quantity; I have also prepared timber and stone, and you may add to that. 15 Moreover there are many workmen with you, stonecutters, masons of stone, and carpenters; and all of them are skillful in every kind of work. 16 Of the gold, silver, bronze, and iron there is no limit. Arise and work, and may (U)the Lord be with you.”
17 (V)David also commanded all the leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon, saying, 18 “Is the Lord your God not with you? And (W)has He not given you rest on every side? For He has handed over to me the inhabitants of the land, and the land is subdued before the Lord and before His people. 19 Now (X)set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God; then arise, and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, (Y)so that you may bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy vessels of God into the house that is to be built (Z)for the name of the Lord.”
Solomon Reigns
23 (AA)Now when David [j]reached old age, (AB)he made his son Solomon king over Israel. 2 And he gathered together all the leaders of Israel with the priests and the Levites.
Offices of the Levites
3 (AC)Now the Levites were counted from thirty years old and upward, and (AD)their number by [k]head count of men was thirty-eight thousand. 4 Of these, twenty-four thousand were (AE)to oversee the work of the house of the Lord; and six thousand were (AF)officers and judges, 5 and four thousand were gatekeepers, and (AG)four thousand were praising the Lord with the instruments which [l]David made for giving praise. 6 David divided them into divisions (AH)according to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
Gershonites
7 Of the Gershonites there were [m]Ladan and Shimei. 8 The sons of Ladan were Jehiel the first, and Zetham and Joel, three. 9 The sons of Shimei were Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers’ households of Ladan. 10 The sons of Shimei were Jahath, [n]Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei. 11 Jahath was the first and Zizah the second; but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they became a father’s household, one group for duty.
Kohathites
12 The sons of Kohath were four in number: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 13 (AI)The sons of Amram were Aaron and Moses. And (AJ)Aaron was set apart to sanctify him as most holy, he and his sons forever, (AK)to burn incense before the Lord, to serve Him and bless in His name forever. 14 But as for (AL)Moses, the man of God, his sons were named among the tribe of Levi. 15 The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer. 16 The [o]son of Gershom was [p]Shebuel the chief. 17 The [q]son of Eliezer was Rehabiah the chief; and Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many. 18 The [r]son of Izhar was [s]Shelomith the chief. 19 The sons of Hebron were Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. 20 The sons of Uzziel were Micah the first and Isshiah the second.
Merarites
21 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and Kish. 22 Eleazar died and had no sons, but only daughters; so their relatives, the sons of Kish, took them as wives. 23 The sons of Mushi were three: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth.
Duties Revised
24 (AM)These were the sons of Levi according to their fathers’ households, the heads of the fathers’ households of those among them who were [t]counted, in the number of names by their [u]head count, doing the work for the service of the house of the Lord, (AN)from twenty years old and upward. 25 For David said, “The Lord God of Israel (AO)has given rest to His people, and He dwells in Jerusalem forever. 26 Also, (AP)the Levites will no longer need to carry the tabernacle and all its utensils for its service.” 27 For by the last words of David, the sons of Levi were counted from twenty years old and upward. 28 For their office is [v]to assist the sons of Aaron with the service of the house of the Lord, in the courtyards and in the chambers, and in the purification of all holy things, and the work of the service of the house of God, 29 (AQ)and with the showbread, and (AR)the fine flour for a grain offering, and unleavened wafers, or (AS)what is baked in the pan or (AT)what is well-mixed, and (AU)all measures of volume and size. 30 They are to stand every morning to thank and to praise the Lord, and likewise at evening, 31 and to offer all burnt offerings to the Lord, (AV)on the Sabbaths, the new moons and (AW)the appointed festivals, in the number determined by the ordinance concerning them, continually before the Lord. 32 So (AX)they are to perform the [w]duties of the tent of meeting, the holy place, and (AY)of assisting the sons of Aaron their relatives, for the service of the house of the Lord.
9 What then? [a](A)Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both (B)Jews and (C)Greeks are (D)all under sin; 10 as it is written:
“(E)There is no righteous person, not even one;
11 There is no one who understands,
There is no one who seeks out God;
12 They have all turned aside, together they have become [b]corrupt;
There is no one who does good,
There is not even one.”
13 “(F)Their throat is an open grave,
With their tongues they keep deceiving,”
“(G)The venom of [c]asps is under their lips”;
14 “(H)Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;
15 “(I)Their feet are swift to shed blood,
16 Destruction and misery are in their paths,
17 And they have not known the way of peace.”
18 “(J)There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
19 Now we know that whatever the (K)Law says, it speaks to (L)those who are [d]under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and (M)all the world may become accountable to God; 20 because (N)by the works [e]of the Law [f]none of mankind will be justified in His sight; for [g](O)through the Law comes [h]knowledge of sin.
Justification by Faith
21 But now apart [i]from the Law (P)the righteousness of God has been revealed, being (Q)witnessed by the [j]Law and the Prophets, 22 but it is the (R)righteousness of God through (S)faith (T)in Jesus Christ for (U)all those [k]who believe; for (V)there is no distinction, 23 for all [l](W)have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift (X)by His grace through (Y)the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God displayed publicly as (Z)a [m]propitiation [n](AA)in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, [o]because in God’s merciful (AB)restraint He (AC)let the sins previously committed go unpunished; 26 for the demonstration, that is, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who [p]has faith in Jesus.
27 Where then is (AD)boasting? It has been excluded. By (AE)what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28 [q]For (AF)we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from works [r]of the Law. 29 Or (AG)is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since indeed (AH)God (AI)who will justify the [s]circumcised [t]by faith and the [u]uncircumcised through faith (AJ)is one.
31 Do we then nullify [v]the Law through faith? (AK)Far from it! On the contrary, we (AL)establish the Law.
God, a Helper against the Treacherous.
For the music director; [a]upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David.
12 Help, Lord, for (A)the godly person has come to an end,
For the faithful have disappeared from the sons of mankind.
2 They (B)speak [b]lies to one another;
They speak with [c](C)flattering lips and a double heart.
3 May the Lord cut off all [d]flattering lips,
The tongue that (D)speaks great things;
4 Who (E)have said, “With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are [e]our own; who is lord over us?”
5 “Because of the (F)devastation of the poor, because of the groaning of the needy,
Now (G)I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will (H)put him in the safety for which he longs.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.