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David addresses Israel’s leaders
28 David assembled all of Israel’s leaders in Jerusalem, the leaders of the tribes, the leaders of the divisions that served the king, the commanders of units of a thousand and a hundred, the officials in charge of all the property and livestock of the king and his sons, as well as the officers, warriors, and all the valiant men. 2 Then King David stood up and said:
Listen to me, my relatives and my people. I wanted to build a temple as the permanent home for the chest containing the Lord’s covenant, our God’s footrest. But when I prepared to build it, 3 God said to me, You must not build a temple for my name, because you are a military man and you’ve shed blood. 4 The Lord, the God of Israel, chose me from my whole household to become king over Israel forever. He chose Judah as leader, and within Judah’s family, my household, and among my father’s family he was pleased with me, making me king over all Israel. 5 And from all the many sons the Lord has given me, he has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the Lord’s kingdom over Israel. 6 He said to me: Your son Solomon will build my temple and my courtyards, for I’ve chosen him to become my son even as I myself will become his father. 7 I’ll establish his kingdom forever if he remains committed to keeping my commands and case laws as he does now.
8 So now, in the presence of all the Lord’s assembly[a] and with God as our witness, carefully observe all the commands of the Lord your God, so that you may hold on to this good land and pass it on to your children forever. 9 As for you, Solomon, my son, acknowledge your father’s God and serve him with enthusiastic devotion, because the Lord searches every mind and understands the motive behind every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you abandon him, he will reject you forever. 10 Now then, since the Lord has chosen you to build a temple for him[b] as the sanctuary, work hard.
11 Then David gave his son Solomon the plan for the entrance hall, its buildings, treasuries, upper and inner rooms, and the room for the cover.[c] 12 He provided all of the plans he had in mind: for the courtyards of the Lord’s temple, and for all its surrounding rooms where the treasures of God’s temple and the dedicated gifts would be stored; 13 for the divisions of the priests and Levites, for all their responsibilities within the Lord’s temple, and for all the equipment used in its service; 14 for the weight of all the gold equipment used for every kind of service, and the weight of all the silver equipment used for every kind of service; 15 for the weight of the gold lampstands and their gold lamps—the weight of gold for each lampstand with its lamps—and for the weight of each silver lampstand and its lamps depending on how each would be used; 16 for the weight of gold for each table with the stacks of bread, and the silver for the silver tables; 17 for the forks, bowls, and cups of pure gold; for the weight of each gold dish and the weight of each silver dish; 18 for the weight of the incense altar made of refined gold; and for the construction of the chariot—with the gold winged creatures spreading their wings and covering the chest containing the Lord’s covenant. 19 All of this the Lord made clear to David[d] directly in a document, including the plan for all of the work.
20 “Be strong and courageous,” David said to his son Solomon. “Get to work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, because the Lord God, my God, is with you. He’ll neither let you down nor leave you before all the work for the service of the Lord’s temple is done. 21 Here are the divisions of the priests and the Levites who will perform all the service of God’s temple. For all this work you will have willing and able workers with you to do it. The officials and all the people are ready to follow your instructions.”
Offerings for building the temple
29 Then King David said to the whole assembly:
My son Solomon, the one whom God chose, is too inexperienced for this great task, since this temple won’t be for humans but for the Lord God. 2 Using every resource at my disposal, I’ve provided everything for my God’s temple: gold for gold objects, silver for silver objects, bronze for bronze objects, iron for iron objects, lumber for wooden objects, carnelian stones for settings, antimony, colorful stones, every kind of precious stone, and a large amount of marble. 3 What’s more, because of my delight in my God’s temple, I have dedicated my own private treasure of gold and silver to my God’s temple, in addition to all that I’ve provided for the holy temple: 4 three thousand kikkars of gold from the gold of Ophir, seven thousand kikkars of refined silver for covering the walls of the rooms,[e] 5 gold for gold objects, and silver for silver objects, to be used for everything the skilled workers will make. Who else, then, will volunteer, dedicating themselves to the Lord today?
6 Then the leaders of the households, the leaders of the tribes of Israel, and the commanders of the units of a thousand and a hundred, and the supervisors of the king’s work volunteered 7 to give five thousand kikkars and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand kikkars of silver, eighteen thousand kikkars of bronze, and one hundred thousand kikkars of iron for the work on God’s temple. 8 Anyone who had precious stones donated them to the treasury of the Lord’s temple under the care of Jehiel the Gershonite. 9 The people rejoiced at this response, because they had presented their offerings to the Lord so willingly and wholeheartedly. King David also rejoiced greatly.
10 Then David blessed the Lord before the whole assembly:
Blessed are you, Lord,
God of our ancestor Israel,
forever and always.
11 To you, Lord, belong greatness and power,
honor, splendor, and majesty,
because everything in heaven and on earth belongs to you.
Yours, Lord, is the kingship,
and you are honored as head of all.
12 You are the source of wealth and honor,
and you rule over all.
In your hand are strength and might,
and it is in your power to magnify and strengthen all.
13 And now, our God, we thank you
and praise your glorious name.
14 Who am I,
and who are my people,
that we should be able to offer so willingly?
Since everything comes from you,
we have given you that which comes from your own hand.
15 To be sure, we are like all our ancestors,
immigrants without permanent homes.
Our days are like a shadow on the ground,
and there’s no hope.
16 Lord, our God, all this abundance that we have provided to build you a temple for your holy name comes from your hand and belongs to you. 17 Since I know, my God, that you examine the mind and take delight in honesty, I have freely given all these things with the highest of motives. And now I’ve been delighted to see your people here offering so willingly to you.
18 Lord, God of our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, keep these thoughts in the mind of your people forever, and direct their hearts toward you.
19 As for Solomon my son, give him the wholehearted devotion to keep your commands, laws, and regulations—observing all of them—and to build the temple that I have prepared.
20 Then David said to the whole assembly, “Bless the Lord your God,” and the whole assembly blessed the Lord, the God of their ancestors, bowed down, and worshipped before the Lord and the king. 21 On the very next day they offered sacrifices and entirely burned offerings to the Lord—a thousand bulls, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs, along with their drink offerings—and many other sacrifices for all Israel’s sake. 22 They ate and drank with great joy before the Lord that day and made David’s son Solomon the king.[f] They anointed him[g] in the Lord’s presence as prince, and Zadok as priest. 23 Thus Solomon sat on the Lord’s throne as king, succeeding his father David, and he prospered. All Israel obeyed him, 24 and all the commanders and warriors, as well as all of King David’s sons, submitted to King Solomon’s authority. 25 Moreover, the Lord magnified Solomon before all Israel, giving him such royal majesty as no king before him[h] had enjoyed.
Summary of David’s reign
26 David, Jesse’s son, was king over all Israel. 27 He reigned over Israel for forty years: seven years in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem. 28 He died at a good old age, having enjoyed a full life, wealth, and honor; and his son Solomon followed him as king. 29 The account of King David from beginning to end is written in the records of Samuel the seer, Nathan the prophet, and Gad the visionary, 30 including everything concerning his powerful rule, and what happened to him, to Israel, and to all the kingdoms in other lands.
6 While we were still weak, at the right moment, Christ died for ungodly people. 7 It isn’t often that someone will die for a righteous person, though maybe someone might dare to die for a good person. 8 But God shows his love for us, because while we were still sinners Christ died for us. 9 So, now that we have been made righteous by his blood, we can be even more certain that we will be saved from God’s wrath through him. 10 If we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son while we were still enemies, now that we have been reconciled, how much more certain is it that we will be saved by his life? 11 And not only that: we even take pride in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, the one through whom we now have a restored relationship with God.
Grace now rules
12 Just as through one human being sin came into the world, and death came through sin, so death has come to everyone, since everyone has sinned. 13 Although sin was in the world, since there was no Law, it wasn’t taken into account until the Law came. 14 But death ruled from Adam until Moses, even over those who didn’t sin in the same way Adam did—Adam was a type of the one who was coming.
15 But the free gift of Christ isn’t like Adam’s failure. If many people died through what one person did wrong, God’s grace is multiplied even more for many people with the gift—of the one person Jesus Christ—that comes through grace. 16 The gift isn’t like the consequences of one person’s sin. The judgment that came from one person’s sin led to punishment, but the free gift that came out of many failures led to the verdict of acquittal. 17 If death ruled because of one person’s failure, those who receive the multiplied grace and the gift of righteousness will even more certainly rule in life through the one person Jesus Christ.
18 So now the righteous requirements necessary for life are met for everyone through the righteous act of one person, just as judgment fell on everyone through the failure of one person. 19 Many people were made righteous through the obedience of one person, just as many people were made sinners through the disobedience of one person. 20 The Law stepped in to amplify the failure, but where sin increased, grace multiplied even more. 21 The result is that grace will rule through God’s righteousness, leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, just as sin ruled in death.
Psalm 15
A psalm of David.
15 Who can live in your tent, Lord?
Who can dwell on your holy mountain?
2 The person who
lives free of blame,
does what is right,
and speaks the truth sincerely;
3 who does no damage with their talk,
does no harm to a friend,
doesn’t insult a neighbor;
4 someone who despises
those who act wickedly,
but who honors those
who honor the Lord;
someone who keeps their promise even when it hurts;
5 someone who doesn’t lend money with interest,
who won’t accept a bribe against any innocent person.
Whoever does these things will never stumble.
18 Discipline your children while there is hope,
but don’t plan to kill them.
19 Angry people must pay the penalty;
if you rescue them, then you will have to do it again.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible