Historical
The Census of Israel and Judah(A)
21 Now Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel. 2 Then David said to Joab and the leaders of the people, “Go count Israel from Beersheba to Dan and bring me a report, that I may know their number.”
3 But Joab said, “May the Lord increase the number of His people one hundred times more. My lord the king, are not all of them my lord’s servants? Why then should my lord require this? Why should it bring guilt on Israel?”
4 Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab, so Joab departed and went throughout all Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem. 5 Joab gave the results of the census of the people to David: All Israel had one million one hundred thousand men who drew the sword, and in Judah four hundred and seventy thousand men drew the sword.
6 However, he did not include the Levites and Benjamin because the word of the king was abhorrent to Joab. 7 Now this thing was evil in the sight of God, and He struck Israel.
8 So David said to God, “I have sinned greatly in doing this thing. Now, please, take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”
9 And the Lord spoke to Gad, David’s seer, saying, 10 “Go and speak to David, ‘Thus says the Lord: Three things I offer you; choose one of these for yourself that I may do to you.’ ”
11 So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Select for yourself, 12 either three years of famine, or three months of being swept away before your foes while the sword of your enemy overtakes you, or three days of the sword of the Lord, even pestilence in the land, with the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now then consider what answer I shall return to Him who sent me.”
13 David replied to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for His mercies are very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
14 So the Lord sent a plague throughout Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell. 15 And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but as he prepared to destroy it, the Lord looked and relented from the calamity. And He said to the angel bringing the destruction, “It is enough. Remove your hand.” The angel of the Lord was then standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
16 David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven with his sword drawn in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. So David and the elders, covered in sackcloth, fell on their faces.
17 David said to God, “Was it not I who gave the command to number the people? I am the one who has sinned and surely done evil. But these sheep, what have they done? O Lord my God, I pray, let Your hand be against me and my father’s house, but do not let Your people be plagued.”
David Builds an Altar
18 Then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to tell David that David should go up and raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 19 So David went up at the word of Gad which he delivered in the name of the Lord.
20 Now Ornan turned and saw the angel, but his four sons who were with him hid themselves as Ornan threshed the wheat. 21 As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David and went out from the threshing floor and bowed down before David with his face to the ground.
22 Then David said to Ornan, “Give me the site of the threshing floor so that I may build an altar on it to the Lord. Sell it to me at full price so the plague on the people may be restrained.”
23 So Ornan replied to David, “Take it for yourself, and let my lord the king do whatever seems good in his eyes. Look, I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing wagons for wood, and the wheat for the grain offering. I will give it all.”
24 Then King David said to Ornan, “No, for I will surely acquire it for the full price, for I will not take what is yours for the Lord nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”
25 So David gave Ornan six hundred shekels[a] of gold by weight for the site, 26 and David built there an altar to the Lord and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings. He called on the Lord, and the Lord answered him by fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering.
27 So the Lord spoke to the angel, and he put away his sword in its sheath. 28 At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there. 29 For the tabernacle of the Lord and the altar of burnt offering that Moses had made in the wilderness were in the high place in Gibeon at that time. 30 But David was unable to go before it to inquire of God, because he was terrified by the sword of the angel of the Lord.
22 Then David said, “Here shall be the house of the Lord God and here the altar of the burnt offering for Israel.”
Plans to Build the Temple
2 So David gave instructions to gather together those sojourning in the land of Israel, and he appointed stonemasons to cut hewn stones for building the house of God. 3 David also provided large quantities of iron for nails for the doors of the gates and for the clamps as well as an abundance of bronze beyond measure, 4 and cedar logs without number, for the Sidonians and the Tyrians brought much cedar wood to David.
5 Now David said, “Solomon my son is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and glory throughout all the lands. Therefore I will make preparation for it now.” So David made extensive preparations before his death.
6 Then David called Solomon his son and commanded him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel. 7 David said to Solomon, “My son, I had it in my heart to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, 8 but the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and waged great wars. You shall not build a house for My name because you have shed much blood on the earth before Me. 9 A son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his enemies all around. Solomon will be his name, and I will give peace and tranquility to Israel in his days. 10 He will be the one to build a house for My name. He shall be a son to Me, and I will be a father to him, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’
11 “Now, my son, may the Lord be with you, and may you have success in building the house of the Lord your God just as He has spoken concerning you. 12 Only may the Lord give you insight and understanding and give you charge over Israel so you may keep the law of the Lord your God. 13 Then you will prosper if you carefully observe the statutes and the judgments which the Lord commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid or dismayed.
14 “With great difficulty I have prepared for the house of the Lord one hundred thousand talents[b] of gold and one million[c] talents of silver as well as innumerable quantities of bronze and iron, beyond measure. I have also prepared timber and stone to which you may add even more. 15 Moreover you have an abundance of workers: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and men skilled in all kinds of work, 16 craftsmen in gold, silver, bronze, and iron without number. Rise up and work, and may the Lord be with you.”
17 Then David commanded all the leaders of Israel to assist Solomon his son, saying, 18 “Is not the Lord your God with you? Has He not given you rest all around? For He has given the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land is subdued before the Lord and His people. 19 Now dedicate your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God. Rise up and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, so that you may bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord along with the holy vessels of God into the house which is to be built for the name of the Lord.”
The Levites
23 Now David was old and full of days when he made Solomon his son king over Israel. 2 So he gathered together all the leaders of Israel with the priests and the Levites.
3 The Levites from thirty years old and up were counted, and their head count of men was thirty-eight thousand. 4 Twenty-four thousand of these, David said, “shall have charge of the work in the house of the Lord; six thousand shall be officers and judges, 5 four thousand shall be gatekeepers, and four thousand shall offer praises to the Lord with the instruments that I have made for praise.”
6 David assigned them to divisions according to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
Gershonites
7 From the Gershonites:
Ladan and Shimei.
8 The sons of Ladan were
first Jehiel, then Zetham and Joel, three in all.
9 The sons of Shimei were
Shelomith, Haziel, and Haran, three.
These were the heads of the fathers’ houses of Ladan.
10 The sons of Shimei were
Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah.
These four were the sons of Shimei.
11 Now Jahath was the first and Ziza the second, but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they were counted as one unit for their father’s house.
Kohathites
12 The sons of Kohath were
Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four in all.
13 The sons of Amram were
Aaron and Moses,
but Aaron was set apart to consecrate the most holy things, he and his sons forever, to offer sacrifices before the Lord, to minister to Him, and to bless in His name forever. 14 As for 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 son of Gershom was
Shubael the chief.
17 The son of Eliezer was
Rehabiah the chief.
Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many.
18 The son of Izhar was
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 Ishiah the second.
Merarites
21 The sons of Merari were
Mahli and Mushi.
The sons of Mahli were
Eleazar and Kish.
22 Eleazar died having no sons, but only daughters, so the sons of Kish, their brothers, took them as wives.
23 The sons of Mushi were
Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth, three.
24 These were the sons of Levi according to their fathers’ houses, the heads of the fathers’ houses as they were registered by the number of their names according to their head count, those doing the work for the service of the house of the Lord, from twenty years old and up.
25 For David said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, has given rest to His people, and He dwells in Jerusalem forever. 26 And so the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle and all its implements for its service.” 27 For by the last words of David, the sons of Levi were numbered from twenty years old and up; 28 because their duty was to help the sons of Aaron in the service of the house of the Lord, in the courts and in the chambers, with the purifying of all holy things, even the work of service of the house of God, 29 and with the showbread, the fine flour for a grain offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the baked offering, the offering mixed with oil, and all measures of quantity and size, 30 to stand morning by morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise in the evening, 31 and to offer up all burnt offerings to the Lord, for Sabbaths, New Moons, and appointed feasts, by number as the judgment concerning them, continually before the Lord, 32 and that they should keep charge of the tent of meeting and the sanctuary and attend to the sons of Aaron, their brothers, for the service of the house of the Lord.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.