Historical
21 After our King David had consolidated his power in Israel, conquering his surrounding enemies, an adversary[a] stood against Israel, and incited David to conduct a census in the nation to determine the strength of his army before going to war.
In the parallel passage of 2 Samuel 24, David receives three options for punishment concerning his disobedience. He knows the Eternal is far more merciful than human beings, so he elects three days of divine pestilence. Sadly thousands of Israelites die because of David’s arrogance in wanting to know just how powerful his kingdom has become. But the chronicler does something the writer of Samuel does not: he explains how this incident determines where David will plan to build the temple (22:1). The threshing floor of Ornan is the perfect spot for it since this is where God stops the hand of the heavenly messenger from destroying Jerusalem.
David (to Joab and Israel’s tribal leaders): 2 Count the number of people in Israel from Beersheba in the south to Dan in the north and report that number to me.
Joab: 3 May the Eternal add immeasurably to His followers! But, my lord the king, aren’t every one of those people your subjects? Why does my lord seek this? Why would you do something that could cause your Israelites guilt?
4 In spite of Joab’s objections, David’s census occurred. Joab obeyed his king, traveled throughout Israel, and returned to Jerusalem. 5 He then reported the number of all the people to David: 1,100,000 swordsmen were in Israel and 470,000 were in Judah. 6 But Joab rebelled against David’s command and did not count Levi and Benjamin because he was against the census.
7 As Joab anticipated, God was displeased with the census and He struck Israel. 8 The king then prayed to God.
David: I know that I have sinned greatly by requiring a census. Please remove the sin of Your servant, who has acted so very foolishly.
9 The Eternal spoke to Gad, David’s seer.
Eternal One: 10 Give David My message: “I am offering you a choice of three punishments. Make your selection, and I will do that to you.”
So Gad paid the king a visit.
Gad (to David): 11 The Eternal One says, “Choose your punishment: 12 three years of famine, three months of pursuit by your enemies, or three days of the Eternal’s sword—plague and destruction by His messenger.” So, what answer should I tell Him?
David: 13 This choice greatly distresses me. Tell Him I would rather fall before the Eternal, whose mercies are very great, than fall before men.
14 So the Eternal did as He promised and sent a violent plague to Israel; 70,000 men of Israel died. 15 God also sent a heavenly messenger to destroy Jerusalem; but as the messenger was poised to ruin it, the Eternal saw the damage caused by the plague and grieved over the calamity. He told the messenger, “The pestilence is enough punishment; stand down.” The Eternal’s messenger stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite when the True God stopped him.
16 When David looked up and saw the Eternal’s messenger standing between earth and heaven with his sword stretched out over Jerusalem, David and the elders mourned. They dressed in sackcloth and prostrated themselves.
David (calling out to God): 17 Wasn’t I the one who commanded the census? I, the shepherd, certainly have sinned and done evil; but what have the rest of the nation, Your sheep, done? Eternal One, my True God, please punish only me and my father’s household, not all of Your people.
Messenger (commanding Gad): 18 Tell David to build an altar to the Eternal on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
19 David obeyed the instruction of the divine messenger.
20 When Ornan saw the messenger, his four sons who were with him hid among the wheat. But Ornan continued threshing. 21 As David approached, Ornan glimpsed the king, left his chores, and prostrated himself before David.
David: 22 Sell me this threshing floor so I may build on it an altar to the Eternal. I will pay you the full price so the plague against the people may end.
Ornan: 23 Take it; it’s yours to do with as you please. I will donate the oxen for burnt offerings, the threshing tools for wood, and the wheat for the grain offering. I will give it all to you, my king.
David: 24 No, I must buy it for the full price. I will not give your possessions to the Eternal as if they were my own, nor will I give a burnt offering which costs me nothing. I must sacrifice something for this offering.
25 So David paid Ornan 15 pounds of gold by weight for the property. 26 There David built an altar to the Eternal, sacrificed burnt offerings, and gave peace offerings. David requested His presence, and He accepted the altar and sacrifices by sending fire from heaven onto the altar of burnt offering. 27 Then the Eternal commanded the divine messenger to sheath his sword. 28 When David saw how the Eternal had answered him on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite by coming to the altar as fire and by stopping the plagues and the destruction of Jerusalem, David offered a sacrifice there instead of at Gibeon. 29 (The congregation tent of the Eternal, which Moses had built in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering were in the high place at Gibeon at that time.) 30 But David could not go to Gibeon to commune with God because he still feared that the Eternal’s messenger would slay him.
22 David: Now this is the house of the Eternal God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel. We will no longer need to travel to Gibeon to sacrifice to God.
2 Having purchased a location for the new temple, David began preparations for its construction. He gathered the foreigners who were in Israel so they could help build the temple. He appointed stonecutters for the house of God; 3 and he prepared large quantities of iron (to cast the nails for the gate doors and the hinges), immeasurable amounts of bronze, 4 and enormous quantities of cedar logs (brought to David by the Sidonians and Tyrians).
Everyone in the region participates in building the Lord’s Jerusalem temple.
David: 5 Solomon, my dear son, is so young for such a grand project as the Eternal’s house. He does not have the experience required for a job that should be known throughout the nations as wondrous. I will prepare for the temple construction before Solomon ascends in my place. So David made all the preparations before his death.
6 Then David called for his son, Solomon, and instructed him to build a house for the Eternal God of Israel.
David: 7 My son, I had intended to build a house honoring the reputation of the Eternal One my God, 8 but the Eternal spoke to me.
The blood on David’s hands makes him ritually impure to build a holy structure and house like the Jerusalem temple.
Eternal One: You have shed much blood and waged great wars, My wars. But because of your conquests and the amount of blood you spilled on My behalf, you will not build a house honoring My reputation. 9 You will have a son named Solomon, who will be a man of rest. He will not fight wars for Me—I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side. I will give peace and quiet to Israel during his reign.
The name “Solomon” has a similar spelling and sound to Shalom, the word for “peace.”
10 He will build a house honoring My reputation, a place where I shall dwell and where your people will worship Me. He will be My son and I will be his Father. I will establish his kingdom as My representative of My rule in Israel forever.
David: 11 My son, you will need His help to build the house of the Eternal One your God successfully, just as He plans and as I have prepared for you. 12 May He give you discretion, understanding, and command over Israel, for you will need to keep the laws of the Eternal One your God if you are to finish His temple. 13 Only then you will prosper, by following these statutes and ordinances for Israel, which the Eternal gave to Moses. You must be strong and courageous—never fear or be distraught.
14 I have meticulously prepared for the house of the Eternal.
David has already received a divine blueprint, has gathered materials, and has solicited international workers.
I have collected 3,750 tons of gold, 37,500 tons of silver, bronze, and iron (they are more readily available to us than gold is), and timber and stone. You may easily add to these materials as you need to because 15-16 there is no limit to the gold, silver, bronze, and iron. I have hired many workmen: stonecutters, stonemasons, carpenters, and tradesmen. Go now and work; build this magnificent, world-renowned temple, and may the Eternal be with you as you do it.
17 Having completed his instructions to Solomon, David then commanded all the tribal leaders of Israel to help Solomon.
David: 18 The Eternal One your God is with you. Now that He has provided the land for Israel, He has given you peace with your enemies on every border. 19 Now prepare yourself mentally and emotionally to follow the Eternal One your God. Go and build the temple of the Eternal God, so you may bring the covenant chest of the Eternal to rest there and take the holy vessels of God into His house for us to use in sacrifice.
23 When David was old, full of years, and near death, he appointed his son Solomon to succeed him as king over Israel. 2 Then David gathered together all the leaders of Israel, including the priests and the Levites.
The Israelites can now be blessed by David’s organization in two ways. First, as they begin rebuilding the temple, his preparations are practical: they explain what tools and artisans and materials are needed to build God’s house. But his organization blesses the Israelites another way: he shows what consistent devotion to God looks like. Even though David knows he won’t see the temple with his own eyes, he is no less committed to doing God’s work.
The process of rebuilding Jerusalem is an arduous one, one that will take more than one lifetime to complete. So the Israelites cannot become complacent about God’s work just because they may not see it come to fruition themselves. They must work for the advancement of His kingdom because that is what He desires.
3 At that time, there were 38,000 Levites 30 years of age and older, an employable age. 4 Of these, 24,000 directed the work of the temple of the Eternal, 6,000 were officers and judges, 5 4,000 were gatekeepers, and 4,000 were musicians, praising Him with the instruments David made. 6 David divided the Levites into their families, the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
7 The Gershonites had two families: Ladan and Shimei. 8 Ladan had three sons: Jehiel (the first), Zetham, and Joel. 9 Shimei had three sons also: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran. These men were the chiefs of Ladan’s family. 10 Shimei’s other four sons were Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. 11 Jahath was the first and Zizah the second, but Jeush and Beriah did not have strong lineages. Eventually their families combined to make one family.
12 The Kohathites had four families: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 13 Amram had two sons: Aaron and Moses. Aaron’s lineage was chosen to ordain and cleanse themselves as the most holy among the Levites forever. They were charged with burning incense before the Eternal, ministering to Him, and blessing in His name forever. Because they were set apart, their lineage is not included in this genealogy. 14 Moses, the man of God, had two sons whose family lineages were included in this genealogy of the tribe of Levi. 15 Moses’ sons were Gershom and Eliezer. 16 Gershom’s son was Shebuel (the chief). 17 Eliezer had only one son: Rehabiah (the chief). Rehabiah had many sons. 18 Izhar (the son of Kohath) had one son: Shelomith (the chief). 19 Hebron (the son of Kohath) had four sons: Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. 20 Uzziel (the son of Kohath) had two sons: Micah the first and Isshiah the second.
21 The Merarites had two families: Mahli and Mushi. Mahli had two sons: Eleazar and Kish. 22 When Eleazar died he had no sons, only daughters. These women maintained their father’s line by marrying their relatives, the sons of Kish. 23 Mushi had three sons: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth.
24 This is the genealogy of Levi according to their families. The leaders of the families were counted along with all those working for the Eternal who were 20 years of age and older.
David: 25 Since the Eternal God now lives in His tent in Jerusalem forever and has given rest to His people Israel, 26 the Levites will no longer need to carry the congregation tent and all the vessels for its service. The tent will rest in Jerusalem along with God’s people.
27 These final words of King David changed who was included in the census. From this point forward, the sons of Levi who were 20 years of age and older were included in the genealogies.
This alteration of age from 30 years in 1 Chronicles 23:3 to 20 years of age here may indicate that more workers were needed from the Levite tribe for the temple since the change from a moveable tent for worship to the continual service in the permanent structure.
28 The Levites help Aaron’s family with their duties in the temple of the Eternal, purifying all the things dedicated to spiritual service in the courts and in the chambers of the temple, and preparing for services in the temple: 29 making the loaves of unleavened bread, selecting the fine flour for a grain offering, making the unleavened wafers, or preparing anything else that is baked in the pan or well-mixed, regardless of the amount and size. 30 They stand and testify about the Eternal regularly, every morning and evening. 31 They offer all the burnt offerings to Him on the Sabbath days, the new moons, and the holidays according to the law given to Moses. 32 In these ways, they are responsible for the congregation tent and the holy utensils within the sanctuary. They are helpers of Aaron’s family, and they help maintain the temple of the Eternal.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.