Old/New Testament
22 David said, “The Temple of the Lord God and the altar for burning offerings for the Israelites will be built here.”
David Makes Plans for the Temple
2 David gave an order for all foreigners living in Israel to be gathered together. He chose stonecutters from that group of foreigners. Their job was to cut stones ready to be used for building God’s Temple. 3 David got iron for making nails and hinges for the gate doors. He also got more bronze than could be weighed 4 and more cedar logs than could be counted. The people from the cities of Sidon and Tyre brought many cedar logs to David.
5 David said, “We should build a very great Temple for the Lord, but my son Solomon is young and does not yet have enough experience to know how to do it well. It should be so great and beautiful that it will be famous among all the nations. So I will prepare what is needed to build it.” So before David died he prepared everything needed to build a great Temple.
6 Then David called for his son Solomon and told him to build the Temple for the Lord, the God of Israel. 7 David said to Solomon, “My son, I wanted to build a temple for the name of the Lord my God. 8 But the Lord said to me, ‘David, you have fought many wars and you have killed many people. So you cannot build a temple for my name. 9 But you have a son who is a man of peace. I will give your son a time of peace. His enemies around him will not bother him. His name is Solomon.[a] And I will give Israel peace and quiet during the time that he is king. 10 Solomon will build a temple for my name. He will be my son, and I will be his Father. I will make his kingdom strong, and someone from his family will rule Israel forever!’”
11 David also said, “Now, son, may the Lord be with you. May you be successful and build the Temple for the Lord your God, as he said you would. 12 He will make you the king of Israel. May the Lord give you wisdom and understanding so that you can lead the people and obey the law of the Lord your God. 13 And you will have success, if you are careful to obey the rules and laws that the Lord gave Moses for Israel. Be strong and brave. Don’t be afraid.
14 “Solomon, I have worked hard making plans for building the Lord’s Temple. I have given 3750 tons[b] of gold and about 37,500 tons[c] of silver. I have given so much bronze and iron that it cannot be weighed. And I have given wood and stone. Solomon, you can add to them. 15 You have many stonecutters and carpenters. You have men skilled in every kind of work. 16 They are skilled in working with gold, silver, bronze, and iron. You have more skilled workers than can be counted. Now begin the work. And may the Lord be with you.”
17 Then David ordered all the leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon. 18 David said to these leaders, “The Lord your God is with you. He has given you a time of peace. He helped me defeat the people living around us. The Lord and his people are now in control of this land. 19 Now give your heart and soul to the Lord your God, and do what he says. Build the holy place of the Lord God. Then bring the Box of the Lord’s Agreement and all the other holy things into the Temple built for the Lord’s name.”
The Levites Work in the Temple
23 David became an old man, so he made his son Solomon the new king of Israel. 2 David gathered all the leaders of Israel and also the priests and Levites. 3 David counted the Levites who were 30 years old and older. All together there were 38,000 Levites. 4 David said, “24,000 will supervise the work of building the Lord’s Temple. 6000 will be court officers and judges. 5 4000 will be gatekeepers, and 4000 will be musicians. I made special musical instruments for them. They will use them to praise the Lord.”
6 David separated the Levites into three groups. They were the tribes of Levi’s three sons, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
The Gershon Family Group
7 From the tribe of Gershon there were Ladan and Shimei. 8 Ladan had three sons. His oldest son was Jehiel. His other sons were Zethan and Joel. 9 Shimei’s sons were Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran. These three sons were leaders in Ladan’s families.
10 Shimei had four sons. They were Jahath, Ziza, Jeush, and Beriah. 11 Jahath was the oldest son and Ziza was the second son. But Jeush and Beriah did not have many children. So Jeush and Beriah were counted like one family.
The Kohath Family Group
12 Kohath had four sons. They were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 13 Amram’s sons were Aaron and Moses. Aaron was chosen for a special work. He and his descendants were chosen to always be the ones to do this special work—to prepare the holy things for the Temple service. They were the ones to burn the incense before the Lord, to serve him as priests and give blessings to the people in his name forever.
14 Moses was the man of God, and his sons were part of the tribe of Levi. 15 Moses’ sons were Gershom and Eliezer. 16 Gershom’s oldest son was Shubael. 17 Eliezer’s oldest son was Rehabiah. Eliezer had no other sons. But Rehabiah had very many sons.
18 Izhar’s oldest son was Shelomith.
19 Hebron’s oldest son was Jeriah. Hebron’s second son was Amariah. Jahaziel was the third son, and Jekameam was the fourth son.
20 Uzziel’s oldest son was Micah, and Isshiah was his second son.
The Merari Family Group
21 Merari’s sons were Mahli and Mushi. Mahli’s sons were Eleazar and Kish. 22 Eleazar died without having sons. He only had daughters. Eleazar’s daughters married their own relatives. Their relatives were Kish’s sons. 23 Mushi’s sons were Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth. There were three sons in all.
The Levites’ Work
24 These were Levi’s descendants. They were listed by their families. They were the leaders of families. Each person’s name was listed. The people who were listed were 20 years old or older. They served in the Lord’s Temple.
25 David had said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, has given peace to his people. And he has come to live in Jerusalem forever. 26 So the Levites don’t need to carry the Holy Tent or any of the things used in its services anymore.”
27 David’s last instructions for the Israelites were to count the descendants from the tribe of Levi. They counted the Levite men who were 20 years old and older.
28 The Levites had the job of helping Aaron’s descendants in the service of the Lord’s Temple. They also cared for the Temple courtyard and the side rooms in the Temple. And they made sure all the holy things were kept pure. It was their job to serve in God’s Temple. 29 They were responsible for putting the special bread on the table in the Temple and for the flour, the grain offerings, and the bread made without yeast. They were also responsible for the baking pans and the mixed offerings. They did all the measuring. 30 The Levites stood every morning and gave thanks and praise to the Lord. They also did this every evening. 31 The Levites prepared all the burnt offerings to the Lord on the Sabbath days, during New Moon celebrations, and on the other special meeting days. They served before the Lord every day. There were special rules for how many Levites should serve each time. 32 So the Levites did everything that they were supposed to do. They took care of the Holy Tent and the Holy Place. And they helped their relatives, the priests, Aaron’s descendants, with the services at the Lord’s Temple.
The Groups of the Priests
24 These were the groups of Aaron’s sons: Aaron’s sons were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 2 But Nadab and Abihu died before their father did. Nadab and Abihu had no sons, so Eleazar and Ithamar served as the priests. 3 David separated the tribes of Eleazar and Ithamar into two different groups. He did this so that these groups could do the duties of work they were given to do. David did this with the help of Zadok and Ahimelech. Zadok was a descendant of Eleazar, and Ahimelech was a descendant of Ithamar. 4 There were more leaders from Eleazar’s family than from Ithamar’s. There were 16 leaders from Eleazar’s family and there were eight leaders from Ithamar’s family. 5 Men were chosen from each family. They were chosen by throwing lots. Some of the men were chosen to be in charge of the Holy Place. And other men were chosen to serve as priests. All these men were from the families of Eleazar and Ithamar.
6 Shemaiah was the secretary.[d] He was Nethanel’s son. Shemaiah was from the tribe of Levi. Shemaiah wrote the names of those descendants. He wrote their names in front of King David and these leaders: Zadok the priest, Ahimelech, and the leaders from the families of the priests and of the Levites. Ahimelech was Abiathar’s son. Each time they threw the lots a man was chosen, and Shemaiah wrote down that man’s name. So they divided the work among groups of men from the families of Eleazar and Ithamar.
7 The first was Jehoiarib’s group.
The second was Jedaiah’s group.
8 The third was Harim’s group.
The fourth was Seorim’s group.
9 The fifth was Malkijah’s group.
The sixth was Mijamin’s group.
10 The seventh was Hakkoz’s group.
The eighth was Abijah’s group.
11 The ninth was Jeshua’s group.
The tenth was Shecaniah’s group.
12 The eleventh was Eliashib’s group.
The twelfth was Jakim’s group.
13 The thirteenth was Huppah’s group.
The fourteenth was Jeshebeab’s group.
14 The fifteenth was Bilgah’s group.
The sixteenth was Immer’s group.
15 The seventeenth was Hezir’s group.
The eighteenth was Happizzez’s group.
16 The nineteenth was Pethahiah’s group.
The twentieth was Jehezkel’s group.
17 The twenty-first was Jakin’s group.
The twenty-second was Gamul’s group.
18 The twenty-third was Delaiah’s group.
The twenty-fourth was Maaziah’s group.
19 These were the groups chosen to serve in the Lord’s Temple. They obeyed Aaron’s rules for serving in the Temple. The Lord, the God of Israel, had given them to Aaron.
The Other Levites
20 These are the names of the rest of Levi’s descendants:
Shubael was a descendant of Amram.
Jehdeiah was a descendant of Shubael.
21 Isshiah was the oldest son of Rehabiah.
22 From the Izhar family group there was Shelomoth.
Jahath was a descendant of Shelomoth.
23 Jeriah was the oldest son of Hebron.
Amariah was Hebron’s second son.
Jahaziel was his third son,
and Jekameam was his fourth son.
24 Uzziel’s son was Micah.
Micah’s son was Shamir.
25 Isshiah was Micah’s brother.
Isshiah’s son was Zechariah.
26 [e] Merari’s descendants were Mahli, Mushi, and Jaaziah his son.
27 Jaaziah son of Merari had sons named Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri.
28 Mahli’s son was Eleazar, but Eleazar did not have sons.
29 Kish’s son was Jerahmeel.
30 Mushi’s sons were Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth.
These are the leaders of the Levite families. They are listed by their families. 31 They were chosen for special jobs by throwing lots, like their relatives, the priests. The priests were Aaron’s descendants. They threw lots in front of King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the leaders of the priests’ and Levite families. The older families and the younger families were treated the same when their jobs were chosen.
28 So he said to them, “You will lift up[a] the Son of Man. Then you will know that I Am. You will know that whatever I do is not by my own authority. You will know that I say only what the Father has taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me. I always do what pleases him. So he has not left me alone.” 30 While he was saying these things, many people believed in him.
Jesus Talks About Freedom From Sin
31 So Jesus said to the Jews who believed in him, “If you continue to accept and obey my teaching, you are really my followers. 32 You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
33 They answered, “We are Abraham’s descendants. And we have never been slaves. So why do you say that we will be free?”
34 Jesus said, “The truth is, everyone who sins is a slave—a slave to sin. 35 A slave does not stay with a family forever. But a son belongs to the family forever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you are really free. 37 I know you are Abraham’s descendants. But you want to kill me, because you don’t want to accept my teaching. 38 I am telling you what my Father has shown me. But you do what your father has told you.”
39 They said, “Our father is Abraham.”
Jesus said, “If you were really Abraham’s descendants, you would do what Abraham did. 40 I am someone who has told you the truth I heard from God. But you are trying to kill me. Abraham did nothing like that. 41 So you are doing what your own father did.”
But they said, “We are not like children who never knew who their father was. God is our Father. He is the only Father we have.”
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were really your Father, you would love me. I came from God, and now I am here. I did not come by my own authority. God sent me. 43 You don’t understand the things I say, because you cannot accept my teaching. 44 Your father is the devil. You belong to him. You want to do what he wants. He was a murderer from the beginning. He was always against the truth. There is no truth in him. He is like the lies he tells. Yes, the devil is a liar. He is the father of lies.
45 “I am telling you the truth, and that’s why you don’t believe me. 46 Can any of you prove that I am guilty of sin? If I tell the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 Whoever belongs to God accepts what he says. But you don’t accept what God says, because you don’t belong to God.”
Jesus Talks About Himself and Abraham
48 The Jews there answered, “We say you are a Samaritan. We say a demon is making you crazy! Are we not right when we say this?”
49 Jesus answered, “I have no demon in me. I give honor to my Father, but you give no honor to me. 50 I am not trying to get honor for myself. There is one who wants this honor for me. He is the judge. 51 I promise you, whoever continues to obey my teaching will never die.”
52 The Jews said to Jesus, “Now we know that you have a demon in you! Even Abraham and the prophets died. But you say, ‘Whoever obeys my teaching will never die.’ 53 Do you think you are greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”
54 Jesus answered, “If I give honor to myself, that honor is worth nothing. The one who gives me honor is my Father. And you say that he is your God. 55 But you don’t really know him. I know him. If I said I did not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I obey what he says. 56 Your father Abraham was very happy that he would see the day when I came. He saw that day and was happy.”
57 The Jews said to Jesus, “What? How can you say you have seen Abraham? You are not even 50 years old!”
58 Jesus answered, “The fact is, before Abraham was born, I Am.” 59 When he said this, they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus hid, and then he left the Temple area.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International