Old/New Testament
Chapter 28
Assembly at Jerusalem.[a] 1 David summoned all the leaders of Israel, the leaders of the tribes, the leaders of the divisions for the service of the king, the captains of the thousands, the captains of the hundreds, the officials in charge of all the goods and possessions of the king and his sons, together with the other officials, the mighty men, and the brave warriors to Jerusalem. 2 King David rose to his feet and said, “Listen to me, my brethren, my people. I had my heart set upon building a house to serve as a resting place for the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, the footstool of our God. I made preparations for building it, 3 but God said to me, ‘You will not build a house for my name for you have been a man of war and have shed blood.’
4 “Yet, the Lord, the God of Israel, has chosen me from my father’s entire household to be the king over Israel forever, and from Judah he chose me as leader, from the house of Judah, the household of my father and the sons of my father. It pleased him to make me king over all of Israel. 5 From my sons, from my many sons whom the Lord has given me, the Lord has chosen Solomon, my son, to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. 6 He said to me, ‘Solomon, your son, will build my temple and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. 7 I will establish his kingdom forever if he carefully observes my commandments and my ordinances, as they are doing today.’
8 “Now therefore, in the sight of all of Israel and the assembly of the Lord and in the hearing of our God, I charge you to carefully observe all of the commandments of the Lord, your God, so that you might possess this good land and it might be an inheritance for your descendants forever.
9 “And you, Solomon, my son, know that God is your father. Serve him with all your heart and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart, and he understands the ponderings of every thought. If you seek him, you will find him, but if you abandon him, then he will cast you off forever. 10 Take heed, now, that the Lord has chosen you to build a temple as a sanctuary. Be strong and do it.”
11 Temple Plans Given to Solomon. David then gave Solomon, his son, the plans for the porch of the temple, its treasuries, its upper chambers, its inner chambers, and the place of the seat of mercy.[b] 12 The plans included everything that the Spirit had inspired concerning the courtyards of the temple of the Lord, all of the surrounding chambers, the treasury of the temple of the Lord, and the treasury for the dedicated objects.
13 He also told him about the divisions of the priests and Levites, and for all of the work to be done in the service of the temple of the Lord, as well as, for all the vessels used in the service of the temple of the Lord.
14 He gave the weight of the gold and all the golden implements for the various forms of service, and the weight of the silver in the implements for the various forms of service. 15 He also told him the weight for the golden lampstands and their lamps, the weight of the gold for each of the lampstands and their lamps, the weight of the silver for the lampstands and their lamps, according to the use of each of the lampstands. 16 He told him the weight of the gold for each of the tables for the shewbread and likewise the weight of the silver for the silver tables. 17 He told him the weight of the pure gold for the forks, the sprinkling bowls, and the pitchers, the weight of gold for each of the basins, and the weight of the silver for each of the silver dishes. 18 He told him the weight of the refined gold for the altar of incense. He also gave him the pattern for the chariot, that is, the golden cherubim with outstretched wings that covered the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord.
19 David said, “This is all in writing for the hand of the Lord was upon me; he gave me understanding of all of the details of the plan.”
20 David also said to Solomon, his son, “Be strong! Be brave! Do it! Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord, the God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you nor will he abandon you until you have finished all of the work in service of the temple of the Lord. 21 Behold, the divisions for the priests and the Levites for all of their service in the temple of the Lord are completed, and you will have at your disposition every type of workman skillful in every craft. The leaders and the people will obey your every command.”
Chapter 29
Gifts for the Temple.[c] 1 King David then said to the whole assembly, “My son, Solomon, is the one whom God has chosen. He is young and inexperienced, and the task is great. This is not a palace for a human, but it is for the Lord God.
2 “I have made preparations for the temple of the Lord, my God, with all my resources: the gold, the golden objects, the silver, the silver objects, the bronze, the bronze objects, the iron, the iron objects, the wood, the wood objects, the stone, the onyx for settings, the glistening stones of various colors, all types of precious stones, and marble, all of them in great quantities.
3 “Moreover, in my devotion to the temple of my God, I have given gold and silver from my own possessions for the temple of my God in addition to everything that I have prepared for the holy temple. 4 This includes three thousand talents of gold (gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver to be used for overlaying the walls of the buildings. 5 It is also for the gold and the gold objects, the silver and the silver objects, and all types of work to be done by the craftsmen. Now, who is willing today to consecrate himself to the Lord?”
6 The leaders of the ancestral clans and the tribes of Israel, the captains of the thousands and the hundreds, and the supervisors of the king’s work gave willingly. 7 They gave five thousand talents and ten thousand darics[d] of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze, and one hundred thousand talents of iron. 8 Any of those who had found precious stones gave them to the treasury of the temple of the Lord through Jehiel the Gershonite. 9 The people rejoiced because they had willingly responded and had given with their whole hearts to the Lord, and King David also rejoiced greatly.
10 [e]David praised the Lord in front of the whole assembly, and David said:
“Blessed are you, O Lord,
the God of Israel,
our father forever and ever.
11 “Yours, O Lord, are greatness,
power, glory, strength, and majesty,
for everything in heaven and on earth is yours.
Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.
12 Wealth and honor are from you,
you reign over all.
In your hand are power and might;
it to is in your hand make great and to give strength to all.
13 Now, our God, we thank you,
and we praise your glorious name.
14 But who am I, and what are your people,
that we should be able to do this?
All things belong to you,
and everything that we have given you is from your hand.
15 We are foreigners and aliens,
as all our fathers were before us.
Our days are like a shadow upon the earth,
none of them abide.
16 O Lord, our God,
all of this wealth that we have to build a temple for you
and for your holy name is from your hand,
and it all belongs to you.
17 I know, my God,
that you have tested my heart,
and that you are pleased with
the integrity of my heart.
I have willingly offered you all these things.
And now I have seen your people who are present here.
They joyfully and willingly make
this offering to you.
18 O Lord, God of our fathers,
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
keep this desire in the inner thoughts
of your people forever,
and make their hearts loyal to you.
19 Give my son Solomon a pure heart
so that he might observe your commandments, your ordinances, and your statutes,
and do everything to build the temple
for which I have made provision.”
20 David then said to the whole assembly, “Praise the Lord, your God!” The whole assembly praised the Lord, the God of their fathers. They bowed down their heads, and they fell prostrate before the Lord and the king.
21 On the next day they made sacrifices to the Lord and offered burnt offerings to the Lord: one thousand bulls, one thousand rams, and one thousand lambs. There were drink offerings and other sacrifices in abundance for all of Israel. 22 They ate and drank before the Lord that day with great joy.[f]
Then they acknowledged Solomon, the son of David, as king a second time, and they anointed him before the Lord to be ruler and Zadok to be priest. 23 Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord in the place of David, his father. He prospered and everyone in Israel obeyed him. 24 All of the leaders and mighty men and all of King David’s sons paid obeisance to King Solomon. 25 The Lord exalted Solomon greatly before all of Israel, and he bestowed upon him majesty and royal dignity as no king in Israel had ever had before him.
26 David, the son of Jesse, reigned over all of Israel. 27 He ruled over Israel for forty years. He reigned for seven years in Hebron, and he reigned for thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 28 He died at a good, old age in the fullness of his years. He had enjoyed wealth and honor. Then Solomon, his son, reigned in his stead.
29 [g]As for the other deeds of King David, from the beginning to the end, they are written in the Book of Samuel the Seer, the Book of Nathan the Prophet, and in the Book of Gad the Seer, 30 along with all of the details of his reign and his might and his own times and those of Israel and of all the kingdoms of the other lands.
24 That Man Is from God.[a] And so for a second time they summoned the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. But one thing I do know: I was blind, and now I am able to see.” 26 They then asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I have told you already and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?”
28 Then they began to taunt him, saying, “It is you who are his disciple. We are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he is from.” 30 He answered, “That is what is so amazing. You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but that he does listen to anyone who is devout and obeys his will.
32 “Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could not have been able to accomplish anything.” 34 They answered him, “You were born in sin and you would teach us?” Then they threw him out.
35 Do You Believe in the Son of Man?[b] When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, he found him and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He replied, “Who is he, sir, so that I may believe in him?” 37 “You have seen him,” said Jesus, “and he is the one who is speaking to you.” 38 He said, “I do believe, Lord,” and he fell down in worship before him.
39 Spiritual Blindness.[c] Then Jesus said,
“It is for judgment
that I have come into this world,
so that those without sight may see
and those who do see may become blind.”
40 On hearing this, some Pharisees who were present asked him, “Are we blind too?” 41 Jesus replied,
“If you were blind,
you would have no guilt;
but since you claim, ‘We see,’
your guilt remains.
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