1 Chronicles 28-29

New Life Version

Solomon to Build the House of God

28 David gathered together all the leaders of Israel. There were leaders of the family groups, and leaders of the armies that served the king. There were captains of thousands, and of hundreds. There were leaders who cared for all the things and animals belonging to the king and his sons. There were the leaders and all the powerful soldiers. ² Then King David stood up and said, “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. I had wanted to build a house of rest for the special box with the Law of the Lord, a place for God to rest His feet, so I had made plans to build it. ³ But God said to me, ‘You must not build a house for My name, because you are a man of war and blood.’ ⁴ But the Lord, the God of Israel, chose me from all the house of my father to be the king of Israel forever. For He has chosen Judah to be a leader. And in the house of Judah, my father’s house, and among my father’s sons, He was pleased to make me king of all Israel. ⁵ The Lord has given me many sons. And of all my sons, He has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the nation of the Lord over Israel. ⁶ He said to me, ‘Your son Solomon is the one who will build My house and My open spaces. For I have chosen him to be My son, and I will be his father. ⁷ I will make him king forever, if he is faithful to obey My Words and My Laws, as he is doing now.’ ⁸ So now I say to you in front of all these people of Israel, and in the hearing of our God: Be careful to do all the Law of the Lord your God. If you obey you will receive the good land and also leave it to your children after you forever.

⁹ “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father. Serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind. For the Lord looks into all hearts, and understands every plan and thought. If you look to Him, He will let you find Him. But if you turn away from Him, He will turn away from you forever. ¹⁰ Listen now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a place of worship. Be strong, and do it.”

¹¹ Then David gave his son Solomon the plan of the porch of the Lord’s house, its buildings, and its store-houses. He gave him the plan of the rooms on its second floor, its inside rooms, and the room for the mercy-seat. ¹² He gave him the plan of all he had in mind. It showed the open spaces of the Lord’s house, and all the rooms around them. It showed the store-houses of the house of God, and the store-houses of the holy things. ¹³ He gave him the plan for the way the religious leaders and the Levites were to be divided up for all the work of the Lord’s house. He told how all the objects were to be used in worship in the Lord’s house. ¹⁴ David gave the weight of all the gold objects to be used in each part of worship. He gave the weight for all the silver objects to be used in each part of the worship. ¹⁵ The plan gave the weight of gold for the gold lamp-stands and gold lamps. It gave the weight of each lamp-stand and its lamps. It gave the weight of silver for the silver lamp-stands. It gave the weight of each lamp-stand and its lamps, by the use of each lamp-stand. ¹⁶ It gave the weight of gold for each table of holy bread, and of silver for the silver tables. ¹⁷ It gave the weight of the meat-hooks, the pots and the cups of pure gold. It gave the weight for each of the gold and silver pots. ¹⁸ It gave the weight of the fine gold of the altar of special perfume, and of the gold wagon and of the cherubim that spread out their wings and covered the special box with the Law of the Lord. ¹⁹ David said, “This is in writing because His hand was upon me. He helped me to know all the plan.”

²⁰ Then David said to his son Solomon, “Be strong. Have strength of heart, and do it. Do not be afraid or troubled, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not stop helping you. He will not leave you until all the work of the house of the Lord is finished. ²¹ See, the religious leaders and the Levites are divided up to do all the work of the house of God. Every willing man who is able to do a special work will help you in all that is to be done. The leaders and all the people will do what you say.”

Gifts for the Building of the House of God

29 Then King David said to all the people, “My son Solomon is the one God has chosen. He is still young and has not had much time to know what to do. It is a very big work because this beautiful house is not for man, but for the Lord God. ² I have given all that I have been able to give for the house of my God. I have given the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, and the brass for the things of brass. I have given the iron for the things of iron, and the wood for the things of wood. I have given stones of much worth, stones for setting, silver-white stones, and stones of different colors. I have given all kinds of stones of much worth, and many smooth, special white stones. ³ The house of my God means much to me. I have much gold and silver and I give it to the house of my God, together with all I have already given for the holy house. ⁴ I gave gold weighing as much as 3,000 men, of the gold of Ophir. I gave fine silver weighing as much as 7,000 men, to cover the walls of the house. ⁵ I gave gold for the things of gold, and silver for the things of silver for all the work done by the able men. Now who is willing to give himself and be set apart today to the Lord?”

⁶ Then the rulers of the families gave because they wanted to. The leaders of the family groups of Israel, the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and those who watched over the king’s work gave because they wanted to. ⁷ For the work of the house of God, they gave gold weighing as much as 5,000 men, and 10,000 gold pieces. They gave silver weighing as much as 10,000 men. They gave brass weighing as much as 18,000 men, and iron weighing as much as 100,000 men. ⁸ And whoever had stones of much worth gave them to the store-house of the house of the Lord, in the care of Jehiel the Gershonite. ⁹ Then the people were filled with joy because they had been so willing to give. They gave their gift to the Lord with a whole heart. And King David was filled with great joy.

David’s Praise to God

¹⁰ So David praised the Lord in front of all the people. He said, “Honor and thanks be to You, O Lord God of Israel our father, forever and ever. ¹¹ O Lord, You have great power, shining-greatness and strength. Yes, everything in heaven and on earth belongs to You. You are the King, O Lord. And You are honored as head over all. ¹² Both riches and honor come from You. You rule over all. Power and strength are in Your hand. The power is in Your hand to make great and to give strength to all. ¹³ So now, our God, we thank You. We praise Your great and honored name.

¹⁴ “But who am I and who are my people, that we should be able to give so much? For all things come from You. We have given You only what already belongs to You. ¹⁵ We are strangers before You. We are just staying here for a time, as all our fathers did. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and without hope. ¹⁶ O Lord our God, from Your hand are all these many things that we have given to build You a house for Your holy name. It all belongs to You. ¹⁷ O my God, I know that You test the heart and are pleased with what is right. I have given these things because I have wanted to with a clean heart. And now I have seen with joy how Your people who are here give gifts to You because they want to. ¹⁸ O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the thoughts of the hearts of Your people. Lead their hearts to You. ¹⁹ Give my son Solomon a perfect heart to keep Your Words and Your Laws and to obey them all. And so let him build the beautiful house I have planned and given for.”

²⁰ Then David said to all the people, “Now praise the Lord your God.” And all the people gave praise to the Lord, the God of their fathers. They bowed low to the ground before the Lord and the king. ²¹ On the next day they killed animals and gave burnt gifts in worship to the Lord.

They gave 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams and 1,000 lambs, with their drink gifts. They gave many gifts in worship for all Israel. ²² So they ate and drank that day with great joy before the Lord.

They made David’s son Solomon king a second time. They poured oil on him to set him apart as ruler for the Lord. And they set Zadok apart as religious leader. ²³ Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of his father David. Everything went well for him, and all Israel obeyed him. ²⁴ All the leaders and the powerful men and all the sons of King David promised to be faithful to King Solomon. ²⁵ The Lord brought much honor to Solomon in the eyes of all Israel. He gave him greater power than any king before him in Israel.

²⁶ So David the son of Jesse ruled over all Israel. ²⁷ And he ruled over Israel for forty years. He ruled in Hebron seven years, and in Jerusalem thirty-three years. ²⁸ Then he died as an old man. He had lived many years, had many riches and much honor. And his son Solomon ruled in his place. ²⁹ The acts of King David, from first to last, are written in the books of Samuel, Nathan, and Gad, the men of God. ³⁰ They tell of all his rule, his power, and of the things which happened to him, to Israel, and to all the nations of the lands.