Old/New Testament
22 1 David then said, “This is the place where the temple of the Lord God will be, along with the altar for burnt sacrifices for Israel.”
David Orders a Temple to Be Built
2 David ordered the resident foreigners[a] in the land of Israel to be called together. He appointed some of them to be stonecutters to chisel stones for the building of God’s temple. 3 David supplied a large amount of iron for the nails of the doors of the gates and for braces, more bronze than could be weighed, 4 and more cedar logs than could be counted. (The Sidonians and Tyrians had brought a large amount of cedar logs to David.)
5 David said, “My son Solomon is just an inexperienced young man,[b] and the temple to be built for the Lord must be especially magnificent so it will become famous and be considered splendid by all the nations.[c] Therefore I will make preparations for its construction.” So David made extensive preparations before he died.
6 He summoned his son Solomon and charged him to build a temple for the Lord God of Israel. 7 David said to Solomon: “My son, I really wanted[d] to build a temple to honor[e] the Lord my God. 8 But this was the Lord’s message to me: ‘You have spilled a great deal of blood and fought many battles. You must not build a temple to honor me,[f] for you have spilled a great deal of blood on the ground before me. 9 Look, you will have a son, who will be a peaceful man.[g] I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side.[h] Indeed, Solomon[i] will be his name; I will give Israel peace and quiet during his reign.[j] 10 He will build a temple to honor me;[k] he will become my son, and I will become his father. I will grant to his dynasty permanent rule over Israel.’[l]
11 “Now, my son, may the Lord be with you! May you succeed and build a temple for the Lord your God, just as he announced you would.[m] 12 Only may the Lord give you insight and understanding when he places you in charge of Israel, so you may obey[n] the law of the Lord your God. 13 Then you will succeed, if you carefully obey the rules and regulations which the Lord ordered Moses to give to Israel.[o] Be strong and brave! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic![p] 14 Now, look, I have made every effort to supply what is needed to build the Lord’s temple.[q] I have stored up 100,000 talents[r] of gold, 1,000,000 talents[s] of silver, and so much bronze and iron it cannot be weighed, as well as wood and stones. Feel free to add more! 15 You also have available many workers, including stonecutters, masons, carpenters,[t] and an innumerable array of workers who are skilled 16 in using gold, silver, bronze, and iron.[u] Get up and begin the work! May the Lord be with you!”
17 David ordered all the officials of Israel to support[v] his son Solomon. 18 He told them,[w] “The Lord your God is with you![x] He has made you secure on every side,[y] for he handed over to me the inhabitants of the region[z] and the region[aa] is subdued before the Lord and his people. 19 Now seek the Lord your God wholeheartedly and with your entire being![ab] Get up and build the sanctuary of the Lord God! Then you can bring[ac] the ark of the Lord’s covenant and the holy items dedicated to God’s service[ad] into the temple that is built to honor the Lord.”[ae]
David Organizes the Levites
23 When David was old and approaching the end of his life,[af] he made his son Solomon king over Israel.
2 David[ag] assembled all the leaders of Israel, along with the priests and the Levites. 3 The Levites who were thirty years old and up were counted; there were 38,000 men.[ah] 4 David said,[ai] “Of these, 24,000 are to direct the work of the Lord’s temple; 6,000 are to be officials and judges; 5 4,000 are to be gatekeepers; and 4,000 are to praise the Lord with the instruments I supplied for worship.”[aj] 6 David divided them into groups corresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
7 The Gershonites included Ladan and Shimei.
8 The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the oldest, Zetham, and Joel—three in all.
9 The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran—three in all.
These were the leaders of the family of Ladan.
10 The sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina,[ak] Jeush, and Beriah. These were Shimei’s sons—four in all.[al] 11 Jahath was the oldest and Zizah the second oldest. Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they were considered one family with one responsibility.
12 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel—four in all.
13 The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses.
Aaron and his descendants were chosen on a permanent basis to consecrate the most holy items, to offer sacrifices before the Lord, to serve him, and to praise his name.[am] 14 The descendants of Moses the man of God were considered Levites.[an]
15 The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer.
16 The son[ao] of Gershom: Shebuel[ap] the oldest.
17 The son of Eliezer was[aq] Rehabiah, the oldest. Eliezer had no other sons, but Rehabiah had many descendants.
18 The son[ar] of Izhar: Shelomith the oldest.
19 The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the oldest, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.
20 The sons of Uzziel: Micah the oldest, and Isshiah the second.
21 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi.
The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish.
22 Eleazar died without having sons; he had only daughters. The sons of Kish, their cousins, married them.[as]
23 The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth—three in all.
24 These were the descendants of Levi according to their families, that is, the leaders of families as counted and individually listed who carried out assigned tasks in the Lord’s temple and were twenty years old and up.[at] 25 For David said, “The Lord God of Israel has given his people rest and has permanently settled in Jerusalem. 26 So the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the items used in its service.” 27 According to David’s final instructions, the Levites twenty years old or older were counted.[au]
28 Their job was to help Aaron’s descendants in the service of the Lord’s temple. They were to take care of the courtyards, the rooms, ceremonial purification of all holy items, and other jobs related to the service of God’s temple.[av] 29 They also took care of[aw] the bread that is displayed, the flour for offerings, the unleavened wafers, the round cakes, the mixing, and all the measuring.[ax] 30 They also stood in a designated place[ay] every morning and offered thanks and praise to the Lord. They also did this in the evening 31 and whenever burnt sacrifices were offered to the Lord on the Sabbath and at new moon festivals and assemblies. A designated number were to serve before the Lord regularly in accordance with regulations.[az] 32 They were in charge of the meeting tent and the Holy Place, and helped their relatives, the descendants of Aaron, in the service of the Lord’s temple.[ba]
David Organizes the Priests
24 The divisions of Aaron’s descendants were as follows:
The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
2 Nadab and Abihu died before their father did; they had no sons. Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests.
3 David, Zadok (a descendant of Eleazar), and Ahimelech (a descendant of Ithamar) divided them into groups to carry out their assigned responsibilities.[bb] 4 The descendants of Eleazar had more leaders than the descendants of Ithamar, so they divided them up accordingly; the descendants of Eleazar had sixteen leaders, while the descendants of Ithamar had eight.[bc] 5 They divided them by lots, for there were officials of the Holy Place and officials designated by God among the descendants of both Eleazar and Ithamar.[bd] 6 The scribe Shemaiah son of Nethanel, a Levite, wrote down their names before the king, the officials, Zadok the priest, Ahimelech son of Abiathar, and the leaders of the priestly and Levite families. One family was drawn by lot from Eleazar, and then the next from Ithamar.[be]
7 The first lot went to Jehoiarib,
the second to Jedaiah,
8 the third to Harim,
the fourth to Seorim,
9 the fifth to Malkijah,
the sixth to Mijamin,
10 the seventh to Hakkoz,
the eighth to Abijah,
11 the ninth to Jeshua,
the tenth to Shecaniah,
12 the eleventh to Eliashib,
the twelfth to Jakim,
13 the thirteenth to Huppah,
the fourteenth to Jeshebeab,
14 the fifteenth to Bilgah,
the sixteenth to Immer,
15 the seventeenth to Hezir,
the eighteenth to Happizzez,
16 the nineteenth to Pethahiah,
the twentieth to Jehezkel,
17 the twenty-first to Jakin,
the twenty-second to Gamul,
18 the twenty-third to Delaiah,
the twenty-fourth to Maaziah.
19 This was the order in which they carried out their assigned responsibilities when they entered the Lord’s temple, according to the regulations given them by their ancestor[bf] Aaron, just as the Lord God of Israel had instructed him.[bg]
Remaining Levites
20 The rest of the Levites included:[bh]
Shubael[bi] from the sons of Amram,
Jehdeiah from the sons of Shubael,
21 the firstborn Isshiah from Rehabiah and the sons of Rehabiah,
22 Shelomoth from the Izharites,
Jahath from the sons of Shelomoth.
23 The sons of Hebron:[bj] Jeriah, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.
24 The son[bk] of Uzziel: Micah;
Shamir from the sons of Micah.
25 The brother of Micah: Isshiah.
Zechariah from the sons of Isshiah.
26 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi.
The son of Jaaziah: Beno.[bl]
27 The sons of Merari, from Jaaziah: Beno,[bm] Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri.
28 From Mahli: Eleazar, who had no sons.
29 From Kish: Jerahmeel.[bn]
30 The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth.
These were the Levites, listed by their families.
31 Like their relatives, the descendants of Aaron, they also cast lots before King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, the leaders of families, the priests, and the Levites. The families of the oldest son cast lots along with those of the youngest.[bo]
28 Then Jesus said,[a] “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he,[b] and I do nothing on my own initiative,[c] but I speak just what the Father taught me.[d] 29 And the one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone,[e] because I always do those things that please him.” 30 While he was saying these things, many people[f] believed in him.
Abraham’s Children and the Devil’s Children
31 Then Jesus said to those Judeans[g] who had believed him, “If you continue to follow my teaching,[h] you are really[i] my disciples 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”[j] 33 “We are descendants[k] of Abraham,” they replied,[l] “and have never been anyone’s slaves! How can you say,[m] ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “I tell you the solemn truth,[n] everyone who practices[o] sin is a slave[p] of sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the family[q] forever, but the son remains forever.[r] 36 So if the son[s] sets you free, you will be really free. 37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants.[t] But you want[u] to kill me, because my teaching[v] makes no progress among you.[w] 38 I am telling you the things I have seen while with the[x] Father;[y] as for you,[z] practice the things you have heard from the[aa] Father!”
39 They answered him,[ab] “Abraham is our father!”[ac] Jesus replied,[ad] “If you are[ae] Abraham’s children, you would be doing[af] the deeds of Abraham. 40 But now you are trying[ag] to kill me, a man who has told you[ah] the truth I heard from God. Abraham did not do this![ai] 41 You people[aj] are doing the deeds of your father.”
Then[ak] they said to Jesus,[al] “We were not born as a result of immorality![am] We have only one Father, God himself.” 42 Jesus replied,[an] “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come from God and am now here.[ao] I[ap] have not come on my own initiative,[aq] but he[ar] sent me. 43 Why don’t you understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot accept[as] my teaching.[at] 44 You people[au] are from[av] your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires.[aw] He[ax] was a murderer from the beginning, and does not uphold the truth,[ay] because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies,[az] he speaks according to his own nature,[ba] because he is a liar and the father of lies.[bb] 45 But because I am telling you[bc] the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Who among you can prove me guilty[bd] of any sin?[be] If I am telling you[bf] the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 The one who belongs to[bg] God listens and responds[bh] to God’s words. You don’t listen and respond,[bi] because you don’t belong to God.”[bj]
48 The Judeans[bk] replied,[bl] “Aren’t we correct in saying[bm] that you are a Samaritan and are possessed by a demon?”[bn] 49 Jesus answered, “I am not possessed by a demon,[bo] but I honor my Father—and yet[bp] you dishonor me. 50 I am not trying to get[bq] praise for myself.[br] There is one who demands[bs] it, and he also judges.[bt] 51 I tell you the solemn truth,[bu] if anyone obeys[bv] my teaching,[bw] he will never see death.”[bx]
52 Then[by] the Judeans[bz] responded,[ca] “Now we know you’re possessed by a demon![cb] Both Abraham and the prophets died, and yet[cc] you say, ‘If anyone obeys[cd] my teaching,[ce] he will never experience[cf] death.’[cg] 53 You aren’t greater than our father Abraham who died, are you?[ch] And the prophets died too! Who do you claim to be?” 54 Jesus replied,[ci] “If I glorify myself, my glory is worthless.[cj] The one who glorifies me is my Father, about whom you people[ck] say, ‘He is our God.’ 55 Yet[cl] you do not know him, but I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him,[cm] I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I obey[cn] his teaching.[co] 56 Your father Abraham was overjoyed[cp] to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.”[cq]
57 Then the Judeans[cr] replied,[cs] “You are not yet fifty years old![ct] Have[cu] you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the solemn truth,[cv] before Abraham came into existence,[cw] I am!”[cx] 59 Then they picked up[cy] stones to throw at him,[cz] but Jesus was hidden from them[da] and went out from the temple area.[db]
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.