David’s Plans for the Temple

28 David gathered all the leaders of the people of Israel. He commanded all those leaders to come to Jerusalem. David called all the leaders of the family groups, the commanders of the army groups serving the king, the captains, the generals, the officials taking care of the property and animals that belonged to the king and his sons, the king’s important officials, the powerful heroes, and all the brave soldiers. ²King David stood up and said, “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. In my heart I wanted to build a place to keep the Box of the Lord’s Agreement.* I wanted to build a place that would be God’s footstool.* And I made the plans for building that house for God. ³But God said to me, ‘No David, you must not build a house for my name. You must not do that because you are a soldier, and you have killed many men.’ ⁴“The Lord God of Israel chose the family group of Judah to lead the twelve family groups of Israel. And then from that family group, the Lord chose my father’s family. And from that family, God chose me to be the king of Israel forever! God wanted to make me king of Israel! ⁵The Lord has given me many sons. And from all those sons, the Lord chose Solomon to be the new king of Israel. But really, Israel is the Lord’s kingdom. ⁶The Lord said to me, ‘David, your son Solomon will build my temple* and the area around it. Why? Because I have chosen Solomon to be my son, and I will be his father.* ⁷Solomon is obeying my laws and commands now. If he continues to obey my laws, then I will make Solomon’s kingdom strong forever!’” ⁸{David said,} “Now, in front of all Israel and God, I tell you these things: Be careful to obey all the commands of the Lord your God! Then you can keep this good land. And you can pass it on to your descendants* forever. ⁹“And you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father. Serve God with a pure heart. Be happy in your heart (mind) to serve God. Why? Because the Lord knows what is in every person’s heart (mind). The Lord understands everything you think. If you go to the Lord for help, you will get an answer. But if you turn away from the Lord, he will leave you forever. ¹⁰Solomon, you must understand that the Lord has chosen you to build his holy place—the temple.* Be strong and finish the job.” ¹¹Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for building the temple.* Those plans were also for the porch around the temple, and for its buildings, its storerooms, its upper rooms, its inside rooms, and for the place for the mercy seat.* ¹²David had made plans for all parts of the temple. David gave those plans to Solomon. David gave him all the plans for the yard around the Lord’s temple, and for all the rooms around it. David gave him the plans for the temple storerooms and for the storerooms where they kept the holy things used in the temple. ¹³David told Solomon about the groups of the priests and Levites. David told Solomon about all the work of serving in the Lord’s temple and about all the things to be used in the temple service. ¹⁴David told Solomon how much gold and silver should be used to make all the things to be used in the temple. ¹⁵There were plans for gold lamps and lampstands, and there were plans for silver lamps and lampstands. David told Solomon how much gold or silver to use for each lampstand and its lamps. The different lampstands were to be used where needed. ¹⁶David told how much gold should be for each table used for holy bread. David told how much silver should be used for the silver tables. ¹⁷David told how much pure gold should be used to make the forks, sprinkling bowls, and pitchers. David told how much gold should be used to make each gold dish, and how much silver should be used to make each silver dish. ¹⁸David told how much pure gold should be used for the altar of incense.* David also gave Solomon the plans for {God’s} chariot—the mercy seat* with the Cherub angels* spreading their wings over the Box of the Lord’s Agreement.* The Cherub angels were made of gold. ¹⁹David said, “All these plans were written with the Lord guiding me. The Lord helped me understand everything in the plans.” ²⁰David also said to his son Solomon, “Be strong and brave and finish this work. Don’t be afraid, because the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will help you until all the work is finished. He will not leave you. You will build the Lord’s temple.* ²¹The groups of the priests and Levites are ready for all the work on God’s temple. Every skilled worker is ready to help you with all the work. The officials and all the people will obey every command you give.”

Box of the Lord’s Agreement Also called “The Ark of the Covenant,” the box containing the stone tablets with the Ten Commandments written on them and the other things that proved God was with the people of Israel during their time in the Sinai Desert. footstool Usually this was a small stool in front of a chair, but here it means the temple. It is like God is the king sitting in his chair and resting his feet on the building David wanted to build. temple The special building in Jerusalem for worshiping God. I ... father This showed God was making Solomon the king. See Psalm 2:7. descendants A person’s children and their future families. temple The special building in Jerusalem for worshiping God. mercy seat Part of the Box of the Agreement. The Hebrew word can mean “lid,” “cover,” or “the place where sins are atoned (covered, erased, or forgiven).” incense A kind of spice that smells good when it is burned. It was burned as a gift to God. Cherub angels Special angels from God. Statues of these angels were on top of the Box of the Agreement.

Gifts for Building the Temple

29 King David said to all the people of Israel that were gathered together, “God chose my son Solomon. Solomon is young and does not know all that he needs to do this work. But the work is very important. This house isn’t for people, this house is for the Lord God. ²I have done my best to make plans to build my God’s temple.* I have given gold for the things made of gold. I have given silver for the things made of silver. I have given bronze for the things made of bronze. I have given iron for the things made of iron. I have given wood for the things made of wood. I have also given onyx* stones for the settings,* mosaic tiles,* all kinds of valuable stones in many different colors, and white marble stones. I have given many, many of these things for the building of the Lord’s temple. ³I am making a special gift of gold and silver things for my God’s temple. I am doing this because I really want the temple of my God to be built. I am giving all these things to build this holy temple. ⁴I have given 110 tons* of pure gold from Ophir. I have given 260 tons* of pure silver. The silver is for covering the walls of the buildings in the temple. ⁵I have given gold and silver for all the things made of gold and silver. I have given gold and silver so skilled men can make all different kinds of things for the temple. Now, how many of you people of Israel are ready to give yourselves to the Lord today?” ⁶The family leaders, the leaders of the family groups of Israel, the generals, the captains, and the officials responsible for the king’s work, were all ready and gave their valuable things. ⁷These are the things they gave for God’s house: 190 tons* of gold; 375 tons* of silver; 675 tons* of bronze; and 3,750 tons* of iron. ⁸People that had valuable stones gave them to the Lord’s temple.* Jehiel took care of the valuable stones. Jehiel was from the Gershon family. ⁹The people were very happy because their leaders were happy to give so much. The leaders were happy to give freely from good hearts. King David was also very happy.

David’s Beautiful Prayer

¹⁰Then David praised the Lord in front of all of the people who were gathered together. David said: “Lord God of Israel, our Father, may you be praised forever and ever! ¹¹Greatness, power, glory, victory, and honor belong to you! Why? Because everything in heaven and on earth belong to you; the kingdom belongs to you, Lord! You are the Head, the Ruler over everything. ¹²Riches and honor come from you. You rule everything. You have the power and strength in your hand! And in your hand is the power to make anyone great and powerful! ¹³Now, our God, we thank you, and we praise your glorious name! ¹⁴All these things didn’t come from me and my people! All these things come from you. We are only giving back to you things that came from you. ¹⁵We are only strangers traveling through this world like our ancestors.* Our time on earth is like a passing shadow. And we can’t stop it. ¹⁶Lord our God, we gathered all these things to build your temple. We build this temple to honor your name. But all these things have come from you. Everything belongs to you. ¹⁷My God, I know that you test people, and that you are happy when people do good. I gladly give you all these things with a pure, honest heart. I see your people gathered here. And I see that they are happy about giving these things to you. ¹⁸Lord, you are the God of our ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Israel.* Please help your people plan the right things. Help them be loyal and true to you! ¹⁹And help my son Solomon be true to you. Help him always obey your commands, laws, and rules. Help Solomon to do these things and help him build this capital city that I have planned.” ²⁰Then David said to all the group of people gathered together, “Now give praise to the Lord your God.” So all the people gave praise to the Lord God, the God their ancestors* worshiped. They bowed to the ground to give honor to the Lord and to the king.

Solomon Becomes King

²¹The next day the people made sacrifices* to the Lord. They offered burnt offerings to the Lord. They offered 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams,* 1,000 lambs, and the drink offerings that go with them. They offered many, many sacrifices for all the people of Israel. ²²That day the people were very happy as they ate and drank there together with the Lord. And they made David’s son Solomon king the second time.* They anointed* Solomon to be king, and they anointed Zadok to be priest. They did this in the place where the Lord was. ²³Then Solomon sat on the Lord’s throne as king. Solomon took his father’s place. Solomon was very successful. All the people of Israel obeyed Solomon. ²⁴All the leaders, soldiers, and all of King David’s sons accepted Solomon as king and obeyed him. ²⁵The Lord made Solomon very great. All the people of Israel knew that the Lord was making Solomon great. The Lord gave Solomon the honor that a king should have. No king in Israel before Solomon had such honor.

David’s Death

^26–27David son of Jesse was king over all Israel for 40 years. David was king in the city of Hebron for seven years. Then David was king in the city of Jerusalem for 33 years. ²⁸David died when he was old. David had lived a good, long life. David had many riches and honors. And David’s son Solomon became the new king after him. ²⁹The things that King David did, from beginning to end, are in the books written by Samuel the seer,* Nathan the prophet*, and Gad the seer. ³⁰Those writings tell all about the things that David did as king of Israel. They tell about David’s power and all that happened to him. And they tell about what happened to Israel and to all the kingdoms around them.

temple The special building in Jerusalem for worshiping God. onyx A semi-precious stone with many layers of blue or gray. settings The frames that stones are mounted in. mosaic tiles Literally, “stones set in mortar.” 110 tons Literally, “3,000 kikars.” 260 tons Literally, “7,000 kikars.” 190 tons Literally, “5,000 kikars and 10,000 darics.” 375 tons Literally, “10,000 kikars.” 675 tons Literally, “18,000 kikars.” 3,750 tons Literally, “100,000 kikars.” ancestors Literally, “fathers.” This means a person’s parents, grandparents, and all the people they are descended from. Israel Another name for Jacob. See Gen. 35:19. sacrifice(s) A gift to God. Usually it was a special animal that was killed and burned on an altar. ram(s) A male sheep. And they made ... time Solomon was chosen to be king the first time when his half-brother Adonijah tried to make himself king. See 1 Kings 1:5-39. anoint(ed) To pour olive oil on a person’s head to show he was chosen by God to be a king, priest, or prophet. seer This is another name for a prophet. See 1 Sam. 9:9-11. prophet A person called by God to be a special servant. God used dreams and visions to show them things to teach to the people.