David Prepares to Build the Temple

22 Then David said, a“This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.” 2 So David commanded to gather the baliens who were in the land of Israel; and he appointed masons to ccut hewn stones to build the house of God. 3 And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails of the doors of the gates and for the joints, and bronze in abundance dbeyond measure, 4 and cedar trees in abundance; for the eSidonians and those from Tyre brought much cedar wood to David.

5 Now David said, f“Solomon my son is young and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent, famous and glorious throughout all countries. I will now make preparation for it.” So David made abundant preparations before his death.

6 Then he called for his son Solomon, and 1charged him to build a house for the Lord God of Israel. 7 And David said to Solomon: “My son, as for me, git was in my mind to build a house hto the name of the Lord my God; 8 but the word of the Lord came to me, saying, i‘You have shed much blood and have made great wars; you shall not build a house for My name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in My sight. 9 jBehold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him krest from all his enemies all around. His name shall be 2Solomon, for I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days. 10 lHe shall build a house for My name, and mhe shall be My son, and I will be his Father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’ 11 Now, my son, may nthe Lord be with you; and may you prosper, and build the house of the Lord your God, as He has said to you. 12 Only may the Lord ogive you wisdom and understanding, and give you charge concerning Israel, that you may keep the law of the Lord your God. 13 pThen you will prosper, if you take care to fulfill the statutes and judgments with which the Lord 3charged Moses concerning Israel. qBe strong and of good courage; do not fear nor be dismayed. 14 Indeed I have taken much trouble to prepare for the house of the Lord one hundred thousand talents of gold and one million talents of silver, and bronze and iron rbeyond measure, for it is so abundant. I have prepared timber and stone also, and you may add to them. 15 Moreover there are workmen with you in abundance: woodsmen and stonecutters, and all types of skillful men for every kind of work. 16 Of gold and silver and bronze and iron there is no limit. Arise and begin working, and sthe Lord be with you.”

17 David also commanded all the tleaders of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, 18 “Is not the Lord your God with you? uAnd has He not given you rest on every side? For He has given the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land is subdued before the Lord and before His people. 19 Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God. Therefore arise and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, to vbring the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy articles of God into the house that is to be built wfor the name of the Lord.”

The Divisions of the Levites

23 So when David was old and full of days, he made his son aSolomon king over Israel.

2 And he gathered together all the leaders of Israel, with the priests and the Levites. 3 Now the Levites were numbered from the age of bthirty years and above; and the number of individual males was thirty-eight thousand. 4 Of these, twenty-four thousand were to clook after the work of the house of the Lord, six thousand were dofficers and judges, 5 four thousand were gatekeepers, and four thousand epraised the Lord with musical instruments, f“which I made,” said David, “for giving praise.”

6 Also gDavid separated them into 1divisions among the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

7 Of the hGershonites: 2Laadan and Shimei. 8 The sons of Laadan: the first Jehiel, then Zetham and Joel—three in all. 9 The sons of Shimei: Shelomith, Haziel, and Haran—three in all. These were the heads of the fathers’ houses of Laadan. 10 And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, 3Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. These were the four sons of Shimei. 11 Jahath was the first and Zizah the second. But Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons; therefore they were assigned as one father’s house.

12 iThe sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel—four in all. 13 The sons of jAmram: Aaron and Moses; and kAaron was set apart, he and his sons forever, that he should 4sanctify the most holy things, lto burn incense before the Lord, mto minister to Him, and nto give the blessing in His name forever. 14 Now othe sons of Moses the man of God were reckoned to the tribe of Levi. 15 pThe sons of Moses were 5Gershon and Eliezer. 16 Of the sons of Gershon, qShebuel 6was the first. 17 Of the descendants of Eliezer, rRehabiah was the first. And Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many. 18 Of the sons of Izhar, sShelomith was the first. 19 tOf the sons of Hebron, Jeriah was the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. 20 Of the sons of Uzziel, Michah was the first and Jesshiah the second.

21 uThe sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and vKish. 22 And Eleazar died, and whad no sons, but only daughters; and their 7brethren, the sons of Kish, xtook them as wives. 23 yThe sons of Mushi were Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth—three in all.

24 These were the sons of zLevi by their fathers’ houses—the heads of the fathers’ houses as they were counted individually by the number of their names, who did the work for the service of the house of the Lord, from the age of atwenty years and above.

25 For David said, “The Lord God of Israel bhas given rest to His people, that they may dwell in Jerusalem forever”; 26 and also to the Levites, “They shall no longer ccarry the tabernacle, or any of the articles for its service.” 27 For by the dlast words of David the Levites were numbered from twenty years old and above; 28 because their duty was to help the sons of Aaron in the service of the house of the Lord, in the courts and in the chambers, in the purifying of all holy things and the work of the service of the house of God, 29 both with ethe showbread and fthe fine flour for the grain offering, with gthe unleavened cakes and hwhat is baked in the pan, with what is mixed and with all kinds of imeasures and sizes; 30 to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise at evening; 31 and at every presentation of a burnt offering to the Lord jon the Sabbaths and on the New Moons and on the kset 8feasts, by number according to the ordinance governing them, regularly before the Lord; 32 and that they should lattend to the mneeds of the tabernacle of meeting, the needs of the holy place, and the nneeds of the sons of Aaron their brethren in the work of the house of the Lord.

The Divisions of the Priests

24 Now these are the divisions of the sons of Aaron. aThe sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 2 And bNadab and Abihu died before their father, and had no children; therefore Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests. 3 Then David with Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and cAhimelech of the sons of Ithamar, divided them according to the schedule of their service.

4 There were more leaders found of the sons of Eleazar than of the sons of Ithamar, and thus they were divided. Among the sons of Eleazar were sixteen heads of their fathers’ houses, and eight heads of their fathers’ houses among the sons of Ithamar. 5 Thus they were divided by lot, one group as another, for there were officials of the sanctuary and officials of the house of God, from the sons of Eleazar and from the sons of Ithamar. 6 And the scribe, Shemaiah the son of Nethanel, one of the Levites, wrote them down before the king, the leaders, Zadok the priest, Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the priests and Levites, one father’s house taken for Eleazar and one for Ithamar.

7 Now the first lot fell to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah, 8 the third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim, 9 the fifth to Malchijah, the sixth to Mijamin, 10 the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to dAbijah, 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 1Happizzez, 16 the nineteenth to Pethahiah, the twentieth to 2Jehezekel, 17 the twenty-first to Jachin, the twenty-second to Gamul, 18 the twenty-third to Delaiah, the twenty-fourth to Maaziah.

19 This was the schedule of their service efor coming into the house of the Lord according to their ordinance by the hand of Aaron their father, as the Lord God of Israel had commanded him.

Other Levites

20 And the rest of the sons of Levi: of the sons of Amram, 3Shubael; of the sons of Shubael, Jehdeiah. 21 Concerning fRehabiah, of the sons of Rehabiah, the first was Isshiah. 22 Of the Izharites, 4Shelomoth; of the sons of Shelomoth, Jahath. 23 Of the sons 5of gHebron, Jeriah 5was the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. 24 Of the sons of Uzziel, Michah; of the sons of Michah, Shamir. 25 The brother of Michah, Isshiah; of the sons of Isshiah, Zechariah. 26 hThe sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi; the son of Jaaziah, Beno. 27 The sons of Merari by Jaaziah were Beno, Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri. 28 Of Mahli: Eleazar, iwho had no sons. 29 Of Kish: the son of Kish, Jerahmeel.

30 Also jthe sons of Mushi were Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth. These were the sons of the Levites according to their fathers’ houses.

31 These also cast lots just as their brothers the sons of Aaron did, in the presence of King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the priests and Levites. The chief fathers did just as their younger brethren.