¹And David assembled all the princes of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the princes of the divisions that ministered to the king, and the captains over thousands, and the captains over hundreds, and the comptrollers of all the substance and possessions of the king and of his sons, with the chamberlains, and the mighty men, and all the men of valour, unto Jerusalem. ²And king David stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren and my people! I had in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of Jehovah and for the footstool of our God, and I have prepared to build. ³But God said to me, Thou shalt not build a house unto my name, for thou art a man of war, and hast shed blood. ⁴And Jehovah the God of Israel chose me out of all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever; for he has chosen Judah to be the prince; and of the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my father he took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel; ⁵and of all my sons, (for Jehovah has given me many sons,) he has chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of Jehovah over Israel. ⁶And he said to me, Solomon thy son, he shall build my house and my courts; for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. ⁷And I will establish his kingdom for ever, if he be firm to do my commandments and mine ordinances, as at this day. ⁸And now in the sight of all Israel, the congregation of Jehovah, and in the audience of our God, —keep and seek for all the commandments of Jehovah your God; that ye may possess the good land, and leave it as an inheritance to your children after you for ever. ⁹And thou, Solomon my son, know the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for Jehovah searches all hearts, and discerns all the imaginations of the thoughts. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cut thee off for ever. ¹⁰Consider now, that Jehovah has chosen thee to build a house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do it.

¹¹And David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of its houses, and of its treasuries, and of its upper chambers, and of its inner chambers, and of the house of the mercy-seat; ¹²and the pattern of all that he had by the Spirit, of the courts of the house of Jehovah, and of all the chambers round about, for the treasuries of the house of God, and for the treasuries of the dedicated things; ¹³and for the courses of the priests and the Levites, and for all the work of the service of the house of Jehovah, and for all the instruments of service in the house of Jehovah: ¹⁴gold by weight for things of gold, for all utensils of each kind of service; for all utensils of silver, by weight, for all utensils of each kind of service; ¹⁵and the weight of the golden candlesticks, and of their golden lamps, by weight for every candlestick, and for its lamps; and for the silver candlesticks, by weight, for the candlestick and for its lamps, according to the use of every candlestick; ¹⁶and gold by weight for the tables of the loaves to be set in rows, for every table; and silver for the tables of silver; ¹⁷and pure gold for the forks, and the bowls, and the goblets; and for the golden basons by weight for every bason; and for the silver basons by weight for every bason; ¹⁸and for the altar of incense, refined gold by weight; and the pattern of the chariot of the cherubim of gold, which spread out their wings and cover the ark of the covenant of Jehovah. ¹⁹All this said David, in writing, by Jehovah’s hand upon me, instructing as to all the works of the pattern. ²⁰And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and courageous, and do it; fear not nor be dismayed: for Jehovah Elohim, my God, will be with thee; he will not leave thee, neither forsake thee, until all the work for the service of the house of Jehovah is finished. ²¹And behold, the courses of the priests and the Levites are for all the service of the house of God; and thou hast with thee for all manner of workmanship every willing man, skilful for every sort of service; and the princes and all the people are wholly at thy commandment.

Chapter 29

¹And king David said to all the congregation, Solomon my son, the one whom God has chosen, is young and tender, and the work is great; for this palace is not to be for man, but for Jehovah Elohim. ²And I have prepared according to all my power for the house of my God gold for things of gold, and silver for things of silver, and brass for things of brass, iron for things of iron, and wood for things of wood; onyx stones, and stones to be set, glistering stones, and of divers colours, and all manner of precious stones, and white marble in abundance. ³And moreover, in my affection for the house of my God I have given of my own property of gold and silver, for the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the house of the sanctuary: ⁴three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses; ⁵gold for things of gold, and silver for things of silver, and for all manner of work by the hands of artificers. And who is willing to offer to Jehovah this day? ⁶And the chief fathers and princes of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and the comptrollers of the king’s business, offered willingly. ⁷And they gave for the service of the house of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, and ten thousand talents of silver, and eighteen thousand talents of brass, and one hundred thousand talents of iron. ⁸And they with whom stones were found gave them to the treasure of the house of Jehovah, into the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite. ⁹And the people rejoiced because they offered willingly, for with perfect heart they offered willingly to Jehovah; and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.

¹⁰And David blessed Jehovah in the sight of all the congregation; and David said, Blessed be thou, Jehovah, the God of our father Israel, for ever and ever. ¹¹Thine, Jehovah, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the splendour, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is thine: thine, Jehovah, is the kingdom, and thou art exalted as Head above all; ¹²and riches and glory are of thee, and thou rulest over everything; and in thy hand is power and might; and in thy hand it is to make all great and strong. ¹³And now, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name. ¹⁴But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer willingly after this manner? for all is of thee, and of that which is from thy hand have we given thee. ¹⁵For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is no hope of life. ¹⁶Jehovah our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee a house to thy holy name, is of thy hand, and is all thine own. ¹⁷And I know, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart have I willingly offered all these things; and now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here, offer willingly to thee. ¹⁸Jehovah, God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and direct their hearts to thee! ¹⁹And give to Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes, and to do all, and to build the palace, for which I have made provision. ²⁰And David said to all the congregation, Bless now Jehovah your God. And all the congregation blessed Jehovah the God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and did homage to Jehovah and the king. ²¹And they sacrificed sacrifices to Jehovah, and offered up burnt-offerings to Jehovah, on the morrow after that day: a thousand bullocks, a thousand rams, a thousand lambs, with their drink-offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. ²²And they ate and drank before Jehovah on that day with great joy. And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and anointed him to Jehovah to be prince, and Zadok to be priest.

²³And Solomon sat on the throne of Jehovah as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him. ²⁴And all the princes, and the mighty men, and all the sons likewise of king David, submitted themselves to Solomon the king. ²⁵And Jehovah magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed upon him royal majesty such as had not been on any king before him in Israel. ²⁶Now David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. ²⁷And the time that he reigned over Israel was forty years: he reigned seven years in Hebron, and he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem. ²⁸And he died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honour; and Solomon his son reigned in his stead. ²⁹And the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer; ³⁰with all his reign and his might, and the times that passed over him, and over Israel, and over all the kingdoms of the countries.

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