1 Chronicles 27–29

David’s Secular Officials

27This is the list of the Israelites, the heads of families, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, and their officers who served the king in every matter to do with the divisions that were on rotated military duty each month throughout ⁱthe year. There were 24,000 in each division:

²Jashobeam son of Zabdiel was in charge of the first division, ^jfor the first month; 24,000 were in his division. ³He was a descendant of Perez and chief of all the army commanders for the first month.

⁴Dodai the Ahohite was in charge of the division for the second month, and Mikloth was the leader; 24,000 were in his division.

⁵The third army commander, as chief for the third month, was Benaiah son of Jehoiada the priest; 24,000 were in his division. ⁶This Benaiah was a mighty man among the Thirty and over the Thirty, and his son Ammizabad was in charge ^kof his division.

⁷The fourth commander, for the fourth month, was Joab’s brother Asahel, and his son Zebadiah was commander after him; 24,000 were in his division.

⁸The fifth, for the fifth month, was the commander Shamhuth the Izrahite; 24,000 were in his division.

⁹The sixth, for the sixth month, was Ira son of Ikkesh the Tekoite; 24,000 were in his division.

¹⁰The seventh, for the seventh month, was Helez the Pelonite from the sons of Ephraim; 24,000 were in his division.

¹¹The eighth, for the eighth month, was Sibbecai the Hushathite, a Zerahite; 24,000 were in his division.

¹²The ninth, for the ninth month, was Abiezer the Anathothite, a Benjaminite; 24,000 were in his division.

¹³The tenth, for the tenth month, was Maharai the Netophathite, a Zerahite; 24,000 were in his division.

¹⁴The eleventh, for the eleventh month, was Benaiah the Pirathonite from the sons of Ephraim; 24,000 were in his division.

¹⁵The twelfth, for the twelfth month, was Heldai the Netophathite, of Othniel’s family; ^l24,000 were in his division.

¹⁶The following were in charge of the tribes of Israel:

For the Reubenites, Eliezer son of Zichri was the chief official;

for the Simeonites, Shephatiah son of Maacah;

¹⁷for the Levites, Hashabiah son of Kemuel; for Aaron, Zadok;

¹⁸for Judah, Elihu, one of David’s brothers; for Issachar, Omri son of Michael;

¹⁹for Zebulun, Ishmaiah son of Obadiah;

for Naphtali, Jerimoth son of Azriel;

²⁰for the Ephraimites, Hoshea son of Azaziah;

for half the tribe of Manasseh, Joel son of Pedaiah;

²¹for half the tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, Iddo son of Zechariah;

for Benjamin, Jaasiel son of Abner;

²²for Dan, Azarel son of Jeroham.

Those were the leaders of the tribes of Israel. ^m

²³David didn’t count the men aged 20 or under, for the Lord had said He would make Israel as numerous as the stars of heaven. ⁿ²⁴Joab son of Zeruiah began to count them, but he didn’t complete it. There was wrath against Israel because of this census, ^oand the number was not entered in the Historical Record ^pof King David.

²⁵Azmaveth son of Adiel was in charge of the king’s storehouses.

Jonathan son of Uzziah was in charge of the storehouses in the country, in the cities, in the villages, and in the fortresses.

²⁶Ezri son of Chelub was in charge of those who worked in the fields tilling the soil.

²⁷Shimei the Ramathite was in charge of the vineyards.

Zabdi the Shiphmite was in charge of the produce of the vineyards for the wine cellars.

²⁸Baal-hanan the Gederite was in charge of the olive and sycamore trees ^qin the Judean foothills. ^r

Joash was in charge of the stores of olive oil.

²⁹Shitrai the Sharonite was in charge of the herds that grazed in Sharon, ^swhile

Shaphat son of Adlai was in charge of the herds in the valleys.

³⁰Obil the Ishmaelite was in charge of the camels.

Jehdeiah the Meronothite was in charge of the donkeys.

³¹Jaziz the Hagrite ^twas in charge of the flocks.

All these were officials in charge of King David’s property.

³²David’s uncle Jonathan was a counselor; he was a man of understanding and a scribe. Jehiel son of Hachmoni attended ^uthe king’s sons. ³³Ahithophel ^vwas the king’s counselor. Hushai ^wthe Archite was the king’s friend. ³⁴After Ahithophel came Jehoiada son of Benaiah, ^xthen Abiathar. ^yJoab was the commander of the king’s army. ^z

David Commissions Solomon to Build the Temple

28David assembled all the leaders of Israel in Jerusalem: ^athe leaders of the tribes, the leaders of the divisions in the king’s service, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of all the property and cattle of the king and his sons, along with the court officials, the fighting men, ^band all the brave warriors. ²Then King David rose to his feet and said, “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. It was in my heart to build a house as a resting place for the ark of the Lord’s covenant ^cand as a footstool ^dfor our God. I had made preparations to build, ³but God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for My name because you are a man of war and have shed blood.’ ^e

⁴“Yet the Lord God of Israel chose me out of all my father’s household ^fto be king over Israel forever. ^gFor He chose Judah as leader, ^hand from the house of Judah, my father’s household, and from my father’s sons, ⁱHe was pleased to make me king over all Israel. ⁵And out of all my sons ^j—for the Lord has given me many sons—He has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the Lord’s kingdom over Israel. ^k6He said to me, ^l‘Your son Solomon is the one who is to build My house and My courts, for I have chosen him to be My son, and I will be his father. ⁷I will establish his kingdom forever if he perseveres in keeping My commands and My ordinances as he is today.’ ^m

⁸“So now in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God, observe and follow all the commands of the Lord your God so that you may possess this good land and leave it as an inheritance to your descendants forever.

⁹“As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind, ⁿfor the Lord searches every heart and understands the intention of every thought. ^oIf you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever. ^p10Realize now that the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary. Be strong, and do it.” ^q

¹¹Then David gave his son Solomon the plans ^rfor the portico ^sof the temple and its buildings, treasuries, upper rooms, inner rooms, and a room for the mercy seat. ^t12The plans contained everything he had in mind ^uvfor the courts of the Lord’s house, all the surrounding chambers, the treasuries ^wof God’s house, and the treasuries for what is dedicated. ¹³Also included were plans for the divisions of the priests and the Levites; all the work of service in the Lord’s house; all the articles of service of the Lord’s house; ¹⁴the weight of gold for all the articles for every kind of service; the weight of all the silver articles for every kind of service; ¹⁵the weight of the gold lampstands ^xand their gold lamps, including the weight of each lampstand and its lamps; the weight of each silver lampstand and its lamps, according to the service of each lampstand; ¹⁶the weight of gold for each table for the rows of the bread of the Presence and the silver for the silver tables; ¹⁷the pure gold for the forks, sprinkling basins, and pitchers; the weight of each gold dish; the weight of each silver bowl; ¹⁸the weight of refined gold for the altar of incense; ^yand the plans for the chariot of ^zathe gold cherubim that spread out their wings and cover the ark of the Lord’s covenant. ^b

¹⁹David concluded, “By the Lord’s hand on me, He enabled me to understand everything in writing, all the details of the plan.” ^c

²⁰Then David said to his son Solomon, “Be strong and courageous, ^dand do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He won’t leave you or forsake you ^euntil all the work for the service of the Lord’s house is finished. ²¹Here are the divisions of the priests and the Levites for all the service of God’s house. ^fEvery willing man of any skill ^gwill be at your disposal for the work, and the leaders and all the people are at your every command.”

Contributions for Building the Temple

29Then King David said to all the assembly, “My son Solomon—God has chosen him alone—is young and inexperienced. The task is great ^hbecause the temple will not be for man but for the Lord God. ⁱ²So to the best of my ability I’ve made provision for the house of my God: ^jgold for the gold articles, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron, and wood for the wood, as well as onyx, stones for mounting, ^kantimony, ^lmstones of various colors, all kinds of precious stones, and a great quantity of marble. ³Moreover, because of my delight in the house of my God, I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the house of my God over and above all that I’ve provided for the holy house: ⁴100 tons ^noof gold (gold of Ophir ^p) and 250 tons ^qof refined silver for overlaying the walls of the buildings, ⁵the gold for the gold work and the silver for the silver, for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now who will volunteer to consecrate himself to the Lord today?”

⁶Then the leaders of the households, the leaders of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, ^rand the officials in charge of the king’s work ^sgave willingly. ⁷For the service of God’s house they gave 185 tons ^tof gold and 10,000 gold coins, ^uv375 tons ^wof silver, 675 tons ^xof bronze, and 4,000 tons ^yof iron. ⁸Whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the Lord’s house under the care of Jehiel ^zthe Gershonite. ⁹Then the people rejoiced because of their leaders’ willingness to give, for they had given to the Lord with a whole heart. ^aKing David also rejoiced greatly.

David’s Prayer

¹⁰Then David praised the Lord in the sight of all the assembly. David said,

May You be praised, …