1 Chronicles 28:1–6

David’s Address about the Temple

¹Now ^aDavid assembled at Jerusalem all the officials of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the commanders of the divisions that served the king, and the commanders of thousands, and the commanders of hundreds, and the overseers of all the property and livestock belonging to the king and his sons, with the officials and ^bthe mighty men, even all the valiant men.

²Then King David rose to his feet and said, “Listen to me, my brethren and my people; I ^ahad ¹intended to build a ²permanent home for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for ^bthe footstool of our God. So I had made preparations to build it.

³“But God said to me, ‘^aYou shall not build a house for My name because you are a man of war and have shed blood.’

⁴“Yet, the Lord, the God of Israel, ^achose me from all the house of my father to be king over Israel ^bforever. For ^cHe has chosen Judah to be a leader; and ^din the house of Judah, my father’s house, and among the sons of my father He took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel.

⁵“^aOf all my sons (for the Lord has given me many sons), ^bHe has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel.

⁶“He said to me, ‘Your son ^aSolomon is the one who shall build My house and My courts; for I have chosen him to be a son to Me, and I will be a father to him.