1 Chronicles 29

Gifts for Building the Temple

29Then King David said to the whole assembly: “My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and inexperienced.ⁱ The task is great, because this palatial structure is not for man but for the Lord God. ²With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God—gold^j for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise,^ak stones of various colors, and all kinds of fine stone and marble—all of these in large quantities.^{l 3}Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided^m for this holy temple: ⁴three thousand talents^b of gold (gold of Ophir)ⁿ and seven thousand talents^c of refined silver,^o for the overlaying of the walls of the buildings, ⁵for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now, who is willing to consecrate themselves to the Lord today?”

⁶Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials^p in charge of the king’s work gave willingly.^{q 7}They^r gave toward the work on the temple of God five thousand talents^d and ten thousand darics^e of gold, ten thousand talents^f of silver, eighteen thousand talents^g of bronze and a hundred thousand talents^h of iron. ⁸Anyone who had precious stones^s gave them to the treasury of the temple of the Lord in the custody of Jehiel the Gershonite.^{t 9}The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly^u to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly.

David’s Prayer

¹⁰David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying,

“Praise be to you, Lord,

the God of our father Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting.

¹¹Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power^v

and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,

for everything in heaven and earth is yours.^w

Yours, Lord, is the kingdom;

you are exalted as head over all.^x

¹²Wealth and honor^y come from you;

you are the ruler^z of all things.

In your hands are strength and power

to exalt and give strength to all.

¹³Now, our God, we give you thanks,

and praise your glorious name.

¹⁴“But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this?^a Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.^{b 15}We are foreigners and strangers^c in your sight, as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow,^d without hope. ¹⁶Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you. ¹⁷I know, my God, that you test the heart^e and are pleased with integrity. All these things I have given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you.^{f 18}Lord, the God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep these desires and thoughts in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you. ¹⁹And give my son Solomon the wholehearted devotion^g to keep your commands, statutes and decrees^h and to do everything to build the palatial structure for which I have provided.”ⁱ

²⁰Then David said to the whole assembly, “Praise the Lord your God.” So they all praised the Lord, the God of their fathers; they bowed down, prostrating themselves before the Lord and the king.

Solomon Acknowledged as King

29:21–25pp—1Ki 1:28–53

²¹The next day they made sacrifices to the Lord and presented burnt offerings to him:^j a thousand bulls, a thousand rams and a thousand male lambs, together with their drink offerings, and other sacrifices in abundance for all Israel.^{k 22}They ate and drank with great joy^l in the presence of the Lord that day.

Then they acknowledged Solomon son of David as king a second time, anointing him before the Lord to be ruler and Zadok^m to be priest. ²³So Solomon satⁿ on the throne^o of the Lord as king in place of his father David. He prospered and all Israel obeyed him. ²⁴All the officers and warriors, as well as all of King David’s sons,^p pledged their submission to King Solomon.

²⁵The Lord highly exalted^q Solomon in the sight of all Israel and bestowed on him royal splendor^r such as no king over Israel ever had before.^s

The Death of David

29:26–28pp—1Ki 2:10–12

²⁶David son of Jesse was king^t over all Israel.^{u 27}He ruled over Israel forty years—seven in Hebron^v and thirty-three in Jerusalem.^{w 28}He died^x at a good old age, having enjoyed long life, wealth and honor. His son Solomon succeeded him as king.^y

²⁹As for the events of King David’s reign, from beginning to end, they are written in the records of Samuel the seer,^z the records of Nathan^a the prophet and the records of Gad^b the seer, ³⁰together with the details of his reign and power, and the circumstances that surrounded him and Israel and the kingdoms of all the other lands.