¹And David saith, ‘This is the house of Jehovah God, and this the altar for burnt-offering for Israel.’ ²And David saith to gather the sojourners who are in the land of Israel, and appointeth hewers to hew hewn-stones to build a house of God. ³And iron in abundance for nails for leaves of the gates, and for couplings, hath David prepared, and brass in abundance—there is no weighing. ⁴And cedar-trees even without number, for the Zidonians and the Tyrians brought in cedar-trees in abundance to David. ⁵And David saith, ‘Solomon my son is a youth and tender, and the house to be built to Jehovah is to be made exceedingly great, for name and for beauty to all the lands; let me prepare, I pray Thee, for it;’ and David prepareth in abundance before his death.

⁶And he calleth for Solomon his son, and chargeth him to build a house to Jehovah, God of Israel, ⁷and David saith to Solomon his son, ‘As for me, it hath been with my heart to build a house to the name of Jehovah my God, ⁸and the word of Jehovah is against me, saying, Blood in abundance thou hast shed, and great wars thou hast made: thou dost not build a house to My name, for much blood thou hast shed to the earth before Me.

⁹‘Lo, a son is born to thee; he is a man of rest, and I have given rest to him from all his enemies round about, for Solomon is his name, and peace and quietness I give unto Israel in his days; ¹⁰he doth build a house to My name, and he is to Me for a son, and I am to him for a father, and I have established the throne of his kingdom over Israel unto the age.

¹¹‘Now, my son, Jehovah is with thee, and thou hast prospered, and hast built the house of Jehovah thy God, as He spake concerning thee. ¹²Only, Jehovah give to thee wisdom and understanding, and charge thee concerning Israel, even to keep the law of Jehovah thy God; ¹³then thou dost prosper, if thou dost observe to do the statutes and the judgments that Jehovah charged Moses with concerning Israel; be strong and courageous; do not fear, nor be cast down.

¹⁴‘And lo, in mine affliction, I have prepared for the house of Jehovah of gold talents a hundred thousand, and of silver a thousand thousand talents; and of brass and of iron there is no weighing, for in abundance it hath been, and wood and stones I have prepared, and to them thou dost add.

¹⁵‘And with thee in abundance are workmen, hewers and artificers of stone and of wood, and every skilful man for every work. ¹⁶To the gold, to the silver, and to the brass, and to the iron, there is no number; arise and do, and Jehovah is with thee.’

¹⁷And David giveth charge to all heads of Israel to give help to Solomon his son, ¹⁸‘Is not Jehovah your God with you? yea, He hath given rest to you round about, for He hath given into my hand the inhabitants of the land, and subdued hath been the land before His people.

¹⁹‘Now, give your heart and your soul to seek to Jehovah your God, and rise and build the sanctuary of Jehovah God, to bring in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and the holy vessels of God, to the house that is built to the name of Jehovah.’

Chapter 23

¹And David is old, and satisfied with days, and causeth his son Solomon to reign over Israel, ²and gathereth all the heads of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites; ³and the Levites are numbered from a son of thirty years and upward, and their number, by their polls, is of mighty men thirty and eight thousand. ⁴Of these to preside over the work of the house of Jehovah are twenty and four thousand, and officers and judges six thousand, ⁵and four thousand gatekeepers, and four thousand giving praise to Jehovah, ‘with instruments that I made for praising,’ saith David. ⁶And David distributeth them into courses: Of the sons of Levi: of Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ⁷Of the Gershonite: Laadan and Shimei. ⁸Sons of Laadan: the head is Jehiel, and Zetham, and Joel, three. ⁹Sons of Shimei are Shelomith, and Haziel, and Haran, three; these are heads of the fathers of Laadan. ¹⁰And sons of Shimei are Jahath, Zina, and Jeush, and Beriah; these are sons of Shimei, four. ¹¹And Jahath is the head, and Zizah the second, and Jeush and Beriah have not multiplied sons, and they become the house of a father by one numbering. ¹²Sons of Kohath are Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four. ¹³Sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses; and Aaron is separated for his sanctifying the holy of holies, he and his sons—unto the age, to make perfume before Jehovah, to serve Him, and to bless in His name—unto the age. ¹⁴As to Moses, the man of God, his sons are called after the tribe of Levi. ¹⁵Sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer. ¹⁶Sons of Gershom: Shebuel the head. ¹⁷And sons of Eliezer are Rehabiah the head, and Eliezer had no other sons, and the sons of Rehabiah have multiplied exceedingly. ¹⁸Sons of Izhar: Shelomith the head. ¹⁹Sons of Hebron: Jeriah the head, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. ²⁰Sons of Uzziel: Micah the head, and Ishshiah, the second. ²¹Sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi; sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish. ²²And Eleazar dieth, and he had no sons, but daughters, and sons of Kish their brethren take them. ²³Sons of Mushi: Mahli, and Eder, and Jerimoth, three.

²⁴These are sons of Levi, by the house of their fathers, heads of the fathers, by their appointments, in the number of names, by their polls, doing the work for the service of the house of Jehovah, from a son of twenty years and upward, ²⁵for David said, ‘Jehovah, God of Israel, hath given rest to His people, and He doth tabernacle in Jerusalem unto the age;’ ²⁶and also of the Levites, ‘None are to bear the tabernacle and all its vessels for its service;’ ²⁷for by the last words of David they took the number of the sons of Levi from a son of twenty years and upward, ²⁸for their station is at the side of the sons of Aaron, for the service of the house of Jehovah, over the courts, and over the chambers, and over the cleansing of every holy thing, and the work of the service of the house of God, ²⁹and for the bread of the arrangement, and for fine flour for present, and for the thin unleavened cakes, and for the work of the pan, and for that which is fried, and for all liquid measure and solid measure; ³⁰and to stand, morning by morning, to give thanks, and to give praise to Jehovah, and so at evening; ³¹and for all the burnt-offerings—burnt-offerings to Jehovah for sabbaths, for new moons, and for appointed seasons, by number, according to the ordinance upon them continually, before Jehovah. ³²And they have kept the charge of the tent of meeting, and the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the sons of Aaron, their brethren, for the service of the house of Jehovah.

Chapter 24

¹And to the sons of Aaron are their courses: sons of Aaron are Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, ²and Nadab dieth, and Abihu, in the presence of their father, and they had no sons, and Eleazar and Ithamar act as priests. ³And David distributeth them, and Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, according to their office in their service; ⁴and there are found of the sons of Eleazar more for heads of the mighty men than of the sons of Ithamar; and they distribute them: Of the sons of Eleazar, heads for a house of fathers, sixteen; and of the sons of Ithamar, for a house of their fathers, eight. ⁵And they distribute them, by lots, one with another, for princes of the sanctuary, and princes of God, have been of the sons of Eleazar, and of the sons of Ithamar. ⁶And Shemaiah son of Nethaneel the scribe, of the Levites, writeth them before the king and the princes, and Zadok the priest, and Ahimelech son of Abiathar, and heads of the fathers, for priests and for Levites: one house of a father being taken possession of for Eleazar, and one being taken possession of for Ithamar. ⁷And the first lot goeth out for Jehoiarib, for Jedaiah the second, ⁸for Harim the third, for Seorim the fourth, ⁹for Malchijah the fifth, for Mijamin the sixth, ¹⁰for Hakkoz the seventh, for Abijah the eighth, ¹¹for Jeshuah the ninth, for Shecaniah the tenth, ¹²for Eliashib the eleventh, for Jakim the twelfth, ¹³for Huppah the thirteenth, for Jeshebeab the fourteenth, ¹⁴for Bilgah the fifteenth, for Immer the sixteenth, ¹⁵for Hezir the seventeenth, for Aphses the eighteenth, ¹⁶for Pethahiah the nineteenth, for Jehezekel the twentieth, ¹⁷for Jachin the one and twentieth, for Gamul the two and twentieth, ¹⁸for Delaiah the three and twentieth, for Maaziah the four and twentieth. ¹⁹These are their appointments for their service, to come in to the house of Jehovah, according to their ordinance by the hand of Aaron their father, as Jehovah God of Israel, commanded them.

²⁰And for the sons of Levi who are left: for sons of Amram, Shubael; for sons of Shubael: Jehdeiah. ²¹For Rehabiah: for sons of Rehabiah, the head Ishshiah. ²²For the Izharite: Shelomoth; for sons of Shelomoth: Jahath. ²³And sons of Jeriah: Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, Jekameam the fourth. ²⁴Sons of Uzziel: Michah; for sons of Michah: Shamir. ²⁵A brother of Michah is Ishshiah; for sons of Ishshiah: Zechariah; ²⁶sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi; sons of Jaaziah: Beno; ²⁷sons of Merari: of Jaaziah: Beno, and Shoham, and Zaccur, and Ibri. ²⁸For Mahli: Eleazar, who had no sons; ²⁹for Kish: sons of Kish: Jerahmeel. ³⁰And sons of Mushi are Mahli, and Eder, and Jerimoth; these are sons of the Levites, for the house of their fathers, ³¹and they cast, they also, lots over-against their brethren the sons of Aaron, before David the king, and Zadok, and Ahimelech, and heads of the fathers, for priests and for Levites; the chief father over-against his younger brother.

Chapter 25

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