1 Chronicles 28

1 And so David called together all the leaders of Israel, the rulers of the tribes, and those in charge of the companies, who were ministering to the king, and also the tribunes and centurions, and those in charge of the substance and possessions of the king, and his sons, with the eunuchs and the powerful and those most experienced in the army, at Jerusalem.

David summoned all the leaders of Israel to come to Jerusalem. He summoned the leaders of the tribes, the leaders/commanders of the groups that worked for the king, the commanders of 100 soldiers, the commanders of 1,000 soldiers, those who were in charge of the property and livestock that belonged to the king and his sons, all the palace officials, and his mighty soldiers and bravest warriors.

2 And when the king had risen up and was standing, he said: “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. I thought that I would build a house, in which the ark of the covenant of the Lord, the footstool of our God, might rest. And so I prepared everything for its building.

David stood up and said, “My fellow Israelis, listen to me. I wanted [IDM] to build a temple to be a place where we would put the Sacred Chest of Yahweh, where it would stay permanently. And I made plans to build it.

3 But God said to me: ‘You shall not build a house to my name, because you are a man of war, and have shed blood.’

But God said to me, ‘You are not the one who will [arrange to] build a temple for me [MTY], because you are a warrior and you have killed many people [MTY] [in battles].’

4 Now the Lord God of Israel chose me, out of the entire house of my father, so that I would be king over Israel forever. For from Judah he chose leaders; then from the house of Judah he chose the house of my father; and from the sons of my father, it pleased him to choose me as king over all of Israel.

“But Yahweh, the God to whom we Israelis belong, had chosen me and my descendants to be the kings of Israel forever. [First] he chose the tribe of Judah, and from the people [MTY] of Judah he chose my family, and from my father’s sons he chose me to be the king over all of Israel.

5 Then too, among my sons (for the Lord has given me many sons) he chose Solomon my son, so that he would sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord, over Israel.

Yahweh has given me many sons, but from them he chose my son Solomon to be the next king to rule [MTY] the kingdom of Israel.

6 And he said to me: ‘Solomon your son shall build my house and my courts. For I have chosen him to be to me as a son, and I will be to him as a father.

He said to me, ‘Solomon your son is the one who will [arrange to] build my temple and the courtyards around it, because I have chosen him to be [like] my son and I will be [like] [MET] his father.

7 And I will make firm his kingdom, even unto eternity, if he will persevere in doing my precepts and judgments, as also today.’

I will enable his kingdom to endure forever if he continues to obey my laws and commands, like you are doing now.’

8 Now therefore, before the entire assembly of Israel, in the hearing of our God, keep and seek all the commandments of the Lord our God, so that you may possess the good land, and may bequeath it to your sons after you, even forever.

“So now, while all [you people of] Israel, all of you who belong to Yahweh, are watching, and while God is listening, I command you [leaders] to carefully obey all the commands of Yahweh our God, in order that you may continue to possess this good land and enable your descendants to inherit it forever.

9 And as for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and a willing mind. For the Lord searches all hearts, and understands the thoughts of all minds. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you abandon him, he will cast you aside for eternity.

“And you, my son Solomon, must know God like I know him, and you must serve him faithfully and because you want to. You must do that because he knows what everyone is thinking and he understands the reasons that people do what they do. If you seek [to know] him, he will heed your prayers. But if you abandon/reject him, he will abandon/reject you forever.

10 Now therefore, since the Lord has chosen you, so that you would build the house of the Sanctuary, be strengthened and accomplish it.”

Yahweh has chosen you to [arrange to] build a temple for him. So think about [what I have said], and be strong and do what [he is wanting you to do].”

11 Then David gave to his son Solomon a description of the portico, and the temple, and the storerooms, and the upper floor, and the innermost rooms, and the house of propitiation,

Then David gave to his son Solomon [the scroll on which were written] the plans for the main rooms of the temple, its porch, its storerooms, all the other upper and lower rooms, and the Very Holy Place where God would forgive the sins that people had committed.

12 and indeed also of all the courts that he had planned, and the outer rooms on all sides, for the treasuries of the house of the Lord, and for the treasuries of the holy things,

David wrote for him the plans that God’s Spirit had put into his mind for building the courtyards and all the rooms that surrounded the temple, including the room where the money and other valuable things that were dedicated to God would be kept.

13 and for the divisions of the priests and the Levites: concerning all the works of the house of the Lord and all the items in the ministry of the temple of the Lord.

He gave Solomon instructions for the groups of priests and other descendants of Levi, about all the work that they must do to serve in Yahweh’s temple, and about taking care of all the things that would be used in the work at the temple.

14 There was gold by weight for every vessel of the ministry, and also silver by weight for the diversity of vessels and equipment.

He wrote down how much gold and how much silver should be used to make all the items in the temple:

15 Then too, he distributed gold for the lampstands and their lamps, according to the measure of each of the lampstands with their lamps. Similarly also, he distributed silver by weight for the silver lampstands with their lamps, according to the diversity of their measure.

how much gold for making the gold lampstands and the lamps, how much silver to make the silver lamps and lampstands,

16 Also, he gave gold for the tables of the presence, according to the diversity of the tables; similarly too, he gave silver for the other tables of silver.

how much gold for making the table on which [the priests would put] the sacred bread, how much silver to use to make the other tables,

17 Also, he distributed from the purest gold for the small hooks and the bowls and the censors, as well as for the little lions of gold, in accord with the precise measure of the weight, for lion after lion. Similarly too, for the lions of silver, he set aside a different weight of silver.

how much pure gold for the meat forks and the bowls and the cups, how much gold for each gold dish, how much silver for each silver dish,

18 Then, for the altar on which the incense was burned, he gave the purest gold. And from the same he made the likeness of the chariot of the Cherubim, with extended wings, which is veiling the ark of the covenant of the Lord.

and how much pure gold to make the altar for [burning] incense. He also gave to Solomon his plans for making the golden statues of winged creatures that would be above the Sacred Chest of Yahweh, [like] a chariot for him.

19 “All these things,” he said, “came to me written by the hand of the Lord, so that I would understand all the works of the pattern.”

Then David said, “I have written [all these plans] while Yahweh was directing [MTY] me. He has enabled me to understand all the details of his plan [for the temple that is to be built].”

20 David also said to his son Solomon: “Act manfully, and be strengthened, and carry it out. You should not be afraid, and you should not be dismayed. For the Lord my God will be with you, and he will not send you away, nor will he abandon you, until you have perfected the entire work of the ministry of the house of the Lord.

David also said to his son Solomon, “Be strong and courageous, and do this work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, because Yahweh our God will be with/helping you. He will not fail [to help] you or abandon you until you finish all the work of making his temple.

21 Behold, the divisions of the priests and the Levites, for every ministry of the house of the Lord, are standing before you. And they have been prepared, and so they know, both the leaders and the people, how to carry out all your precepts.”

The groups of priests and [other] descendants of Levi are ready to begin their work at the temple, and every man who has a special skill will help you in all the work. And my officials and the other people will obey you, whatever you command them to do.”