1 Chronicles 28

1 And David assembled all the princes of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the princes of the divisions that ministered to the king, and the captains over thousands, and the captains over hundreds, and the comptrollers of all the substance and possessions of the king and of his sons, with the chamberlains, and the mighty men, and all the men of valour, unto 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 king David stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren and my people! I had in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of Jehovah and for the footstool of our God, and I have prepared to build.

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, Thou shalt not build a house unto my name, for thou art a man of war, and hast 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 And Jehovah the God of Israel chose me out of all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever; for he has chosen Judah to be the prince; and of the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my father he took pleasure in me to make me king over all 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 and of all my sons, (for Jehovah has given me many sons, ) he has chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of Jehovah 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 thy son, he shall build my house and my courts; for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his 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 establish his kingdom for ever, if he be firm to do my commandments and mine ordinances, as at this day.

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

8 And now in the sight of all Israel, the congregation of Jehovah, and in the audience of our God, — keep and seek for all the commandments of Jehovah your God; that ye may possess the good land, and leave it as an inheritance to your children after you for ever.

“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 thou, Solomon my son, know the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for Jehovah searches all hearts, and discerns all the imaginations of the thoughts. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cut thee off for ever.

“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 Consider now, that Jehovah has chosen thee to build a house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do [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 And David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of its houses, and of its treasuries, and of its upper chambers, and of its inner chambers, and of the house of the mercy-seat;

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 the pattern of all that he had by the Spirit, of the courts of the house of Jehovah, and of all the chambers round about, for the treasuries of the house of God, and for the treasuries of the dedicated 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 courses of the priests and the Levites, and for all the work of the service of the house of Jehovah, and for all the instruments of service in the house of Jehovah:

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 gold by weight for [things] of gold, for all utensils of each kind of service; for all utensils of silver, by weight, for all utensils of each kind of service;

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

15 and the weight of the golden candlesticks, and of their golden lamps, by weight for every candlestick, and for its lamps; and for the silver candlesticks, by weight, for the candlestick and for its lamps, according to the use of every candlestick;

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

16 and gold by weight for the tables of the [loaves] to be set in rows, for every table; and silver for the 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 and pure gold for the forks, and the bowls, and the goblets; and for the golden basons by weight for every bason; and for the silver basons by weight for every bason;

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 and for the altar of incense, refined gold by weight; and the pattern of the chariot of the cherubim of gold, which spread out [their wings] and cover the ark of the covenant of Jehovah.

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 this [said David, ] in writing, by Jehovah's hand upon me, instructing as to 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 And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and courageous, and do it; fear not nor be dismayed: for Jehovah Elohim, my God, will be with thee; he will not leave thee, neither forsake thee, until all the work for the service of the house of Jehovah is finished.

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 And behold, the courses of the priests and the Levites are for all the service of the house of God; and thou hast with thee for all manner of workmanship every willing man, skilful for every sort of service; and the princes and all the people are wholly at thy commandment.

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.”