1 Chronicles 22
1 Then David said, “This is where the house of the Lord God will be, and this is the place for the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”
Then David said, “Here, [at the edge of Jerusalem, ] is where [we will build] the temple for our God Yahweh, and where [we will make] the altar for burning the offerings that the Israeli [people will bring].”
2 So David gave orders to summon the foreigners living in the land of Israel, and he assigned stonecutters to prepare dressed stones to build the house of God.
So David commanded that the foreigners who lived in Israel must gather together. [When they did that, ] he appointed [some of those] men to [cut huge] stones [from the quarries] and to smooth their surfaces, to be used to build the temple of God.
3 David provided plenty of iron to make the nails for the entrance doors and for the supports, as well as more bronze than could be weighed.
David provided a large amount of iron for making nails and hinges for the doors in the gates of the temple. He also provided so much bronze [for making the altar and various utensils], that no one could weigh it all.
4 He provided more cedar logs than could be counted, because the people of Sidon and Tyre had brought a huge quantity of cedar logs to David.
He also provided [money for buying] a large amount of cedar logs. Because there was a huge number of them, no one was able to count them. Those were logs that men from Tyre and Sidon [cities] sent to David.
5 David said to himself, “My son Solomon is still young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be truly magnificent, famous and glorious around the world. I need to start preparing for it.” So David made sure plenty of building materials were ready before he died.
David [provided all those things because he] thought, “My son Solomon is still young and he does not know what he needs to know [about building], and the temple of Yahweh must be (magnificent/very beautiful). It must be a glorious building that will become famous, and people throughout the world must consider it to be glorious/splendid. So now I will begin to prepare for it to be built, [and Solomon will be responsible for building it].” So David collected a great amount of building materials before he died.
6 Then he sent for his son Solomon and instructed him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel.
[When] David [was old, he] summoned his son Solomon, and told him that he should arrange for a temple to be built for Yahweh, the God whom the Israelis [worshiped].
7 David told Solomon, “My son, I had always wanted to build a house to honor the Lord my God.
He said to him, “I wanted [IDM] to build a temple to honor [MTY] Yahweh, my God.
8 But the Lord told me, ‘You have shed a lot of blood and engaged in many wars. You are not to build a house to honor me because I have seen you shed so much blood on the earth.
But Yahweh told [a prophet to tell] me, ‘You have killed many men [MTY] in the battles that you have fought. I have seen the blood of all the people whom you killed, so you will not be the one who will arrange for a temple to be built to honor me [MTY].
9 But you will have a son who will be a man of peace. I will give him peace from all his enemies in the nations around. Solomon will be his name, and I will grant peace and quiet to Israel during his reign.
But you will have a son [who will be king of Israel after you die]. He will be a man who is peaceful and quiet, [not a man who kills others]. And I will cause that there will be peace between him and his enemies who are in all the nearby lands. His name will be Solomon, [which sounds like the word for peace]. During the time that he is king, people in Israel will be peaceful and safe.
10 He is the one who will build a house to honor me. He will be my son, and I will be his father. And I will make sure the throne of his kingdom over Israel lasts forever.’
He is the one who will arrange for a temple to be built to honor me [MTY]. He will be [like] a son to me, and I will cause some of his descendants to rule [MTY] over Israel forever [HYP].’
11 Now, my son, may the Lord be with you so you may succeed in building the house of the Lord your God, just as he said you would.
“So now, my son, I hope/wish that Yahweh will help you, and enable you to be successful in arranging for building the temple of Yahweh, your God, which is what he said that you would do.
12 Only may the Lord give you insight and understanding when he puts you in command of Israel, so that you may keep the law of the Lord your God.
I also hope/wish that he will enable you to be wise and to understand what you need to know, and enable you to obey his laws while you rule over Israel.
13 Then you will be successful, as long as you are careful to follow the laws and regulations that the Lord through Moses instructed Israel to do. Be strong and be brave! Don't be afraid or discouraged!
If you carefully obey all the laws and regulations/commands that Yahweh gave to Moses to give to us Israeli people, you will be successful. So be steadfast/strong and courageous. Do not be afraid of anything, and do not become discouraged!
14 Look, I've taken a lot of trouble to provide for the house of the Lord— 100,000 talents of gold, 1,000,000 talents of silver, and bronze and iron, more than can be weighed.
“I have tried hard to provide [materials] for [building] the temple of Yahweh. I have provided nearly 4,000 tons of gold, and nearly 40,000 tons of silver. I have also provided a very large amount of iron and bronze; no one has been able to weigh it all. I have also gathered/provided lumber and stone [for the walls of the temple], but you may need to get some more of those things.
15 I have also provided timber and stone, but you will need to add more.
There are many men [in Israel] who have good ability to cut big stones for making stone walls, and carpenters, and men who are very skilled at making various kinds of things.
16 You have many workers such as stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and all kinds of craftsmen of gold, silver, bronze, and iron—without limit. So get started, and may the Lord be with you!”
There are many men who know how to make things from gold and silver and bronze and iron. So now [I say to you], begin the work [of building the temple], and I hope/wish that Yahweh will help/be with you.”
17 David also ordered all the leaders in Israel to help his son Solomon.
Then David commanded that all the Israeli leaders must assist Solomon. He said to them,
18 “Isn't the Lord God with you? Hasn't he given you peace on all your borders?” he asked. “Why? Because he has placed the inhabitants of the land under my power, and they are now subject to the Lord and to his people.
“Yahweh our God is certainly with/helping you [RHQ]. He has allowed you to have peace with all the nearby nations [RHQ]. He has enabled my [army] to conquer [IDM] them, so now Yahweh and my people control them.
19 Now, with your whole mind and heart, make a definite decision to always worship the Lord your God. Get started on building the sanctuary of the Lord God, Then you can bring the Ark of the Lord's Agreement and the holy things of God into the house that is to be built to honor the Lord.”
Now you must obey Yahweh completely. Help Solomon to arrange for building the temple for Yahweh God, in order that you can bring the Sacred Chest that contains the Ten Commandments and the other sacred items that belong to God into the temple that you will build to honor Yahweh.”
