1 Chronicles 28

1 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.

And David called together all the rulers of Israel, the rulers of tribes and the rulers of the courses who waited upon the king, —and the rulers of thousands and the rulers of hundreds, and the rulers over all the possessions and substance that belonged to the king and to his sons, with the courtiers and the heroes, even every hero of valour, unto Jerusalem.

2 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.

Then David the king rose up on his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren and my people, —As for me, it was near my heart, to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and for the footstool of our God, and I made ready to build.

3 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].’

But, God, said to me, Thou shalt not build a house for my Name, —for, a man of war, thou art, and, blood, hast thou shed.

4 “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.

Howbeit Yahweh, God of Israel, made choice of me, out of all of the house of my father, to become king over Israel unto times age-abiding, for, of Judah, had he made choice to be chief ruler, and, in the house of Judah, the house of my father, —and, among the sons of my father, with me, was he well-pleased, to make me king over all Israel;

5 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.

and, from among all my sons, —for, many sons, hath Yahweh given me, —he hath made choice of Solomon my son, to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of Yahweh, over Israel.

6 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.

And he said unto am, Solomon thy son—he, shall build my house, and my courts, —for I have made choice of him that he may be my son, and that, I, may be his father.

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

So will I establish his kingdom, unto times age-abiding, —if he be strong, to do my commandments and my regulations, as at this day.

8 “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.

Now, therefore, in the eyes of all Israel—the convocation of Yahweh, and in the ears of our God, Observe and seek all the commandments of Yahweh your God, —to the end that ye may possess the good land, —and suffer your sons after you to inherit it, unto times age-abiding.

9 “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.

Thou, therefore, Solomon my son, Know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing soul, for, all hearts, doth Yahweh search, and, every devised purpose, doth he understand, —If thou seek him, He will be found of thee, but, if thou forsake him, He will cast thee off for ever.

10 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].”

See! now, that, Yahweh, hath made choice of thee, to build a house for a sanctuary—be strong and do!

11 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.

Then gave David unto Solomon his son, the plan of the porch, and the recesses thereof, and the treasuries thereof, and the upper rooms thereof, and the inner chambers thereof, and the recess for the propitiatory;

12 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.

and the plan of all which had come by the spirit to be with him, for the courts of the house of Yahweh, and for all the rooms round about, —for the treasuries of the house of God, and for the treasuries of hallowed things;

13 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.

and for the courses of the priests and the Levites, and for all the work of the service of the house of Yahweh, —and for all the utensils of the service of the house of Yahweh:

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

of gold, by weight, for the gold, for all manner of utensils for each several service, —for all manner of utensils of silver, by weight, for all manner of utensils for each several service;

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

and a weight, for the lampstands of gold, and their lamps of gold, by the weight of each several lampstand, and the lamps thereof, —and for the lampstands of silver by weight, for each lampstand and the lamps thereof, according to the service of each several lampstand.

16 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,

And the gold [gave he] by weight for the tables for setting in array, for each several table, —and silver, for the tables of silver;

17 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,

and the fleshhooks and the bowls and the cups, pure gold, —and for the goblets of gold, by weight for each several goblet, and for the goblets of silver, by weight for each several goblet;

18 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.

and, for the altar of incense, refined gold, by weight, —and, for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubim, gold, for them that were spreading out, and covering the ark of the covenant of Yahweh: —

19 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].”

the whole in writing, From the hand of Yahweh upon me, to give understanding, —all the works of the pattern.

20 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.

Then said David, unto Solomon his son, Be strong and bold, and act, thou mayest not fear nor be dismayed, —for, Yahweh, God, my God, will be with thee, he will not let thee go, neither will he forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work of the service of the house of Yahweh.

21 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.”

And there are the courses of the priests and the Levites, for all the service of the house of God, —and, with thee, in all manner of work, is every willing, skilful man for any service, also the rulers and all the people, for all thine affairs.