1 Chronicles 29

1 Then King David said to all the people who had gathered there, “My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen [to be the next king], is young and does not have much experience. This work [of building the temple] is great/important, because this glorious building will not be to [honor] people, but to honor Yahweh our God.

Then King David said to the whole assembly, “My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The task is great because this palace is not for man, but for the LORD God.

2 From all the things that I possess, I have provided [what will be needed] to [build] the temple of my God—the gold for the things to be made of gold, the silver for the things to be made of silver, bronze for the things to be made of bronze, iron for the things to be made of iron, wood for the things to be made of wood, and large amounts of onyx and turquoise and other valuable stones of various colors, and marble and all kinds of valuable stones.

Now with all my ability I have made provision for the house of my God—gold for the gold articles, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron, and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, all kinds of precious stones, and slabs of marble—all in abundance.

3 In addition to all these things that I have given for the temple, I am giving treasures of gold and silver, because I very much desire that this holy temple for my God be built.

Moreover, because of my delight in the house of my God, I now give for it my personal treasures of gold and silver, over and above all that I have provided for this holy temple:

4 I am giving 110 tons of gold from Ophir and 260 tons of refined silver to cover the walls of the buildings,

three thousand talents of gold (the gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the buildings,

5 for making the other items of gold and silver, and for the other work to be done by the craftsmen. So now, [I ask you], are there others willing to show [by contributing other gifts for the building of the temple] [EUP] that they have dedicated themselves to Yahweh?”

for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now who will volunteer to consecrate himself to the LORD today?”

6 Then the leaders of the families/clans, the leaders of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of 1,000 soldiers and the commanders of 100 soldiers, and the officials who supervised the work that the king wanted done, gave gifts (willingly/because they wanted to give them).

Then the leaders of the households, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king’s work gave willingly.

7 For the work at the temple they gave 190 tons and (185 pounds/84 kg.) of gold, 375 tons of silver, 675 tons of bronze, and 3,750 tons of iron.

Toward the service of God’s house they gave 5,000 talents and 10,000 darics of gold, 10,000 talents of silver, 18,000 talents of bronze, and 100,000 talents of iron.

8 And any people who owned valuable stones gave them to be put in the storeroom of the temple. Jehiel, a descendant of Gershon, was appointed to be in charge of them.

Whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the LORD, under the care of Jehiel the Gershonite.

9 The people were happy to see that their leaders wanted to give those things, because [they knew that] their leaders were happy and enthusiastic to give those things to Yahweh. And King David also was very happy.

And the people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given to the LORD freely and wholeheartedly. And King David also rejoiced greatly.

10 Then, while all the people there were listening, David prayed, saying, “We praise you, Yahweh, the God whom our ancestor Jacob worshiped. We will praise you forever!

Then David blessed the LORD in the sight of all the assembly and said: “May You be blessed, O LORD, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.

11 You alone are great and powerful; only you are truly glorious and majestic and wonderful. [And that is true] because everything in heaven and on the earth is yours. You are the king of all the people in this world; you are the ruler of everything.

Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in heaven and on earth belongs to You. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all.

12 Because you are very powerful [DOU], you are able to cause anyone to be great and strong.

Both riches and honor come from You, and You are the ruler over all. In Your hands are power and might to exalt and give strength to all.

13 So now, our God, we thank you, and we praise you [MTY] for being very great.

Now therefore, our God, we give You thanks, and we praise Your glorious name.

14 But my people and I are not really able to give anything to you, because everything [that we have] comes from you, and what we have given to you are only the things that we have received from you [MTY].

But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from You, and from Your own hand we have given to You.

15 [In this land] we are like [MET] foreigners and strangers, like our ancestors were. Our time here on this earth is like [SIM] a shadow [that disappears quickly]; [we know that there is] nothing [that] can enable us [to escape dying].

For we are foreigners and strangers in Your presence, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.

16 Yahweh our God, we have gathered all these things to use in building your [MTY] temple, but all of it really belongs to you, and you have given it to us [MTY].

O LORD our God, from Your hand comes all this abundance that we have provided to build You a house for Your holy Name, and all of it belongs to You.

17 My God, I know that you test us people, and you are pleased if you find out that we do what is right. All these things I have given to you because I wanted to. And now I have seen that your people have also joyfully and generously given things to you.

I know, my God, that You test the heart and delight in uprightness. All these things I have given willingly and with an upright heart, and now I have seen Your people who are present here giving joyfully and willingly to You.

18 Yahweh, the God whom our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob worshiped, I desire/hope that your people will continue to desire [to do things like this] forever, and that they will always be loyal to you.

O LORD, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, keep this desire forever in the intentions of the hearts of Your people, and direct their hearts toward You.

19 And now, please enable my son Solomon to faithfully and sincerely [DOU] obey your commands and laws and decrees [DOU] and to do everything that is needed to build this beautiful building for which I have provided [all these things].”

And give my son Solomon a whole heart to keep and carry out all Your commandments, decrees, and statutes, and to build Your palace for which I have made provision.”

20 Then David said to all the people who were gathered there, “Praise Yahweh our God!” So they all praised Yahweh the God whom their ancestors ([also worshiped/belonged to]). They prostrated themselves on the ground in front of Yahweh and in front of the king.

Then David said to the whole assembly, “Blessed be the LORD your God.” So the whole assembly blessed the LORD, the God of their fathers. They bowed down and paid homage to the LORD and to the king.

21 The next day the people offered sacrifices to Yahweh. They presented many animals to be completely burned [on the altar]: 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams, 1,000 male sheep, plus offerings of wine, and many other sacrifices on behalf of all [the people of] Israel.

The next day they offered sacrifices and presented burnt offerings to the LORD: a thousand bulls, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs, along with their drink offerings, and other sacrifices in abundance for all Israel.

22 On that day the people were joyful and ate and drank while Yahweh was watching. Then for the second time they declared that Solomon was now the king. While Yahweh was watching, they anointed him [with olive oil] to be the king, and they anointed Zadok to be the Supreme Priest.

That day they ate and drank with great joy in the presence of the LORD. Then, for a second time, they designated David’s son Solomon as king, anointing him before the LORD as ruler, and Zadok as the priest.

23 So Solomon sat on the throne [because Yahweh wanted him to be] the king to succeed his father David. [During the following years] Solomon prospered, and all the Israeli people obeyed him.

So Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king in place of his father David. He prospered, and all Israel obeyed him.

24 King David’s other sons and all the officers and mighty warriors accepted Solomon as their king, and they solemnly promised to obey him.

All the officials and mighty men, as well as all of King David’s sons, pledged their allegiance to King Solomon.

25 Yahweh caused Solomon to be highly respected by all the Israeli people, and they honored him very much. No king of Israel was honored as much as Solomon was.

The LORD highly exalted Solomon in the sight of all Israel and bestowed on him royal majesty such as had not been bestowed on any king in Israel before him.

26 Jesse’s son David was the king who ruled all of Israel.

David son of Jesse was king over all Israel.

27 He ruled for 40 years: Seven years in Hebron [city] and 33 years in Jerusalem.

The length of David’s reign over Israel was forty years—seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

28 He became an old man who was very rich and greatly honored by all the people. Then he died, and his son Solomon became the king [of Israel].

He died at a ripe old age, full of years, riches, and honor, and his son Solomon reigned in his place.

29 A record of all the things that King David did while he ruled, from the beginning to the end, was put on scrolls written by the prophets Samuel, Nathan, and Gad.

Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are indeed written in the Chronicles of Samuel the Seer, the Chronicles of Nathan the Prophet, and the Chronicles of Gad the Seer,

30 They told about his powerful rule [HEN], and all the things that happened to him and to the people of Israel and in the nearby kingdoms [while he was ruling Israel].

together with all the details of his reign, his might, and the circumstances that came upon him and Israel and all the kingdoms of the lands.