Chapter 22

¹ Then David said, “This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar for the burnt offerings of Israel.”

Preparations for Building the Temple. ² David ordered that all of the foreigners who were in the land of Israel be gathered together. He assigned them the task of serving as masons to prepare hewn stone to build the house of God. ³ David prepared quite a bit of iron for the nails to be used in the doors, the gates, and the joints. He also prepared so much bronze that it could not be measured. ⁴ He also had much cedar wood, for the Sidonians of Tyre had brought much cedar wood to David.

⁵ David said, “Solomon, my son, is young and inexperienced, and the house that will be built for the Lord must be tremendously magnificent, famous, and glorious throughout every land. I will therefore make preparations for it now.” So David made many preparations before he died.

⁶ He then summoned Solomon, his son, and he charged him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁷ David said to Solomon, “My son, I wanted to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, ⁸ but the word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘Because you have shed so much blood and you have waged many wars, you will not build a house for my name because you have shed too much blood upon the earth before me. ⁹ Behold, a son will be born to you who will be a man of peace^[a] and rest. I will give him a respite from all of his surrounding enemies, for his name will be Solomon. I will give peace and quiet to Israel during his reign. ¹⁰ He is the one who will build a house for my name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’

¹¹ “Now, my son, the Lord will be with you. You will prosper, and you will build a house for the Lord, your God, as he has proclaimed. ¹² May the Lord give you insight and understanding when he sets you over Israel so that you might observe the law of the Lord, your God. ¹³ You will prosper if you carefully observe the statutes and the ordinances that the Lord gave Moses for Israel. Be strong and be brave. Do not be afraid nor dismayed. ¹⁴ I have put myself to the trouble of preparing the following for the temple of the Lord: one hundred thousand talents of gold, one million talents of silver, so much bronze and iron that it could not even be weighed, and an abundance of wood and stone. You can now add to it.^{[b] 15} You have many workmen: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and men who are skilled in every type of craft. ¹⁶ You cannot even count those who can work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron. So now be about it, and the Lord will be with you.”

¹⁷ Charge to the Leaders. David commanded all of the leaders of Israel to assist Solomon, his son, saying, ¹⁸ “Is not the Lord, your God, with you? Has he not given you rest on every side? He has placed the inhabitants of the land in your hand, and the land has been subjected to the Lord and his people. ¹⁹ Now dedicate yourselves heart and soul to seeking the Lord, your God. Rise up and build a sanctuary for the Lord, your God. Bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord and the sacred vessels of God into the temple that will be built for the name of the Lord.”