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Offerings for the Temple

29 Then King David addressed the entire assembly: “My son Solomon, the one whom God alone has chosen, is still young and inexperienced, and the task is great, since this structure will be a citadel to the Lord God and not for human beings. To the extent that I have been able to do so, I have provided supplies for the Temple of my God, including gold for what is to be made of gold, silver for what is to be made of silver, bronze for what is to be made of bronze, iron for what is to be made of iron, wood for what is to be made of wood, and great quantities of onyx, precious stones, antimony, colored stones, all types of other semi-precious stones, and plenty of marble.

“In addition to everything that I have supplied for the Temple, it pleases me to provide my own treasure of gold and silver, so because of my love for the Temple of my God I hereby give to the Temple of my God the following: 3,000 gold talents[a] imported from Ophir,[b] 7,000 talents[c] of refined silver for gilding the walls of the Temple and for all the work to be undertaken by skilled artists, gold for what is to be made of gold, and silver for what is to be made of silver. Who then, will be dedicating the productivity[d] of his own work[e] to the Lord today?”

So the leaders of the ancestral households presented their voluntary offerings, as did the leaders of the tribes, the commanders of thousands and hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king’s business. They presented 5,000 gold talents[f] and 10,000 gold darics[g] for the work of the Temple of God, 10,000 silver talents[h], 18,000 bronze talents,[i] and 100,000 iron talents.[j] Whoever owned precious stones gave them to the treasury of the Temple of the Lord, in care of Jehiel the Gershonite. Then the people rejoiced because they had given voluntarily, since with a devoted heart they had freely given to the Lord.

David’s Praise to God

King David also rejoiced greatly. 10 Then David blessed the Lord in the presence of the entire assembly. David said,

How blessed you are, Lord,
    the God of our ancestor Israel,
        from eternity to eternity!
11 To you, Lord, belongs the greatness, and the valor,
    and the splendor, and the endurance, and the majesty
because all that is in heaven
    and on earth is yours.
To you belongs the kingdom, Lord,
    and you are exalted as head over all.
12 Both wealth and honor proceed from you,
    and you are ruling over them all.
You control[k] power—
    you control who is made great,
        and how everyone becomes strong.
13 And so, our God, we are giving you thanks,
    and we are praising your wonderful name!

14 But who am I,
    and who are my people,
        that we make such voluntary offerings as these?
For all things come from you,
    and from your own hand we are giving to you.
15 For we are aliens and vagrants in your presence,
    as were all of our ancestors.
Our days on the earth pass away like shadows,
    and we have no hope.

16 Lord our God, all of this abundance that we have given
    for building a temple for your great name
was provided by you[l]
    and all of it belongs to you.
17 And I know, God,
    that it is you who searches the heart
        and you who finds pleasure in righteousness.
With a righteous heart I have freely given all these things,
    and now I have seen all of these people of yours
        giving freely and joyfully to you!
18 Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our ancestors,
    keep your purposes and thoughts
        constantly in the hearts of your people
and direct their hearts toward you,
19 granting to my son Solomon to keep with a devoted heart
your commands, your decrees, and your statutes,
    carrying out all of them,
and that he may build the Temple
    for which I have made the preparations.

20 Then David told the entire assembly, “Bless the Lord your God, please.” So the entire assembly blessed the Lord God of their ancestors, bowing their heads and falling in the Lord’s presence and before the king. 21 The next day, they offered sacrifices and burnt offerings to the Lord amounting to[m] 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams, and 1,000 lambs, along with their libations. Sacrifices were abundant throughout all Israel, 22 and they ate and drank in the Lord’s presence with great joy.

Solomon is Anointed King(A)

They crowned David’s son Solomon king a second time and anointed him to serve[n] as Commander-in-Chief[o] to the Lord and Zadok to serve[p] as priest. 23 So Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king in the place of[q] his father David. He prospered, and all of Israel obeyed[r] him. 24 All of the officials, all of the valiant soldiers, and all of King David’s sons submitted to King Solomon’s control, 25 and the Lord exalted Solomon magnificently in the sight of all Israel, bestowing upon him royal majesty such as had not been given to any king in Israel before him.

Summary of the Reign of King David

26 Jesse’s son David reigned as king over all of Israel, 27 serving as king over Israel for 40 years. He reigned for seven years in Hebron and for 33 in Jerusalem. 28 He died at a good old age, having lived a full life, replete with riches and honor, and with his son Solomon reigning in his place. 29 The activities of David the king are recorded in the History of Samuel the Seer,[s] in the History of Nathan the Prophet,[t] and in the History of Gad the Seer,[u] 30 including details regarding[v] his reign, his power, the circumstances that attended his life, Israel, and all of the kingdoms of the countries that surrounded him.[w]

Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 29:4 I.e. about 225,000 pounds; a talent weighed about 75 pounds
  2. 1 Chronicles 29:4 Or from a source of fine gold; cf. 2Chr 8:18
  3. 1 Chronicles 29:4 I.e. about 525,000 pounds; a talent weighed about 75 pounds
  4. 1 Chronicles 29:5 Lit. filling
  5. 1 Chronicles 29:5 Lit. hand
  6. 1 Chronicles 29:7 I.e. about 375,000 pounds; a talent weighed about 75 pounds
  7. 1 Chronicles 29:7 I.e. about 156 pounds; a daric weighed about one quarter of an ounce
  8. 1 Chronicles 29:7 I.e. about 750,000 pounds; a talent weighed about 75 pounds
  9. 1 Chronicles 29:7 I.e. about 1,350,000 pounds; a talent weighed about 75 pounds
  10. 1 Chronicles 29:7 I.e. about 7,500,000 pounds; a talent weighed about 75 pounds
  11. 1 Chronicles 29:12 Lit. You have in your hand
  12. 1 Chronicles 29:16 Lit. by your hand
  13. 1 Chronicles 29:21 The Heb. lacks amounting to
  14. 1 Chronicles 29:22 The Heb. lacks serve
  15. 1 Chronicles 29:22 Or prince; lit. Nagid; i.e. an officer entrusted with dual roles of operational oversight and management authority
  16. 1 Chronicles 29:22 The Heb. lacks serve
  17. 1 Chronicles 29:23 Or king under
  18. 1 Chronicles 29:23 Or listened to
  19. 1 Chronicles 29:29 An ancient chronicle of Israel, apparently now lost
  20. 1 Chronicles 29:29 An ancient chronicle of Israel, apparently now lost
  21. 1 Chronicles 29:29 An ancient chronicle of Israel, apparently now lost
  22. 1 Chronicles 29:30 The Heb. lacks details regarding
  23. 1 Chronicles 29:30 The Heb. lacks that surrounded him