22 ¹ Then David said, “Here shall be the house of the Lord God and here the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”^(A)

David Prepares to Build the Temple

² David gave orders to gather together the aliens who were residing in the land of Israel, and he set stonecutters to prepare dressed stones for building the house of God.^{(B) 3} David also provided great stores of iron for nails for the doors of the gates and for clamps, as well as bronze in quantities beyond weighing,^{(C) 4} and cedar logs without number—for the Sidonians and Tyrians brought great quantities of cedar to David.^{(D) 5} For David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent, famous and glorified throughout all lands; I will therefore make preparation for it.” So David provided materials in great quantity before his death.^(E)

David’s Charge to Solomon and the Leaders

⁶ Then he called for his son Solomon and charged him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁷ David said to Solomon, “My son, I had planned to build a house to the name of the Lord my God.^{(F) 8} But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars; you shall not build a house to my name because you have shed so much blood in my sight on the earth.^{(G) 9} See, a son shall be born to you; he shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side; indeed, his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace^[a] and quiet to Israel in his days.^{(H) 10} He shall build a house for my name. He shall be a son to me, and I will be a father to him, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel forever.’^{(I) 11} Now, my son, the Lord be with you, so that you may succeed in building the house of the Lord your God, as he has spoken concerning you.^{(J) 12} Only, may the Lord grant you discretion and understanding, so that when he gives you charge over Israel you may keep the law of the Lord your God.^{(K) 13} Then you will prosper, if you are careful to observe the statutes and the ordinances that the Lord commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid or dismayed.^{(L) 14} With great pains I have provided for the house of the Lord one hundred thousand talents of gold, one million talents of silver, and bronze and iron beyond weighing, for there is so much of it; timber and stone also I have provided. To these you must add more.^{(M) 15} You have an abundance of workers: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and all kinds of artisans without number, skilled in working ¹⁶ gold, silver, bronze, and iron. Now begin the work, and the Lord be with you.”^(N)

¹⁷ David also commanded all the leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon, saying,^{(O) 18} “Is not the Lord your God with you? Has he not given you rest on every side? For he has delivered the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land is subdued before the Lord and his people.^{(P) 19} Now set your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God. Go and build the sanctuary of the Lord God so that the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy vessels of God may be brought into the house built for the name of the Lord.”^(Q)

Families of the Levites and Their Functions

23 When David was old and full of days, he made his son Solomon king over Israel.^(R)

² David assembled all the leaders of Israel and the priests and the Levites. ³ The Levites, thirty years old and up, were counted, and the total head count of men was thirty-eight thousand.^{(S) 4} “Twenty-four thousand of these,” David said, “shall have charge of the work in the house of the Lord, six thousand shall be officers and judges,^{(T) 5} four thousand gatekeepers, and four thousand shall offer praises to the Lord with the instruments that I have made for praise.”^{(U) 6} And David organized them in divisions corresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.^(V)

⁷ The sons of Gershon^[b] were Ladan and Shimei. ⁸ The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief, Zetham, and Joel, three. ⁹ The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of families of Ladan. ¹⁰ And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei. ¹¹ Jahath was the chief and Zizah the second, but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they were enrolled as a single family.

¹² The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.^{(W) 13} The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron was set apart to consecrate the most holy things, so that he and his sons forever should make offerings before the Lord and minister to him and pronounce blessings in his name forever,^{(X) 14} but as for Moses the man of God, his sons were to be reckoned among the tribe of Levi. ¹⁵ The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer. ¹⁶ The son of Gershom: Shebuel the chief.^{(Y) 17} The son of Eliezer: Rehabiah the chief; Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very numerous. ¹⁸ The son of Izhar: Shelomith the chief. ¹⁹ The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. ²⁰ The sons of Uzziel: Micah the chief and Isshiah the second.

²¹ The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish.^{(Z) 22} Eleazar died having no sons but only daughters; their kindred, the sons of Kish, married them. ²³ The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth, three.

²⁴ These were the sons of Levi by their ancestral houses, the heads of families as they were enrolled according to the number of the names of the individuals from twenty years old and up who were to do the work for the service of the house of the Lord.^{(AA) 25} For David said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people, and he resides in Jerusalem forever.^{(AB) 26} And so the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the things for its service”^(AC)— ²⁷ for according to the last words of David these were the number of the Levites from twenty years old and up— ²⁸ “but their duty shall be to assist the descendants of Aaron for the service of the house of the Lord, having the care of the courts and the chambers, the cleansing of all that is holy, and any work for the service of the house of God; ²⁹ to assist also with the rows of bread, the choice flour for the grain offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the baked offering, the offering mixed with oil, and all measures of quantity or size.^{(AD) 30} And they shall stand every morning thanking and praising the Lord, and likewise at evening, ³¹ and whenever burnt offerings are offered to the Lord on Sabbaths, new moons, and appointed festivals, according to the number required of them, regularly before the Lord.^{(AE) 32} Thus they shall keep charge of the tent of meeting and the sanctuary and shall attend the descendants of Aaron, their kindred, for the service of the house of the Lord.”^(AF)

Divisions of the Priests

24 The divisions of the descendants of Aaron were these. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.^{(AG) 2} But Nadab and Abihu died before their father and had no sons, so Eleazar and Ithamar became the priests.^{(AH) 3} Along with Zadok of the sons of Eleazar and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, David organized them according to the appointed duties in their service. ⁴ Since more chief men were found among the sons of Eleazar than among the sons of Ithamar, they organized them under sixteen heads of ancestral houses of the sons of Eleazar and eight of the sons of Ithamar. ⁵ They organized them by lot, all alike, for there were officers of the sanctuary and officers of God among both the sons of Eleazar and the sons of Ithamar.^{(AI) 6} The scribe Shemaiah son of Nethanel, a Levite, recorded them in the presence of the king, and the officers, and Zadok the priest, and Ahimelech son of Abiathar, and the heads of ancestral houses of the priests and of the Levites—one ancestral house being chosen for Eleazar and one chosen for Ithamar.

⁷ The first lot fell to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah, ⁸ the third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim, ⁹ the fifth to Malchijah, the sixth to Mijamin, ¹⁰ the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah,^{(AJ) 11} the ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to Shecaniah, ¹² the eleventh to Eliashib, the twelfth to Jakim, ¹³ the thirteenth to Huppah, the fourteenth to Jeshebeab, ¹⁴ the fifteenth to Bilgah, the sixteenth to Immer, ¹⁵ the seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Happizzez, ¹⁶ the nineteenth to Pethahiah, the twentieth to Jehezkel, ¹⁷ the twenty-first to Jachin, the twenty-second to Gamul, ¹⁸ the twenty-third to Delaiah, the twenty-fourth to Maaziah. ¹⁹ These had as their appointed duty in their service to enter the house of the Lord according to the procedure established for them by their ancestor Aaron, as the Lord God of Israel had commanded him.^(AK)

Other Levites

²⁰ And of the rest of the sons of Levi: of the sons of Amram, Shubael; of the sons of Shubael, Jehdeiah. ²¹ Of Rehabiah: of the sons of Rehabiah, Isshiah the chief.^{(AL) 22} Of the Izharites, Shelomoth; of the sons of Shelomoth, Jahath. ²³ The sons of Hebron:^[c] Jeriah the chief,^[d] Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, Jekameam the fourth.^{(AM) 24} The sons of Uzziel, Micah; of the sons of Micah, Shamir. ²⁵ The brother of Micah, Isshiah; of the sons of Isshiah, Zechariah. ²⁶ The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Jaaziah: Beno.^{[e](AN) 27} The sons of Merari: of Jaaziah, Beno,^[f] Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri. ²⁸ Of Mahli: Eleazar, who had no sons. ²⁹ Of Kish, the sons of Kish: Jerahmeel. ³⁰ The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth. These were the sons of the Levites according to their ancestral houses. ³¹ These also cast lots corresponding to their kindred, the descendants of Aaron, in the presence of King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of ancestral houses of the priests and of the Levites, the chief as well as the youngest brother.^(AO)

²⁸ So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I am he^[a] and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak these things as the Father instructed me.^{(A) 29} And the one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him.”^{(B) 30} As he was saying these things, many believed in him.

True Disciples

³¹ Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, ³² and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”^{(C) 33} They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?”^(D)

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.^{(E) 35} The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever.^{(F) 36} So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷ I know that you are descendants of Abraham, yet you look for an opportunity to kill me because there is no place in you for my word. ³⁸ I declare what I have seen in the Father’s presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father.”^[b](G)

Jesus and Abraham

³⁹ They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, you would do^[c] what Abraham did,^{(H) 40} but now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. ⁴¹ You are indeed doing what your father does.” They said to him, “We are not illegitimate children; we have one Father, God himself.”^{(I) 42} Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God, and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me.^{(J) 43} Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot accept my word. ⁴⁴ You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.^{(K) 45} But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.^{[d] 46} Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? ⁴⁷ Whoever is from God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear them is that you are not from God.”^(L)

⁴⁸ The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?”^{(M) 49} Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. ⁵⁰ Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge.^{(N) 51} Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.”^{(O) 52} The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets, yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’^{(P) 53} Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?”^{(Q) 54} Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, ‘He is our God,’^{(R) 55} though you do not know him. But I know him; if I would say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I keep his word.^{(S) 56} Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.”^{(T) 57} Then the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”^{[e] 58} Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.”^{(U) 59} So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.^(V)