David's Charge to Israel

¹iDavid assembled at Jerusalem all the officials of Israel, the jofficials of the tribes, the officers of the divisions that served the king, the kcommanders of thousands, the commanders of hundreds, the lstewards of all the property and livestock of the king and his sons, together with the palace officials, the mmighty men and all the seasoned warriors. ²Then King David rose to his feet and said: “Hear me, my brothers and my people. nI had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for the ofootstool of our God, and I made preparations for building. ³But God said to me, p‘You may not build a house for my name, for you are a man of war and have shed blood.’ ⁴Yet the Lord God of Israel qchose me from all my father's house to be king over Israel rforever. sFor he chose Judah as leader, and in the house of Judah my father's thouse, and among my father's sons he took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel. ⁵And of uall my sons (for the Lord has given me many sons) he vhas chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. ⁶He said to me, ‘It is wSolomon your son who shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. ⁷I will establish his kingdom rforever xif he continues strong in keeping my commandments and my rules, as he is today.’ ⁸Now therefore in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God, observe and seek out all the commandments of the Lord your God, that you may possess this good land and leave it for an inheritance to your children after you forever.

David's Charge to Solomon

⁹“And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a ywhole heart and with a willing mind, zfor the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. aIf you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever. ¹⁰Be careful now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; bbe strong and do it.”

¹¹Then David gave Solomon his son the cplan of the dvestibule of the temple,1 and of its houses, its treasuries, its upper rooms, and its inner chambers, and of the room for the emercy seat; ¹²and the plan of all that he had in mind for the courts of the house of the Lord, all the surrounding chambers, fthe treasuries of the house of God, and the treasuries for dedicated gifts; ¹³for the gdivisions of the priests and of the hLevites, and all the work of the service in the house of the Lord; for all the vessels for the service in the house of the Lord, ¹⁴the weight of gold for all golden vessels for each service, the weight of silver vessels for each service, ¹⁵the weight of the golden ilampstands and their lamps, the weight of gold for each lampstand and its lamps, the weight of silver for a lampstand and its lamps, according to the use of each lampstand in the service, ¹⁶the weight of gold for each table for the showbread, the silver for the silver tables, ¹⁷and pure gold for the forks, the basins and the cups; for the golden bowls and the weight of each; for the silver bowls and the weight of each; ¹⁸for the jaltar of incense made of refined gold, and its weight; also his plan for the golden chariot of the kcherubim that spread their wings and covered the ark of the covenant of the Lord. ¹⁹“All this he made clear to me in writing from the hand of the Lord, lall the work to be done according to the plan.”

²⁰Then David said to Solomon his son, m“Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the Lord God, even my God, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished. ²¹And behold the ndivisions of the priests and the Levites for all the service of the house of God; and with you in all the work will be oevery willing man who has skill for any kind of service; also the officers and all the people will be wholly at your command.”