David Commissions Solomon

1And so David called together all the leaders of Israel, the rulers of the tribes, and those in charge of the companies, who were ministering to the king, and also the tribunes and centurions, and those in charge of the substance and possessions of the king, and his sons, with the eunuchs and the powerful and those most experienced in the army, at Jerusalem. 2And when the king had risen up and was standing, he said: “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. I thought that I would build a house, in which the ark of the covenant of the Lord, the footstool of our God, might rest. And so I prepared everything for its building. 3But God said to me: ‘You shall not build a house to my name, because you are a man of war, and have shed blood.’ 4Now the Lord God of Israel chose me, out of the entire house of my father, so that I would be king over Israel forever. For from Judah he chose leaders; then from the house of Judah he chose the house of my father; and from the sons of my father, it pleased him to choose me as king over all of Israel. 5Then too, among my sons (for the Lord has given me many sons) he chose Solomon my son, so that he would sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord, over Israel. 6And he said to me: ‘Solomon your son shall build my house and my courts. For I have chosen him to be to me as a son, and I will be to him as a father. 7And I will make firm his kingdom, even unto eternity, if he will persevere in doing my precepts and judgments, as also today.’ 8Now therefore, before the entire assembly of Israel, in the hearing of our God, keep and seek all the commandments of the Lord our God, so that you may possess the good land, and may bequeath it to your sons after you, even forever.

9And as for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and a willing mind. For the Lord searches all hearts, and understands the thoughts of all minds. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you abandon him, he will cast you aside for eternity. 10Now therefore, since the Lord has chosen you, so that you would build the house of the Sanctuary, be strengthened and accomplish it.”

The Plans for the Temple

11Then David gave to his son Solomon a description of the portico, and the temple, and the storerooms, and the upper floor, and the innermost rooms, and the house of propitiation, 12and indeed also of all the courts that he had planned, and the outer rooms on all sides, for the treasuries of the house of the Lord, and for the treasuries of the holy things, 13and for the divisions of the priests and the Levites: concerning all the works of the house of the Lord and all the items in the ministry of the temple of the Lord. 14There was gold by weight for every vessel of the ministry, and also silver by weight for the diversity of vessels and equipment. 15Then too, he distributed gold for the lampstands and their lamps, according to the measure of each of the lampstands with their lamps. Similarly also, he distributed silver by weight for the silver lampstands with their lamps, according to the diversity of their measure. 16Also, he gave gold for the tables of the presence, according to the diversity of the tables; similarly too, he gave silver for the other tables of silver. 17Also, he distributed from the purest gold for the small hooks and the bowls and the censors, as well as for the little lions of gold, in accord with the precise measure of the weight, for lion after lion. Similarly too, for the lions of silver, he set aside a different weight of silver. 18Then, for the altar on which the incense was burned, he gave the purest gold. And from the same he made the likeness of the chariot of the Cherubim, with extended wings, which is veiling the ark of the covenant of the Lord.

19“All these things,” he said, “came to me written by the hand of the Lord, so that I would understand all the works of the pattern.”

20David also said to his son Solomon: “Act manfully, and be strengthened, and carry it out. You should not be afraid, and you should not be dismayed. For the Lord my God will be with you, and he will not send you away, nor will he abandon you, until you have perfected the entire work of the ministry of the house of the Lord. 21Behold, the divisions of the priests and the Levites, for every ministry of the house of the Lord, are standing before you. And they have been prepared, and so they know, both the leaders and the people, how to carry out all your precepts.”