1 Chronicles 29

Chapter 29

Gifts for Building the Temple

1 Then King David turned to the entire assembly and said, “My son Solomon, whom God has clearly chosen as the next king of Israel, is still young and inexperienced. The work ahead of him is enormous, for the Temple he will build is not for mere mortals—it is for the LORD God himself!

2 Using every resource at my command, I have gathered as much as I could for building the Temple of my God. Now there is enough gold, silver, bronze, iron, and wood, as well as great quantities of onyx, other precious stones, costly jewels, and all kinds of fine stone and marble.
3 “And now, because of my devotion to the Temple of my God, I am giving all of my own private treasures of gold and silver to help in the construction. This is in addition to the building materials I have already collected for his holy Temple.4 I am donating more than 112 tons of goldt from Ophir and 262 tons of refined silvert to be used for overlaying the walls of the buildings

5 and for the other gold and silver work to be done by the craftsmen. Now then, who will follow my example and give offerings to the LORD today?”
6 Then the family leaders, the leaders of the tribes of Israel, the generals and captains of the army,t and the king’s administrative officers all gave willingly.7 For the construction of the Temple of God, they gave about 188 tons of gold,t 10,000 gold coins,t 375 tons of silver,t 675 tons of bronze,t and 3,750 tons of iron.t8 They also contributed numerous precious stones, which were deposited in the treasury of the house of the LORD under the care of Jehiel, a descendant of Gershon.

9 The people rejoiced over the offerings, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the LORD, and King David was filled with joy.

David’s Prayer of Praise

10 Then David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly:

“O LORD, the God of our ancestor Israel,t may you be praised forever and ever!11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O LORD, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things.12 Wealth and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and at your discretion people are made great and given strength.13 “O our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name!14 But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us!15 We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so soon without a trace.16 “O LORD our God, even this material we have gathered to build a Temple to honor your holy name comes from you! It all belongs to you!17 I know, my God, that you examine our hearts and rejoice when you find integrity there. You know I have done all this with good motives, and I have watched your people offer their gifts willingly and joyously.18 “O LORD, the God of our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, make your people always want to obey you. See to it that their love for you never changes.19 Give my son Solomon the wholehearted desire to obey all your commands, laws, and decrees, and to do everything necessary to build this Temple, for which I have made these preparations.”

20 Then David said to the whole assembly, “Give praise to the LORD your God!” And the entire assembly praised the LORD, the God of their ancestors, and they bowed low and knelt before the LORD and the king.

Solomon Named as King

21 The next day they brought 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams, and 1,000 male lambs as burnt offerings to the LORD. They also brought liquid offerings and many other sacrifices on behalf of all Israel.

22 They feasted and drank in the LORD’s presence with great joy that day.

And again they crowned David’s son Solomon as their new king. They anointed him before the LORD as their leader, and they anointed Zadok as priest.23 So Solomon took the throne of the LORD in place of his father, David, and he succeeded in everything, and all Israel obeyed him.24 All the officials, the warriors, and the sons of King David pledged their loyalty to King Solomon.

25 And the LORD exalted Solomon in the sight of all Israel, and he gave Solomon greater royal splendor than any king in Israel before him.

Summary of David’s Reign

26 So David son of Jesse reigned over all Israel.27 He reigned over Israel for forty years, seven of them in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem.

28 He died at a ripe old age, having enjoyed long life, wealth, and honor. Then his son Solomon ruled in his place.
29 All the events of King David’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in The Record of Samuel Seer, The Record of Nathan the Prophet, and The Record of Gad the Seer.

30 These accounts include the mighty deeds of his reign and everything that happened to him and to Israel and to all the surrounding kingdoms.

1 CHRONICLES 29

Gifts for Building //the Temple

1  t David told the crowd:
God chose my son Solomon to build the temple, but Solomon is young and has no experience. This is not just any building—this is the temple for the [Lord] God!

2 That's why I have done my best to get everything Solomon will need to build it—gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, onyx, turquoise, colored gems, all kinds of precious stones, and marble.
3 Besides doing all that, I have promised to give part of my own gold and silver as a way of showing my love for God's temple. 4 More than 100 tons of my finest gold and almost 240 tons of my silver will be used to decorate its walls

5 and to make the gold and silver objects. Now, who else will show their dedication to the [Lord] by giving gifts for building his temple?
6 After David finished speaking, the family leaders, the tribal leaders, the army commanders, and the government officials voluntarily gave gifts 7 for the temple. These gifts included more than 170 tons of gold, over 340 tons of silver, 620 tons of bronze, and more than 3,400 tons of iron.

8 Everyone who owned precious stones also donated them to the temple treasury, where Jehiel from the Levite clan of Gershon guarded them.

9 David and the people were very happy that so much had been given to the [Lord], and they all celebrated.

David Praises the [Lord]

10 Then, in front of everyone, David sang praises to the [Lord]:
I praise you forever, [Lord]! You are the God our ancestor Jacobt worshiped. 11 t Your power is great, and your glory is seen everywhere in heaven and on earth. You are king of the entire world, 12 and you rule with strength and power. You make people rich and powerful and famous.

13 We thank you, our God, and praise you.
14 But why should we be happy that we have given you these gifts? They belong to you, and we have only given back what is already yours.

15 We are only foreigners living here on earth for a while, just as our ancestors were. And we will soon be gone, like a shadow that suddenly disappears.
16 Our [Lord] God, we have brought all these things for building a temple to honor you. They belong to you, and you gave them to us. 17 But we are happy, because everyone has voluntarily given you these things. You know what is in everyone's heart, and you are pleased when people are honest. 18 Always make us eager to give, and help us be faithful to you, just as our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob faithfully worshiped you.

19 And give Solomon the desire to completely obey your laws and teachings, and the desire to build the temple for which I have provided these gifts.

20 David then said to the people, “Now it's your turn to praise the [Lord], the God your ancestors worshiped!” So everyone praised the [Lord], and they bowed down to honor him and David their king.

Solomon Is Crowned King

22 The people were very happy, and they ate and drank there at the [Lord]'s altar.
That same day, Solomon was again crowned king. The people celebrated and poured olive oil on Solomon's head to show that he would be their next king. They also poured oil on Zadok's head to show that he was their priest.
23  t So Solomon became king after David his father. Solomon was successful, and everyone in Israel obeyed him. 24 Every official and every soldier, as well as all of David's other sons, were loyal to him.

25 The [Lord] made Solomon a great king, and the whole nation was amazed at how famous he was. In fact, no other king of Israel was as great as Solomon.

David Dies

28 David was rich and respected and lived to be an old man. Then he died, and his son Solomon became king.
29 Everything David did while he was king is included in the history written by the prophets Samuel, Nathan, and Gad. 30 They wrote about his powerful rule and about the things that happened not only to him, but also to Israel and the other nations.