1 Chronicles 29

1 David the king said to all the assembly, “Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great; for the palace is not for man, but for Yahweh God.

Then King David said to all the people who had gathered there, “My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen [to be the next king], is young and does not have much experience. This work [of building the temple] is great/important, because this glorious building will not be to [honor] people, but to honor Yahweh our God.

2 Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, the bronze for the things of bronze, iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, also onyx stones, stones to be set, stones for inlaid work of various colors, all kinds of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance.

From all the things that I possess, I have provided [what will be needed] to [build] the temple of my God—the gold for the things to be made of gold, the silver for the things to be made of silver, bronze for the things to be made of bronze, iron for the things to be made of iron, wood for the things to be made of wood, and large amounts of onyx and turquoise and other valuable stones of various colors, and marble and all kinds of valuable stones.

3 In addition, because I have set my affection on the house of my God, since I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, I give it to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house:

In addition to all these things that I have given for the temple, I am giving treasures of gold and silver, because I very much desire that this holy temple for my God be built.

4 even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, with which to overlay the walls of the houses;

I am giving 110 tons of gold from Ophir and 260 tons of refined silver to cover the walls of the buildings,

5 of gold for the things of gold, and of silver for the things of silver, and for all kinds of work to be made by the hands of artisans. Who then offers willingly to consecrate himself today to Yahweh?”

for making the other items of gold and silver, and for the other work to be done by the craftsmen. So now, [I ask you], are there others willing to show [by contributing other gifts for the building of the temple] [EUP] that they have dedicated themselves to Yahweh?”

6 Then the princes of the fathers’ households, and the princes of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the rulers over the king’s work, offered willingly;

Then the leaders of the families/clans, the leaders of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of 1,000 soldiers and the commanders of 100 soldiers, and the officials who supervised the work that the king wanted done, gave gifts (willingly/because they wanted to give them).

7 and they gave for the service of God’s house of gold five thousand talents and ten thousand darics, of silver ten thousand talents, of bronze eighteen thousand talents, and of iron one hundred thousand talents.

For the work at the temple they gave 190 tons and (185 pounds/84 kg.) of gold, 375 tons of silver, 675 tons of bronze, and 3,750 tons of iron.

8 People with whom precious stones were found gave them to the treasure of Yahweh’s house, under the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite.

And any people who owned valuable stones gave them to be put in the storeroom of the temple. Jehiel, a descendant of Gershon, was appointed to be in charge of them.

9 Then the people rejoiced, because they offered willingly, because with a perfect heart they offered willingly to Yahweh; and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.

The people were happy to see that their leaders wanted to give those things, because [they knew that] their leaders were happy and enthusiastic to give those things to Yahweh. And King David also was very happy.

10 Therefore David blessed Yahweh before all the assembly; and David said, “You are blessed, Yahweh, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever.

Then, while all the people there were listening, David prayed, saying, “We praise you, Yahweh, the God whom our ancestor Jacob worshiped. We will praise you forever!

11 Yours, Yahweh, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty! For all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, Yahweh, and you are exalted as head above all.

You alone are great and powerful; only you are truly glorious and majestic and wonderful. [And that is true] because everything in heaven and on the earth is yours. You are the king of all the people in this world; you are the ruler of everything.

12 Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all! In your hand is power and might! It is in your hand to make great, and to give strength to all!

Because you are very powerful [DOU], you are able to cause anyone to be great and strong.

13 Now therefore, our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name.

So now, our God, we thank you, and we praise you [MTY] for being very great.

14 But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from you, and we have given you of your own.

But my people and I are not really able to give anything to you, because everything [that we have] comes from you, and what we have given to you are only the things that we have received from you [MTY].

15 For we are strangers before you and foreigners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is no remaining.

[In this land] we are like [MET] foreigners and strangers, like our ancestors were. Our time here on this earth is like [SIM] a shadow [that disappears quickly]; [we know that there is] nothing [that] can enable us [to escape dying].

16 Yahweh our God, all this store that we have prepared to build you a house for your holy name comes from your hand, and is all your own.

Yahweh our God, we have gathered all these things to use in building your [MTY] temple, but all of it really belongs to you, and you have given it to us [MTY].

17 I know also, my God, that you try the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things. Now I have seen with joy your people, who are present here, offer willingly to you.

My God, I know that you test us people, and you are pleased if you find out that we do what is right. All these things I have given to you because I wanted to. And now I have seen that your people have also joyfully and generously given things to you.

18 Yahweh, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this desire forever in the thoughts of the heart of your people, and prepare their heart for you;

Yahweh, the God whom our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob worshiped, I desire/hope that your people will continue to desire [to do things like this] forever, and that they will always be loyal to you.

19 and give to Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace, for which I have made provision.”

And now, please enable my son Solomon to faithfully and sincerely [DOU] obey your commands and laws and decrees [DOU] and to do everything that is needed to build this beautiful building for which I have provided [all these things].”

20 Then David said to all the assembly, “Now bless Yahweh your God!” All the assembly blessed Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads and prostrated themselves before Yahweh and the king.

Then David said to all the people who were gathered there, “Praise Yahweh our God!” So they all praised Yahweh the God whom their ancestors ([also worshiped/belonged to]). They prostrated themselves on the ground in front of Yahweh and in front of the king.

21 They sacrificed sacrifices to Yahweh and offered burnt offerings to Yahweh on the next day after that day, even one thousand bulls, one thousand rams, and one thousand lambs, with their drink offerings and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel,

The next day the people offered sacrifices to Yahweh. They presented many animals to be completely burned [on the altar]: 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams, 1,000 male sheep, plus offerings of wine, and many other sacrifices on behalf of all [the people of] Israel.

22 and ate and drank before Yahweh on that day with great gladness. They made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and anointed him before Yahweh to be prince, and Zadok to be priest.

On that day the people were joyful and ate and drank while Yahweh was watching. Then for the second time they declared that Solomon was now the king. While Yahweh was watching, they anointed him [with olive oil] to be the king, and they anointed Zadok to be the Supreme Priest.

23 Then Solomon sat on the throne of Yahweh as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him.

So Solomon sat on the throne [because Yahweh wanted him to be] the king to succeed his father David. [During the following years] Solomon prospered, and all the Israeli people obeyed him.

24 All the princes, the mighty men, and also all of the sons of King David submitted themselves to Solomon the king.

King David’s other sons and all the officers and mighty warriors accepted Solomon as their king, and they solemnly promised to obey him.

25 Yahweh magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and gave to him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.

Yahweh caused Solomon to be highly respected by all the Israeli people, and they honored him very much. No king of Israel was honored as much as Solomon was.

26 Now David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel.

Jesse’s son David was the king who ruled all of Israel.

27 The time that he reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

He ruled for 40 years: Seven years in Hebron [city] and 33 years in Jerusalem.

28 He died at a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor; and Solomon his son reigned in his place.

He became an old man who was very rich and greatly honored by all the people. Then he died, and his son Solomon became the king [of Israel].

29 Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the history of Samuel the seer, and in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the history of Gad the seer,

A record of all the things that King David did while he ruled, from the beginning to the end, was put on scrolls written by the prophets Samuel, Nathan, and Gad.

30 with all his reign and his might, and the events that involved him, Israel, and all the kingdoms of the lands.

They told about his powerful rule [HEN], and all the things that happened to him and to the people of Israel and in the nearby kingdoms [while he was ruling Israel].