1 Chronicles 29

1 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.

King David said to the whole assembly, “Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is still young and inexperienced, and the task is great. For the temple is not for people but for Yahweh God.

2 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.

So I have done my best to provide for the temple of my God. I am giving gold for the things to be made of gold, 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, and wood for the things to be made of wood. I am also giving onyx stones, stones to be set, stones for inlaid work of various colors—all kinds of precious stones—and marble stone in abundance.

3 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.

Now, because of my delight in the house of my God, I am giving my personal treasure of gold and silver for it. I am doing this in addition to all that I have prepared for this holy temple:

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

three thousand talents of gold from Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, in order to overlay the walls of the buildings.

5 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?”

I am donating gold for the things to be made of gold, and silver for the things to be made of silver, and things for all kinds of work to be done by craftsmen. Who else wants to make a contribution to Yahweh today and give himself to him?”

6 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).

Then freewill offerings were made by the leaders of their ancestors' families, the leaders of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and hundreds, and by the officials over the king's work.

7 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.

They gave for the service of God's house five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze, and 100,000 talents of iron.

8 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.

Those who had precious stones gave them to the treasury of Yahweh's house, under the supervision of Jehiel, a descendant of Gershon.

9 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.

The people rejoiced because of these freewill offerings, because they had contributed wholeheartedly to Yahweh. King David also rejoiced greatly.

10 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!

David blessed Yahweh in front of all the assembly. He said, “May you be praised, Yahweh, God of Israel our ancestor, forever and ever.

11 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.

Yours, Yahweh, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. For all that is in the heavens and on the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, Yahweh, and you are exalted as ruler over all.

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

Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all people. In your hand is power and might. You possess the strength and might to make people great and to give strength to anyone.

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

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

14 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].

But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly these things? Indeed, all things come from you, and we have simply given back to you what is yours.

15 [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].

For we are strangers and travelers before you, as all our ancestors were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope of remaining on earth.

16 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].

Yahweh our God, all this wealth that we have collected in order to build a temple to honor your holy name—it comes from you and belongs to you.

17 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.

I know also, my God, that you examine the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things, and now I look with joy as your people who are present here willingly offer gifts to you.

18 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.

Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel—our ancestors—keep this forever in the thoughts of the minds of your people. Direct their hearts toward you.

19 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].”

Give to Solomon my son a wholehearted desire to keep your commandments, your covenant decrees, and your statutes, and to carry out all these plans to build the palace for which I have made provision.”

20 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.

David said to all the assembly, “Now bless Yahweh your God.” All the assembly blessed Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, bowed their heads and worshiped Yahweh and prostrated themselves before the king.

21 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.

On the next day, they made sacrifices to Yahweh and offered burnt offerings to him. They offered a thousand bulls, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs, with their drink offerings and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel.

22 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.

On that day, they ate and drank before Yahweh with great celebration. They made Solomon, David's son, king a second time, and anointed him with Yahweh's authority to be ruler. They also anointed Zadok to be priest.

23 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.

Then Solomon sat on Yahweh's throne as king instead of David his father. He prospered, and all Israel obeyed him.

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

All the leaders, soldiers, and King David's sons gave allegiance to King Solomon.

25 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.

Yahweh greatly honored Solomon before all Israel and bestowed on him greater power than he had ever given to any king before him in Israel.

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

David son of Jesse reigned over all Israel.

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

David had been king of Israel for forty years. He ruled for seven years in Hebron and for thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

28 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].

He died at a good old age, after enjoying a long life, wealth and honor. Solomon his son succeeded him.

29 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.

King David's accomplishments are written in the history of Samuel the prophet, in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the history of Gad the prophet.

30 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].

Recorded there are the deeds of his rule, his accomplishments and the events that affected him, Israel, and all the kingdoms of the other lands.