1 Chronicles 29

¹ David then addressed the whole assembly, 'Solomon my son, whom Yahweh has specifical y chosen,is young and immature, and the work is great; this palace is not for any human being but for Yahweh God.

² With al the resources I can command, for the house of my God I have provided gold for what must bemade of gold, silver for what must be made of silver, bronze for what must be made of bronze, iron for what mustbe made of iron, wood for what must be made of wood, as well as cornelian for inlay work, slabs of multi-coloured mosaic, every kind of precious stone and quantities of alabaster.

³ Furthermore, because my affections are set on the house of my God, I have also given what gold andsilver I personal y own for the house of my God, over and above everything which I have already provided for theholy Temple-

⁴ that is to say, three thousand talents of gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver foroverlaying the walls of the buildings,

⁵ the gold being for what must be made of gold, and the silver for what must be made of silver: and forwhatever the craftsmen must make. Who, then, is wil ing to devote himself to Yahweh's service today?'

⁶ At this, the heads of families, the tribal chiefs of Israel, the commanders of the thousands and thehundreds and those who managed the king's affairs,

⁷ volunteered a gift of five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents ofsilver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze and a hundred thousand talents of iron,

⁸ while those who owned precious stones presented them to the treasury of the house of Yahweh in thecustody of Jehiel the Gershonite.

⁹ The people rejoiced at what these had given so readily, since they had presented their freewilofferings wholeheartedly to Yahweh. King David too was fil ed with joy.

¹⁰ Hence, in the presence of the whole assembly David blessed Yahweh. David said: 'May you beblessed, Yahweh, God of Israel our ancestor, for ever and for ever!

¹¹ Yours, Yahweh, is the greatness, the power, the splendour, length of days and glory, everything inheaven and on earth is yours. Yours is the sovereignty, Yahweh; you are exalted, supreme over al .

¹² Wealth and riches come from you, you are ruler of all, in your hand lie strength and power, and youbestow greatness and might on whomsoever you please.

¹³ So now, our God, we give thanks to you and praise your majestic name,

¹⁴ for who am I and what is my people, for us to be able to volunteer offerings like this? - sinceeverything has come from you and we have given you only what you bestowed in the first place,

¹⁵ and we are guests before you, and passing visitors as were al our ancestors, our days on earthfleeting as a shadow and without hope.

¹⁶ Yahweh our God, all this wealth, which we have provided to build a house for your holy name, hascome from you and all belongs to you.

¹⁷ 'Knowing, my God, how you examine our motives and how you delight in integrity, with integrity ofmotive I have wil ingly given all this and have been overjoyed to see your people, now present here, wil inglyoffering their gifts to you.

¹⁸ Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel our ancestors, watch over this for ever, shape thepurpose of your people's heart and direct their hearts to you,

¹⁹ and give an undivided heart to Solomon my son to keep your commandments, your decrees andyour statutes, to put them all into effect and to build the palace for which I have made provision.'

²⁰ David then addressed the whole assembly: 'Now bless Yahweh your God!' And the whole assemblyblessed Yahweh, God of their ancestors, bowing down in homage to Yahweh, and to the king.

²¹ On the day fol owing this, they slaughtered sacrifices and brought burnt offerings to Yahweh onbehalf of Israel -- a thousand bul s, a thousand rams, a thousand lambs with their libations, as wel as manyother sacrifices-

²² and they ate and drank that day in Yahweh's presence with great joy. They then made Solomon sonof David king a second time, anointing him as leader for Yahweh, and Zadok as priest.

²³ Solomon took his seat on Yahweh's throne, to reign in succession to David his father. He prospered,and all Israel obeyed him.

²⁴ Al the chiefs, al the leading citizens and al King David's other sons pledged allegiance to KingSolomon.

²⁵ Yahweh made Solomon exceedingly powerful, as all Israel could see, and gave him a reign of suchsplendour as no previous king of Israel ever had.

²⁶ David son of Jesse was king of al Israel.

²⁷ He was king of Israel for a period of forty years; he reigned at Hebron for seven years, and inJerusalem for thirty-three.

²⁸ He died at a good old age, ful of days, riches and honour. Then his son Solomon succeeded him.

²⁹ The history of King David, from first to last, is al written down in the records of Samuel the seer, therecords of Nathan the prophet and the records of Gad the seer,

³⁰ with his entire reign, his mighty deeds and the times which he, Israel and al the kings of othercountries, had experienced.