First Book of Chronicles 29

¹ Then King David said to the whole assembly, ‘Solomon my son, whom alone Yahweh has chosen, is young, of tender years, and the work is great; this palace is not for man but for Yahweh God.

² With all the resources I have, I have provided for the house of my God, adding gold to gold, silver to silver, bronze to bronze, iron to iron, wood to wood, onyx, inlaid stones, coloured and striped stones, precious stones of every kind, masses of alabaster.

³ What is more; what gold and silver I have in my own treasury I give out of love for the house of my God, over and above what I have provided already for the holy Temple-

⁴ three thousand talents of gold, gold of Ophir, seven thousand talents of refined silver for plating the walls of the buildings.

⁵ Whatever gold you have, whatever silver, or workmanship of the craftsman’s hand, which of you today will undertake to consecrate it to Yahweh?’

⁶ Then the heads of families, the officials for the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and those who managed the king’s affairs, undertook

⁷ to give for the service of the house of God five thousand talents of gold, ten thousand darics, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze, a hundred thousand talents of iron.

⁸ All this, with what there were in the way of stones, they paid into the treasury of the house of Yahweh, for Jehiel the Gershonite to administer.

⁹ The people rejoiced at what these had given so readily, since their generous gift to Yahweh had been made whole-heartedly. King David too was filled with joy.

¹⁰ In sight of the whole assembly David blessed Yahweh and said: ‘May you be blessed, Yahweh, the God of Israel our ancestor, for ever and for ever!

¹¹ Yours, Yahweh, is the greatness, the power, splendour, length of days, glory, for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is yours. Yours is the sovereignty, Yahweh; you are exalted over all, supreme.

¹² Riches and honour go before you, you are ruler of all, in your hand lie strength and power; in your hand it is to give greatness and strength to all.

¹³ At this time, our God, we give you glory, we praise the splendour of your name.

¹⁴ For who am I and what is my people to have the means to give so generously? All comes from you; from your own hand we have given them to you.

¹⁵ For we are strangers before you, settlers only, as all our ancestors were; our days on earth pass like a shadow, and there is no hope.

¹⁶ Yahweh our God, this store we have provided to build a house for your holy name, all comes from your hand, all is yours.

¹⁷ O my God, you search the heart, I know, and delight in honesty, and with honesty of heart I have willingly given all this; and now with joy I have seen your people here offer you their gifts willingly.

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

¹⁹ Give Solomon my son a heart determined to keep your commandments, your decrees, your statutes; may he practise them all, and build this palace I have prepared for you.’

²⁰ Then David said to the whole assembly, ‘Bless now Yahweh your God!’ And the whole assembly blessed Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, and went on their knees to do homage to Yahweh and to the king.

²¹ On the day following this, the Israelites offered sacrifices and holocausts to Yahweh: a thousand bulls, a thousand rams, a thousand lambs with their libations, as well as many sacrifices for the whole of Israel.

²² They ate and drank that day in Yahweh’s presence with great joy. Then having made Solomon son of David their second king, they anointed him leader in the name of Yahweh, and anointed Zadok as priest.

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

²⁴ All the officials, all the champions, and even all the sons of King David, pledged allegiance to King Solomon.

²⁵ Yahweh brought Solomon’s greatness to its height in the sight of all Israel, and gave him a reign of such splendour as none that had reigned over Israel before him had ever known.

²⁶ David son of Jesse had reigned over the whole of Israel.

²⁷ His reign over Israel had lasted forty years; he had reigned in Hebron for seven years, and in Jerusalem for thirty-three.

²⁸ He died in happy old age, with his fill of days, of riches, of honour. Then his son Solomon succeeded him.

²⁹ The history of King David, from first to last, is not all this recorded in the Annals of Samuel the seer, the Annals of Nathan the prophet, and the Annals of Gad the seer,

³⁰ with his entire reign, his prowess, and the turns of fortune that came to him and to Israel and to all the kingdoms of the other countries?