Study Desk

David supplied a great deal of iron to make the nails for the doors of the gates and for the fittings, together with an immeasurable quantity of bronze,

David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly great and famous and glorious in all the lands. Therefore, I will make provision for it.” So David made lavish preparations for it before his death.

Then he summoned his son Solomon and charged him to build a house for the Lord God of Israel.

“My son,” David said to Solomon, “It was in my heart to build a house for the name of the Lord my God,

but the word of the Lord came to me: ‘You have shed much blood and waged great wars. You are not to build a house for my name because you have shed so much blood on the ground before me.

But a son will be born to you; he will be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies, for his name will be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel during his reign.

He is the one who will build a house for my name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’

Then you will succeed if you carefully follow the statutes and ordinances the Lord commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or discouraged.

“Notice I have taken great pains to provide for the house of the Lord—3,775 tons of gold, 37,750 tons of silver, and bronze and iron that can’t be weighed because there is so much of it. I have also provided timber and stone, but you will need to add more to them.

“The Lord your God is with you, isn’t he? And hasn’t he given you rest on every side? For he has handed the land’s inhabitants over to me, and the land has been subdued before the Lord and his people.

Now determine in your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God. Get started building the Lord God’s sanctuary so that you may bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant and the holy articles of God to the temple that is to be built for the name of the Lord.”

four thousand are to be gatekeepers, and four thousand are to praise the Lord with the instruments that I have made for worship.”

As for Moses the man of God, his sons were named among the tribe of Levi.

For David said, “The Lord God of Israel has given rest to his people, and he has come to stay in Jerusalem forever.

Also, the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the equipment for its service”—

for according to the last words of David, the Levites twenty years old or more were to be counted—

“but their duty will be to assist the descendants of Aaron with the service of the Lord’s temple, being responsible for the courts and the chambers, the purification of all the holy things, and the work of the service of God’s temple—

as well as the rows of the Bread of the Presence, the fine flour for the grain offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the baking, the mixing, and all measurements of volume and length.

Whenever burnt offerings are offered to the Lord on the Sabbaths, New Moons, and appointed festivals, they are to offer them regularly in the Lord’s presence according to the number prescribed for them.

They are to carry out their responsibilities for the tent of meeting, for the holy place, and for their relatives, the descendants of Aaron, in the service of the Lord’s temple.”