Study Desk

All this, said David, the design for all these things, has been made dear to me in writing by the hand of the Lord.

And David said to his son Solomon, Be strong and of a good heart and do your work; have no fear and do not be troubled, for the Lord God, my God, is with you; he will not give you up, and his face will not be turned away from you, till all the work necessary for the house of the Lord is complete.

And see, there are the divisions of the priests and Levites for all the work of the house of God; and every trained and expert workman will be ready to do for you whatever is needed; and the captains and the people will be under your orders in everything.

And David the king said to all the people, Solomon my son, the only one who has been marked out by God, is still young and untested, and the work is great, for this great house is not for man, but for the Lord God.

Now as far as I am able, I have made ready what is needed for the house of my God; the gold for the things of gold, and the silver for the silver things, and the brass for the brass things, iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood; beryls and jewels to be framed, and stones of different colours for ornament; all sorts of stones of great price, and polished building-stone, as much as is needed and more.

And because this house of God is dear to me, I give my private store of gold and silver to the house of my God, in addition to all I have got ready for the holy house;

Even three thousand talents of gold of Ophir and seven thousand talents of the best silver, for plating the walls of the house:

Gold for the gold things, and silver for the silver things, and for every sort of work to be done by the expert workmen. Who then will come forward, offering himself this day for the Lord's work?

And they gave for the use of the house of the Lord, five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, and ten thousand talents of silver, and eighteen thousand talents of brass, and a hundred thousand talents of iron.

Then the people were glad because their offerings were freely given, for with a true heart they freely gave what they had to the Lord; and David the king was full of joy.

So David gave praise to the Lord before all the people; and David said, Praise be to you, O Lord the God of Israel, our father for ever and ever.

Yours, O Lord, is the strength and the power and the glory, and the authority and the honour: for everything in heaven and on earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are lifted up as head over all.

But who am I and what is my people, that we have power to give so freely in this way? for all things come from you, and what we have given you is yours.

For we, as all our fathers were, are like men from a strange country before you, who have got a place for a time in the land; our days on the earth are like a shade, and there is no hope of going on.

O Lord our God, all this store, which we have made ready for the building of a house for your holy name, comes from your hand and is yours.

And I am conscious, my God, that you are the searcher of hearts, taking pleasure in righteousness. As for me, with an upright heart I have freely given all these things; and I have seen with joy your people who are here to make their offerings freely to you.

O Lord, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this for ever in the deepest thoughts of your people, and let their hearts be fixed and true to you;

And give to Solomon my son a true heart, to keep your orders, your rules, and your laws, and to do all these things, and to put up this great house for which I have made ready.

And they made offerings to the Lord, and gave burned offerings to the Lord, on the day after, a thousand oxen, a thousand sheep, and a thousand lambs, with their drink offerings, and a great wealth of offerings for all Israel.

So Solomon was put on the seat of the Lord as king in place of his father David, and everything went well for him; and all Israel was under his authority.